portable amp advice needed: dt880 (32ohm) + cowon j3

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Enzyme

… please stick to my original question and stop hijacking the thread.

… your not using my system, you dont have my ears or perception of sound and your basing your facts on various dodgy websites like gizmodo rather than on your own well layed out experiments. …

… admins or moderators..please can you clean up this post a lil as its getting ludicrous in relation to the title and tainted …

If this thread doesn’t get back on track I’ll close it, the derailing was started when you began the cable discussion in post #11. At this point I’m reluctant to start deleting as the “myths” you posted should be challenged. It appears that you have different beliefs than most of us and spreading those myths here without facts to back them up only perpetuates them, which is what Enimatic, jupitreas and I tried to point out.

You would do yourself a huge favor by reading the articles Enimatic linked from Audio Wired Wisdom, Gizmodo and The Audio Critic. I would recommend starting out with the Audio Critic and #10, hopefully one of the articles will hit home with you and inspire you to do your own ABX testing as many of us have.

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[Enzyme]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

If this thread doesn’t get back on track I’ll close it, the derailing was started when you began the cable discussion in post #11. At this point I’m reluctant to start deleting as the “myths” you posted should be challenged. It appears that you have different beliefs than most of us and spreading those myths here without facts to back them up only perpetuates them, which is what Enimatic, jupitreas and I tried to point out.

You would do yourself a huge favor by reading the articles Enimatic linked from Audio Wired Wisdom, Gizmodo and The Audio Critic. I would recommend starting out with the Audio Critic and #10, hopefully one of the articles will hit home with you and inspire you to do your own ABX testing as many of us have.

i mentioned that i was looking at replacing my cable as a passing comment relating to my budget, i did not start a discussion about it as you claim, nor did i make any comment that would bias somebody either way, at least not until enigmatic started bitching about it and pushing his own, and your own views.

if thats what i had intended i would have found or created a thread regarding that.

in return i recieved a torrent of lecturing in regards to that with no real reason, as i hadn't yet given you the reasons for which i was looking into the cable replacement, the lecturing has nothing at all to do with the subject for which i was asking advice, as you well know, or i at least hope your able to see that as a moderator.

it seems i stumbled into a kiddy rage war on par with psp vs xbox, i wont be making that mistake again, and i was getting great advice up until enigmatic started derailing the post.


so please, tell me again, as an administrator...why should i be looking at these various links that have nothing to do with my question?


i did happen to look at the one you suggested and i see nothing there that i havent already said, when listening to a massive arrangement of files, (with a lot of duplicates that i myself have converted very carefully from flac to ogg) with no way of knowing which is which, i can easily tell the difference with the dsp effects applied (effects which i wish to keep in place, and remember the j3 uses effects which restore lossy detail, which is most of what im hearing), it happens all to often, to the point that it annoys the hell out of me.
i guess im like the mechanic mentioned in your link^^
like i said im picky and... >pay attention to detail<

also what myths?
that beyer wire is not well insulated and picks up rf?
tell me how you know what interference i get here!

that there is no noticable difference in vbr and cbr?
well that you believe that is the case really suprises me .

that a properly produced cable does indeed sound better than a coathanger?
that is my opinion, one that was drawnout of me by the other members that you seem to be favouring, not an argument, and again you are failing to understand that a coathanger has breaks and flaws in its build ..and no insulation.
this does affect signal transfer and it was a ridiculous comparison.

also bear in mind i have other reasons for changing cable which i have not mentioned.
such as looks, i want a red cable to match my modified phones (which i found mogami make), i also want a slightly different outer cable thickness to fit perfectly with the jack ive been hoarding for such an occasion (and guess what, its not even a gold jack).

and then there is the length, im going to put a shorter cable if its cutting the original or buying new, buying new is reasonable, it costs about 25usd for 4 feet (no more than a standard run of the mill insulated cable), its a nice shade of red, its well insulated, its the right thickness, and i get to keep the original cable for use as an extension.

all there if you had thought to ask, but then you should ask in another thread not in my simple help request!

im looking for advice on a decent quality amp, nothing more.

so please if your going to join in this unnecessary pissing contest please as a moderator read my replies properly (which you should really have done from the start).
im not interested In any opinions relating to cable and recording formats, i'm quite happy with my knowledge regarding those and you and your lil fanboy is taking things vastly out of context in relation to some long lived argument that has nothing at all to do with this thread.

i'm guessing you will close this thread rather than deleting the previous few non related posts as it doesnt fit into whatever argument you are trying to continue here, but i do ask that you leave the initial questions in place.

thank you


so yeah, jupitreas..

Anyway, back to the issue at hand, I am afraid I don't really know what amp would let you achieve a much higher volume than your J3... The FiiO E9 comes to mind but it has a high output impedance, which might make it unusable with the 32 Ohm Beyer...

i'm only looking for maybe a 15-20% boost in volume nothing too extreme :\
in fact i think i probably need to write this extremely carefully, the max volume on the j3 is about as loud as i need it, although running it at max volume is not good for battery life.

at volume lvl 38\40 the midrange comes through nicely compared to anything lower (regardless of eq and dsp settings), im looking to increase that boost in clarity\definition into the lower volume range of the j3 so i dont have to have the phones up hugely loud in order to get the clarity\warmth\mid levels\\\whatever the right term is.

with the x-fi and its in\out adapting feature i get that great defined sound, i can even plug in the j3 with it's volume set at 0 and it still comes out the same as full power from the j3, so in my mind it is not the output levels or eq on the j3 that is an issue.
with ohm's and sensitivity i dont know enough to make a decision on a fix for this, it seemed sensible to me that there was a driving power issue and so the amps were down as a possible fix.

i might also add the x-fi has an audio mastering mode which disables any and all effects of the card and provides a clean input\output, so i do not think the card is adding anything to the sound.

[sideways]

Meh, too many words.

TL;DR of this thread:

- OP wants an AMP for his j3 + dt 880 combo
- Cables do not improve sound quality
- OP wants to recable for reason unrelated to SQ

[WalkGood]

I’m not going to carry on this discussion as it appears to be one sided. If you read from your post 11 it’s possible that we got the wrong impression or meaning from you, but its your posts that come across as argumentative and I already noted that you edited out the name calling (good move). Let’s get it back on topic or I’ll surely close it.

Your post 11

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

You want to upgrade your headphone’s cable?

Originally Posted by jupitreas

... please don't buy cable upgrades since they won't improve the sound in any way, this is basically a scientific fact by this point. There is a lack of concrete evidence that they improve sound, while there are plenty of rigorous tests that suggest they are nothing but placebo. Recabling a headphone only makes sense if what you want is more practicality or a certain aesthetic choice.

Originally Posted by Enzyme

... as for wire being placebo, you make a pretty bold statement there. i can imagine in some cases this is true, but if your telling me a strip of silver doesnt have different affects on conductance\sound compared to ...lets say a paperclip. then i have to disagree, professional audio engineers have worked for many years trying to find the correct materials, and spend many thousands of pounds on studio cables in order to get the most accurate sound possible, there is truth in this very technical chemistry and it is far from placebo.

i have done various upgrades to my hi-fi systems over the years, and cheap wire sounds cheap. ....

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

It is the placebo effect.

http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/Wired%20Wisdom.pdf,
http://gizmodo.com/315250/pear-cable...ch-for-answers,
http://gizmodo.com/363154/audiophile...-a-coat-hanger,
http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf:Perhaps you should take a look at the following thread starting at post number five.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=66109.

Originally Posted by Enzyme

umm no its not the placebo effect.

nuff said.

the beyers dont come with decent quality cable with decent quality shielding. ... there is also crossfeed from the signal lines of poorly constructed cable to consider as well as rf interference,
the issue of wire gauge vs length and multi\single core cable differences (most of which fall into the brains perception of sound in regards to timing).

research "brainwave synchronization"

there are many advantages to not using basic cable, and i severely doubt that over the years, during constant testing in high tech scenarios such as professional studios that allll these people have got it wrong and should save money by using coathanger wire or even mains cable with some shielding around it and decent plugs (i have actually done that while being a bit broke and it sounds pretty crap).

i wouldnt bother taking gizmodo info as fact, they have some useful stuff but are often well off in there conclusions and results, they are not audio specialists.

tbh i'd take the fact that the professionals use (and have always used) high quality cable, as a sign that the websites are wrong.
money speaks a great deal louder than words.

you might also want to ask why amplifiers in general try to avoid wiring and circuit boards altogether and the top of the range components use point to point connections.

re cbr\vbr i have read that thread before, just remember your allowing a machine to gauge what can and cant be heard, what can be cut as silence and what should be kept, stepped waveforms do not sound the same as smooth waves, by using vbr the data is deeply stepped, in cbr it retains some of the depth found in the original wave form, and again i find it quite obvious when listening to a vbr recording that i know well, that it is just that. so i stick with cbr 320 for my ogg's if using the highest settings in vbr then there is no real difference in file size size. its a null point.
mp3\ogg encoding is still in its infancy and is best avoided. ...

I’m passing on recommending any amps as I don’t have one in the sub $200 price range and so far I haven’t liked the lower budget ones that I’ve tried out. That said, dfkt speaks positive on the headstage arrow and his review is here

[Enzyme]

wrong impression indeed.
thanks for clarifying sideways.

and thank you kindly for your last piece of advice walkgood , it's perfect

.V..