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Posted by Spire on May-05-2009 05:01:

Headphones + Amp for US$200-250?

I know there are threads on this topic every day, but would someone recommend me a reference headphones + headphone amplifier combination for a budget of about 200-250 USD?

I will be producing on my Dell Latitude E6400 which has a crappy inbuilt soundcard; it plays surprisingly well with ASIO4ALL however. I hope to create the best personal listening environment possible without going for monitors (mostly because of sound level and 'portability' issues.

So cans like the AKG K240/K271 are 'on my list', I would love to hear other suggestions, along with a few suggestions for headphone amplifiers to go with these headphones and my laptop.

Thank you!

Oh and I am stuck in the middle of nowhere so can't go to a store and audition headphones (I figure you guys probably won't like to hear this). I am just going to go buy what electronic music producers here use and recommend, and then adapt myself to them as much as possible.

Posted by CReddick on May-05-2009 18:41:

Re: Headphones + Amp for US$200-250?

quote:
Originally posted by Spire
I know there are threads on this topic every day, but would someone recommend me a reference headphones + headphone amplifier combination for a budget of about 200-250 USD?

I will be producing on my Dell Latitude E6400 which has a crappy inbuilt soundcard; it plays surprisingly well with ASIO4ALL however. I hope to create the best personal listening environment possible without going for monitors (mostly because of sound level and 'portability' issues.

So cans like the AKG K240/K271 are 'on my list', I would love to hear other suggestions, along with a few suggestions for headphone amplifiers to go with these headphones and my laptop.

Thank you!

Oh and I am stuck in the middle of nowhere so can't go to a store and audition headphones (I figure you guys probably won't like to hear this). I am just going to go buy what electronic music producers here use and recommend, and then adapt myself to them as much as possible.

Honestly, I'd say spend the $250 on cans and get an amp when you've got some more $ saved up. Whatever combination you get for $250 probably isn't worth it.

I'm a subscriber to 'do it right the first time'. I've heard the prototype of these Zodiac DAC boxes and it was mind blowing. http://antelopeaudio.com/en/index.html

Posted by Spire on May-06-2009 00:58:

Aha, thank you for your reply.

How much is that shiny thing expected to cost? I've read on the other trance forum about a user spending about 150 euros on a set of cans, and just 20 euros for the amp; hence I figured that amps ought to be a nominal incremental cost over the cost of headphones...

I thought a CMoy amp connected to the headphones jack on my laptop is more than enough for my new headphones.

Posted by CReddick on May-06-2009 01:52:

quote:
Originally posted by Spire
Aha, thank you for your reply.

How much is that shiny thing expected to cost? I've read on the other trance forum about a user spending about 150 euros on a set of cans, and just 20 euros for the amp; hence I figured that amps ought to be a nominal incremental cost over the cost of headphones...

I thought a CMoy amp connected to the headphones jack on my laptop is more than enough for my new headphones.

I see what you mean, you're just looking for an amp that works better than the built in PC stuff. The antelope box i 'think' is going to retail for around $1195 USD... don't quote me on that.