I need a small system capable of delivering decent quality (mainly classical) music almost exclusively to headphones (Grado SR60s). Any suggestions gratefully received...
Headphones only
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[quote user="Hughes123"]Look no futher than an Ipod Classic![/quote]
Hmm. You will get a FAR better sound from even a basic system.
How much do you want to spend, and what is your favoured source?
For a headphone only system, I use Sen. HD595's plugged into a Beresford DAC, that takes an optical digital signal from my laptop via SPDIF, and plays mainly FLAC lossless files... The sound to my ears is really sweet, and leagues ahead of my girlfriends iPod, or my Creative Zen. - I could (and do) listen for hours at a time.
Hmm. You will get a FAR better sound from even a basic system.
How much do you want to spend, and what is your favoured source?
For a headphone only system, I use Sen. HD595's plugged into a Beresford DAC, that takes an optical digital signal from my laptop via SPDIF, and plays mainly FLAC lossless files... The sound to my ears is really sweet, and leagues ahead of my girlfriends iPod, or my Creative Zen. - I could (and do) listen for hours at a time.
Oh no...my Ipod sounds better than my CD73 plugged into my A32...another problem...
By the way, if you didn't want to use an ipod, you could try the Project Head Box (and it's varients) - quite good I hear.
By the way, if you didn't want to use an ipod, you could try the Project Head Box (and it's varients) - quite good I hear.
All my music's on CD and I'd be reluctant to have to convert it all to use with MP3 or other player. Let's say I was planning to spend the price of an iPod Classic, or perhaps up to £250, what else could I get?
Thanks for your thoughts...
Thanks for your thoughts...
i would say 150 for a secondhand Arcam CD72T and 100 for a headphone amp - maybe a project headbox or similar. sorry did that budget include your headphones or am i correct in assuming you already have the SR60's?
John Duncan
Well-known member
I'm after something to use in my home office for serious listening away from the kids - hence desire for headphones. Ideally the unit size would be small, but it's not a major concern. I'm hoping for a CD and amplification for up to £250.
Thinking about it, could I do better than the Onkyo CR515? Would it power the headphones well enough?
Thinking about it, could I do better than the Onkyo CR515? Would it power the headphones well enough?
[quote user="bouverie"]
I'm after something to use in my home office for serious listening away from the kids - hence desire for headphones. Ideally the unit size would be small, but it's not a major concern. I'm hoping for a CD and amplification for up to £250.
Thinking about it, could I do better than the Onkyo CR515? Would it power the headphones well enough?
[/quote]
Yes, that would work very well, and also give you the choice of using speakers should you want.
Alternatively something like a clean used player and a Pro-ject HeadBox would work very well, though of course only for headphones.
There are some interesting buys at audio recyclers Green Home Electronics, such as a Pioneer PDS501 for £85, a Sony SCD-XB940 CD / SACD player for £145 and a battleship Technics SL-P777 for just £70. Any of these would be well suited to classical music with the Pro-ject and the Grados.
I'm after something to use in my home office for serious listening away from the kids - hence desire for headphones. Ideally the unit size would be small, but it's not a major concern. I'm hoping for a CD and amplification for up to £250.
Thinking about it, could I do better than the Onkyo CR515? Would it power the headphones well enough?
[/quote]
Yes, that would work very well, and also give you the choice of using speakers should you want.
Alternatively something like a clean used player and a Pro-ject HeadBox would work very well, though of course only for headphones.
There are some interesting buys at audio recyclers Green Home Electronics, such as a Pioneer PDS501 for £85, a Sony SCD-XB940 CD / SACD player for £145 and a battleship Technics SL-P777 for just £70. Any of these would be well suited to classical music with the Pro-ject and the Grados.
John Duncan
Well-known member
Well for that kind of money, there's not much better, though I like the Yamaha CRXM170 as well.
Though if you don't need the DAB (or speakers), a Marantz CD6002 for £200 is a great source, has a headphone socket with volume control thrown in, and would leave you £50 to spend on a modest headphone amp (£70 will get you a Project Headbox though.........) if you felt you needed it.
I'd stick all your CDs on the PC though - I presume there's one in your office - and add a £100 Beresford DAC, which will rival many a £3/4/500 CD player and has a headphone socket.........
Though if you don't need the DAB (or speakers), a Marantz CD6002 for £200 is a great source, has a headphone socket with volume control thrown in, and would leave you £50 to spend on a modest headphone amp (£70 will get you a Project Headbox though.........) if you felt you needed it.
I'd stick all your CDs on the PC though - I presume there's one in your office - and add a £100 Beresford DAC, which will rival many a £3/4/500 CD player and has a headphone socket.........
[quote user="Hughes123"]Oh no...my Ipod sounds better than my CD73 plugged into my A32...another problem...
[/quote]
Then there is definitely something wrong.
[/quote]
Then there is definitely something wrong.
John Duncan
Well-known member
nnnngggghhhhh (walk away, John, walk away.........)
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.
Alternatively, for a home office you could try a £30 experiment. Assuming you have a PC (and not laptop) and access to a standard hi-fi amp with a headphone jack, buy:
1. Maplin's 8 channel PCI sound card for £20. It is an Envy24HTS based sound card, equivalent to a Chaintech AV-710 and uses VIA arena standard drivers. You can route stereo sound via its rear 2 channel port which uses a Wolfson DAC and gives good analogue sound quality.(Google on Chaintech AV-710)
2. A jack to two phono connector for around £10 depending on quality, techlink wires cr68 for example.
I was sceptical before I tried this, but was surprised that this arrangement provided decent quality sound via my senn 595's when the analogue output of the sound card was feed to my ageing Rotel amp. This is using either ripped files or playing CDs on my PC's DVD drive.
The are plenty of s/hand amps on EBay.
It this doesn't appeal, then I'd go for PC/Laptop to Beresford DAC + maybe a dedicated headphone amp.
1. Maplin's 8 channel PCI sound card for £20. It is an Envy24HTS based sound card, equivalent to a Chaintech AV-710 and uses VIA arena standard drivers. You can route stereo sound via its rear 2 channel port which uses a Wolfson DAC and gives good analogue sound quality.(Google on Chaintech AV-710)
2. A jack to two phono connector for around £10 depending on quality, techlink wires cr68 for example.
I was sceptical before I tried this, but was surprised that this arrangement provided decent quality sound via my senn 595's when the analogue output of the sound card was feed to my ageing Rotel amp. This is using either ripped files or playing CDs on my PC's DVD drive.
The are plenty of s/hand amps on EBay.
It this doesn't appeal, then I'd go for PC/Laptop to Beresford DAC + maybe a dedicated headphone amp.
[quote user="BrightSpark"]
Alternatively, for a home office you could try a £30 experiment.
[/quote]
Except the OP said he didn't want to rip all his CDs.
Alternatively, for a home office you could try a £30 experiment.
[/quote]
Except the OP said he didn't want to rip all his CDs.
[quote user="JohnDuncan"]nnnngggghhhhh (walk away, John, walk away.........)
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.[/quote]
No, I believe you all about Arcam now. It's official - Arcam sucks...
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.[/quote]
No, I believe you all about Arcam now. It's official - Arcam sucks...
John Duncan
Well-known member
[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
[quote user="BrightSpark"]
Alternatively, for a home office you could try a £30 experiment.
[/quote]
Except the OP said he didn't want to rip all his CDs.
[/quote]
Yes, understood, we're just using threats and coercion to try to make them change their mind. Why not rip the CD only when they play one, for example - no time lost, use error correction for bit-perfect lossless copies, save 250 quid (or spend it on headphone amps), that sort of thing.
And for some reason I thought the OP was a her - or am I thinking of Madam Bouverie.........?
[quote user="BrightSpark"]
Alternatively, for a home office you could try a £30 experiment.
[/quote]
Except the OP said he didn't want to rip all his CDs.
[/quote]
Yes, understood, we're just using threats and coercion to try to make them change their mind. Why not rip the CD only when they play one, for example - no time lost, use error correction for bit-perfect lossless copies, save 250 quid (or spend it on headphone amps), that sort of thing.
And for some reason I thought the OP was a her - or am I thinking of Madam Bouverie.........?
[quote user="Hughes123"][quote user="JohnDuncan"]nnnngggghhhhh (walk away, John, walk away.........)
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.[/quote]
No, I believe you all about Arcam now. It's official - Arcam sucks...[/quote]
No. There is something wrong with your equipment. My much cheaper A80 is a wonderful amp.
The clue is in the word 'Arcam'.........
Darn, sorry - couldn't help myself. I apologise. I like Arcam. No, really I do.[/quote]
No, I believe you all about Arcam now. It's official - Arcam sucks...[/quote]
No. There is something wrong with your equipment. My much cheaper A80 is a wonderful amp.
Andrew, did I say the OP had to rip all his CDs? What can lose for a £30 experiment?
I'm just enjoying Trevor Pinnock's newest Brandenburg Concertos recordings on my Senn 595 connected to my old Rotel amp fed by my Chaintech AV-710 equivalent PCI sound card with a CD in the DVD drive of my PC and using Amarok/ALSA as the media player under Sidux, a 64 bit Debian based Linux distro.
I cannot claim this is audio nirvana, but before I spent serious cash on an external sound card and a DAC and a dedicated headphone amp, I'd be interested to know just what can result from a minimal outlay.
I'm just enjoying Trevor Pinnock's newest Brandenburg Concertos recordings on my Senn 595 connected to my old Rotel amp fed by my Chaintech AV-710 equivalent PCI sound card with a CD in the DVD drive of my PC and using Amarok/ALSA as the media player under Sidux, a 64 bit Debian based Linux distro.
I cannot claim this is audio nirvana, but before I spent serious cash on an external sound card and a DAC and a dedicated headphone amp, I'd be interested to know just what can result from a minimal outlay.
John Duncan
Well-known member
[quote user="BrightSpark"]
Did I say the OP had to rip his CDs?
What can lose for a £30 experiment?
[/quote]
£30?
Did I say the OP had to rip his CDs?
What can lose for a £30 experiment?
[/quote]
£30?
Yes just £30, does that sound so outlandish? The suggestion I made was my first step in providing music in my home office by combining my existing hi-fi and computer kit. It all depends what "qualtiy of sound" is acceptable to you. I went for a low cost option just to see what was possible. I was pleasantly surprised.
[quote user="BrightSpark"]Andrew, did I say the OP had to rip all his CDs?[/quote]
Alright, alright - keep yer Sennheisers on...
[quote user="BrightSpark"]...with a CD in the DVD drive of my PC...[/quote]
Shudders...
Alright, alright - keep yer Sennheisers on...
[quote user="BrightSpark"]...with a CD in the DVD drive of my PC...[/quote]
Shudders...
It's odd, because I seem to be able to make a bit-perfect copy of a standard retail CD with the CD in my DVD-ROM drive and a blank CD-R in my second DVD-RW drive.
My ears can't tell the difference between the CD-R and the original when played on my old Rotel RB-965BX.
Yet am I committing some kind of herecy by suggesting a CD played on the same computer DVD drive might just sound quite good, given the right ancillary kit?
My ears can't tell the difference between the CD-R and the original when played on my old Rotel RB-965BX.
Yet am I committing some kind of herecy by suggesting a CD played on the same computer DVD drive might just sound quite good, given the right ancillary kit?
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