31–40 of 66 posts
A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too. (I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)
A $20 USB soundcard also seems to help, if your source is a laptop.
A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too. (I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)
Although unscientific, I played some tones on youtube in the office and the twenty somethings could hear almost 20kHz and the forty somethings couldn't hear anything by the time the frequency sweep was just below 15kHz.
edit - added references:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/sonicimpact/t_2.html
Audiophile & Student checking in here. Most people don't realize that there is gold on craigslist that older crowd is throwing out due to their wives nagging ("These speakers are too big.." etc) I've put together an amazing system using Polk SDA-2b's, Parasound HCA-1200, & Onkyo TS-DX787(as a preamp)(donated) and behringer uca-202 DAC for under 300 dollars. Cables are all monoprice and it blows my mind that people pa…
A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too. (I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)
A $20 USB soundcard also seems to help, if your source is a laptop.
There's huge variation in quality of headphone-out on computers. I'm sure some are good, and most Apple products are at least ok, but I've usually found even the lowest end (CMOY, Filo, etc.) is a big improvement.
(plus, the amp is really helpful for high-impedance headphones. Mine range from ~30 to ~600 Ohm.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who spends far too much money on 20+ years old cars, I think I have to agree with you. Being an audiophile is a bit like being a car enthusiast: there really is nothing rational about spending so much money on something that most people don't see the value of, something that is so subjective that you can't explain it to them. I think in the end, it's more about the joy you get out of the idea of being able…
At least you could tell the difference between a cheap car and an expensive car in a blind test.
I would disagree with the initial premise that it's about the pursuit of "perfect sound reproduction". There's many people who do that, but that's not what the audiophile world really has become. It's about a bunch of hand waving and big checkbook spending to impress other audiophiles. Oddly, that describes a lot of "hobbies". Nobody who feels that a $4,000 power cable is important has any semblance of sanity remaini…
As with most hobbies.
Audiophile & Student checking in here. Most people don't realize that there is gold on craigslist that older crowd is throwing out due to their wives nagging ("These speakers are too big.." etc) I've put together an amazing system using Polk SDA-2b's, Parasound HCA-1200, & Onkyo TS-DX787(as a preamp)(donated) and behringer uca-202 DAC for under 300 dollars. Cables are all monoprice and it blows my mind that people pa…