3 ms·

I can agree that dac+amps make almost no difference, and there is a metric fsckton of snake oil. I do find that the difference between a pair of 100 euro headp

I can agree that dac+amps make almost no difference, and there is a metric fsckton of snake oil. I do find that the difference between a pair of 100 euro headphones and 400 euro headphones is quite obvious, though. Can you elaborate a bit? I think over about 800, the difference is pretty much gone -- with the caveat that might not hold if you're buying a set with a specific freq response in mind (e.g Beyer Dynamics cans tend to boost low and treble a bit, which is good for mixing, or Grados which make acoustic music sound absolutely massive etc)..

etempleton 3y ago
I generally agree, but to counter that I have worked in audio studios with full stack audio setups with some of the best professional gear available at the time and the audio that came through even a cheap pair of monitors was better than anything I have heard before or since.
- jlg23 3y ago
  I'd speculate that in audio studios a lot of thoughts/work go into acoustics of the rooms themselves. And it is done by professionals who have to work in that environment every day for several hours.
  - cyberpunk 3y ago
    Yep this. A studio engineer mate of mine recons room treatment is maybe 80% of the difference you can hear. Not many people are willing to install that much foam panelling, though.
numpad0 3y ago
I agree that there is a metric ton of snake oil but make no difference? That’s not true at all. Power consumption and capacitor sizes make tons of difference. Well warmed up Class A amps are great. Sad I don’t own one.
- hug 3y ago
  DACs? Beyond a very very cheap entry point they make no difference. Anyone telling you that DAC A is warmer sounding than DAC B is almost certainly a cork sniffer. Amps, however, obviously have an impact on the sound delivered — especially for high impedance headphones, or those that are otherwise difficult to drive (think some planar magnetically, etc). Again, though, anyone who thinks that relatively powerful amp A is significantly different to equivalently powerful amp B is almost certainly more interested in impressing other people with too much money than how kit actually sounds.
- cyberpunk 3y ago
  _almost_ no difference. Maybe I just have crap ears, but I’ve tried blind comparing headphone amps and honestly can’t tell any difference between my chord mojo, my schiit Valhalla and my ifi or dragonfly… They’re all fairly low end though I guess.

etempleton 3y ago

I generally agree, but to counter that I have worked in audio studios with full stack audio setups with some of the best professional gear available at the time and the audio that came through even a cheap pair of monitors was better than anything I have heard before or since.

jlg23 3y ago
I'd speculate that in audio studios a lot of thoughts/work go into acoustics of the rooms themselves. And it is done by professionals who have to work in that environment every day for several hours.
- cyberpunk 3y ago
  Yep this. A studio engineer mate of mine recons room treatment is maybe 80% of the difference you can hear. Not many people are willing to install that much foam panelling, though.

numpad0 3y ago

I agree that there is a metric ton of snake oil but make no difference? That’s not true at all. Power consumption and capacitor sizes make tons of difference. Well warmed up Class A amps are great. Sad I don’t own one.

hug 3y ago
DACs? Beyond a very very cheap entry point they make no difference. Anyone telling you that DAC A is warmer sounding than DAC B is almost certainly a cork sniffer. Amps, however, obviously have an impact on the sound delivered — especially for high impedance headphones, or those that are otherwise difficult to drive (think some planar magnetically, etc). Again, though, anyone who thinks that relatively powerful amp A is significantly different to equivalently powerful amp B is almost certainly more interested in impressing other people with too much money than how kit actually sounds.
cyberpunk 3y ago
_almost_ no difference. Maybe I just have crap ears, but I’ve tried blind comparing headphone amps and honestly can’t tell any difference between my chord mojo, my schiit Valhalla and my ifi or dragonfly… They’re all fairly low end though I guess.