Colin Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 I have a writing assignment where I can listen to headphones all day. This is very nice, although I find almost never listen to music at home now. Of course I do not have the big ole horns here in Tampa. My current system is a typical solid-state vintage harmon kardon 330B receiver with vintage Altec cones arrangement. With a bas reflex design, the mid-bass is there, but the music is not emotionally involving, either at work or at the apartment. Yet, a dozen random gigs of my favorite rock, pop and jazz is quite a nice way to spend the day. So far, all I am doing is listening to a cheap pair of headphones. I have a excellent pair of vintage Stax electrets cans at home, which I never use, but these require a regular amplifier to drive them. The Stax sound a lot like the far more expensive electrostatic headphones. Even in the 80s, I think they were $500. I thought of getting the Sonic Impact 5066 class t digital amplifier to drive them, but not sure the Dell 4300 sound card is worth the small improvement. The hard drive music does not have the dynamic range and visceral impact of a CD. So the question is, what is the most economical and best sounding way to maximize the quality of music in a work environment? á SI Amplifier for the Stax? á Bring harmon kardon 330B into work and get Teac for apartment? á Drive better headphones, like the Sennheiser 580s, direct from the hard drive? á Play CDs directly on a small player? á Go with an iPod Shuffle? Wadda think? and THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 ---------------- On 5/18/2005 8:38:46 AM Colin wrote: So the question is, what is the most economical and best sounding way to maximize the quality of music in a work environment? ć Play CDs directly on a small player? and THANKS! ---------------- At work, I either just listen to my Creative MuVo Slim (much better, in my opinion, than the iPod Shuffle - especially since I like to have a display, and many of the albums I listen to needs to be heard in track order). Either that, I just play the CD's on the PC's CD-drive using WinAmp and sending it out to a pair of headphones (currently a cheap $20 pair of Sony), but I am plannng to replace those with a decent set such as those Sennhiesers. However, I'll admit, those Sony headphones actually sound pretty good, though. Much better than I'd expected out of something I paid only $20 at the local Wally-World for. If I am not listening to the headphones, I am listening to the music played through a set of the Tivoli Audio Henry Kloss Model 2 radio/speakers. I also have the little sub that goes with them. That is an excellent sounding little setup, especially for an office environment (where I cannot really crank it that loud). As to the quality of the music coming off the harddrive, it really depends on the format/compression ratio of the files. I found that I am not happy unless it is at a minimum, 192kbps for standard MP3 format. In your particular intance, if you really like those old Stax headphones, I'd say go find a cheap amp and use that. If not, then I'd say go the Sennheiser route. Having decent music in the office, to me, is a nice benefit that is worth a modest invest, but not anything near what I got in my home setup. I just could not stand that crappy sounding, cheap-*** little speaker that was in the PC itself, and I did not want one of those butt-ugly boomboxes, as well as something a bit better quality than the typical $50 boombox (which most people have in the office). Funny how many comments I get on my Model 2 at work, both on the looks and the sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 ---------------- At work, I either just listen to my Creative MuVo Slim (much better, in my opinion, than the iPod Shuffle - especially since I like to have a display, and many of the albums I listen to needs to be heard in track order). ---------------- the shuffle is played either the order you placed them in or shuffle mode. It is not always random but has the optional shuffle mode. So yes you could play them the way they are on the cd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 As a Technical Writer by day, most of my music listening is lofted by the wings of Audio-Technica ATH-A700 Headphones on a generic Dell PC sound port. It is time to move up. I have the Red Wine digital T amp, but I looking for headphone amplifiers ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I do have to say that I love my Grado SR60. Only down side for my co-works next to me is that they are open back. I listen to them with my phone or mp3. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 The Klipsch Custom 2 work pretty well for me. Though I'd recommend one of the Image models for best comfort and ease of use or the Custom 3. Before that I grooved to my Grado SR60s. Which I still use on occasion. And still love. Just not near as much as my Custom 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I've tried quite a few, and for my liking, I prefer the Sennheiser's. They sound so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 At work, I listen to a portable CD player w/ AKG-701 headphones. I've had Koss, Grado, Sennheiser, and Sony headphones & I hae to say these are the best-sounding (& most comfortable) cans I've ever heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 got the cans, love them, how about the amps? I want best sound possible at work for least $ anybody have: Musical Fidelity X-Cans v2 (or ns2) HeadRoom MAX Creek OBH-11SE http://Www.Head-fi.org/ http://www.headwize.com/ ASL MG Head - Tube based Headphone amp. Has OTL too. old Stereophile recommendations HeadRoom Supreme Audio Alchemy's HPA v1.0 HeadRoom's Total BitHead Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline The Hornet Bel Canto DAC3 (Swan's Marketing, 5461 North Dale Mabry, 813 908 6500) Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor HeadRoom Millett Desktop Hybrid Amplifier http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0402/headroomsennheiser.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I have a Benchmark DAC1 and it's awesome, if a little pricey for work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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