Then I'd imagine next year would be very exciting for you; doing research on various equipment and shopping for parts. I heard many good things about the LCD-3, but I know very little about them (since they weren't available when I got my HD800 in 2010). Anyhow, good luck on your journey!

  9 ~ 12 months is actually not that long, if I were you, I'd start planning for that system. BTW, if you don't mind me asking, going from HD650 to LCD-3 (along with an amp & a DAC) is a pretty significant jump, are you very certain that LCD-3 is the one you want?

i7-3770k ASUS Maximus V Gene Vengeance LP 16GB DDR3-1600 (2 x 8GB) EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature Samsung 840 Pro 256GB + WD Scorpio Black 750 GB Corsair AX750 Silverstone FT03 Titanium   Might flip that 680 for an Maxwell next year, we'll see.

IMO, the best course of action is to get an external DAC and a dedicated headphone AMP. I sort of went through the same process a few years back, and I been happy with my decision. BTW, what equipment(s) are you using at the moment?

That depends on your budget, and your material source (lossless? lossy?)

  Quote:   You could get a Ducky Shine keyboard, budget permitting of course.

Looks like a Samsung to me, possibly the B2430H.

Quote:   That depends on your needs. If you're not a hardcore gamer, you could make your computer near-silent with a good case and a few good fans (ie. Noctua).

Mp3tag and TagScanner are both very good.

DJ Project - Mi-E Dor De Noi  

Do you need a headphone-only carrying case? Or would a messenger bag be okay?

  Quote:   Very nice setup, kudos to you.

Quote:     That's a lot of music... My music collection is only a modest 300 GB,

  Quote:   Heh, a lot of terms lose their meaning over time. You mentioned that you consider EMM, Zanden, dCS, & Esoteric to be highend and Bel Canto isn't. Well, that's what a 458 is like when it compares to a Bugatti Veyron.

  Quote:   It's just an analogy (probably not a very good one). Let get back on track and talk about Bel Canto again. To me, it's not highend, at least not in the strictest sense (performance wise), but does that mean that it really isn't highend? Who dictates that only the most...

  Quote:   I respectfully disagree with that statement. A Toyota Yaris is about $13,000. Sure, people in first world countries can easily afford that, but most people in a country like China can't (or your homeless example). It became a luxury item for them. The term highend is a...

Quote:   I see where you're coming from, but the thing is, the term highend has no predetermined definition.       Quote:   Then I suppose the Metronome Technologie's Kalista Ultimate SE CD Transport is super super highend then? Another example would be the Ferrari 458...

Quote:   There were plenty of expensive HP amps available in 2009... now, if we were to talk about the year I signed on, then yeah, there were relatively few... Anyway, back to the original topic, Bel Canto is generally considered to be high-end, Emotiva and Peachtree Audio, on the other...

CD to FLAC (via EAC) with two backups.

Quote:   That make sense. Now the million dollar question is.. just how do they compare with the established brands? It's unlikely I'll ever be able to go to their factory in Missouri and find out first hand for myself.     Quote:   They're quite a bit cheaper than the ATC...

Interesting indeed. Gonna throw in another potential contender: PMC AML2. I only have some very limited experience with PMC monitors, but I was very impressed with their sonic quality. At any rate, I did a little more digging on the Vapor Cirrus, and they do look quite intriguing (reminds me of...

KRK Rokit monitors are okay for their prices, but really, they are not highend. I think a pair of Manger MSMc1 could possibly compete with the Vapor Cirrus.   Quote:    

I've had the Genelec 8020B for a while, the sounds they produce are crystal clear and they have very nice imagining (quite impressive consider how small they are). However, if you want to use the 8020B as your primary monitors, you would probably need to get a sub. I have no experience with the...

Your wife sounds like an interesting gal... anyway, if you have that many pair of headphones, wouldn't it be easy for you to blend in any new pair that you get?   Quote: