Improving portable music listening

[valleycommando]

I currently have a set of AKG K450's which I use with Ipod or using homeshare on an Ipad (my music in stored in apple lossless format in Itunes).

I have £100 - !150 to spend on improving this set up and wonder whether my money would be better spent on a portable DAC & Headphone amp such as Fiio E17 or on better headphones such as the AKG K550's ??

Grateful for any advice

Thanks

 

[dalethorn]

I currently have a set of AKG K450's which I use with Ipod or using homeshare on an Ipad (my music in stored in apple lossless format in Itunes). I have £100 - !150 to spend on improving this set up and wonder whether my money would be better spent on a portable DAC & Headphone amp such as Fiio E17 or on better headphones such as the AKG K550's ?? Grateful for any advice - Thanks

You can get a miniscule improvement with a FiiO E17 etc., or if you're willing to stretch to £165 you can make a huge improvement with a Soundmagic HP100 headphone. The K550 sounds similar but not as good, but just as important, the HP100 is extremely comfortable while the K550 is notorious for a difficult fit. Once you get used to the very refined sound of a HP100, you can better evaluate the more subtle improvements an amp can make.