[Thommohawk]

So yeah I read around these forums and I've read that apparently as a rule of thumb one should spend equal money on each supporting equipment (dac and headamp mainly) to whatever the headphones cost. This would also seem to explain why I've been unsatisfied with much cheaper portable dac/amps with my headphones.
 
Anyway the rig I have in mind all fall at about the max I'd wish to spend on this hobby (£200 ish on any one component) and so I've got the following on my list:
 
Cambridge Audio DAC Magic (£200 new)
 
Little Dot MK III tube amp (£200 new)
 
Beyerdynamic DT 880 premium 250ohms (£200 new) 
 
So obviously that's a grand total of £600 which is a lot of cash, but on the other hand it's no more money than what it costs for a good HD television or what it costs to purchase a Wii, PS3, 360 (which I've managed to amass over time lol) and in this case I want a rig that I can keep and be happy with knowing that each component is at the level it should be at in terms of quality relative to the headphones. 
 
So am I on the right track here ? I want something 'good' but at a 'fair' price for what I'm getting. You do get what you pay for but at the same time I don't wish to spend an extra £300 for wooden cups for example.

 

[Proglover]

Didn't hear the Cambridge DAC, but Audio GD's NFB-3 (promo price) is a fantastic DAC in that price range.

 

[ohhgourami]

audio-gd NFB-12 + DT880 600 ohm and done....
 
really consider getting a dac/amp combo.  cost are usually lower but you get a lot of bang for the buck.  audio-gd makes a lot of quality products at very affordable prices.

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

audio-gd NFB-12 + DT880 600 ohm and done....
 
really consider getting a dac/amp combo.  cost are usually lower but you get a lot of bang for the buck.  audio-gd makes a lot of quality products at very affordable prices.

That's a great bang for the buck offcourse. But dedicated also has it's advantages
 
 

 

[Thommohawk]

Thanks for the response guys, I'm considering Audio-GD DACs as there's only a £60 difference between the DacMagic vs Audio-GD NFB -3.....the only question that's going to stand is if the NFB-3 is significantly better than the DacMagic - it's only £60 dearer but that could also be significant. Definitely going for the LD MK III though to match my Beyer's, at least that much I've decided on. Get a proper amp that'll also act as an ornament lol.

 

[Proglover]

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/513697/audio-gd-dac19-df-or-cambridge-audio-dacmagic 
 
Especially post no3
 
NFB-3 is the succesor to DAC-19 (very very comparable)

 

[Thommohawk]

Cheers pro, much appreciated.
 
Looking forward to hearing my completed rig, hoping it's holy crap brilliant for the money I'm spending and considering my current rig and how much difference that (relatively modest) made compared to basic stuff. Or even good stuff on the really cheap end (Koss Porta Pro).
 
A standalone DAC and a standalone proper headamp. With one of the (id say top 10) most respected headphones on the market. I can only imagine the quality at this point! But hell, audio is an integral part of well music obviously, but also gaming, and movies, and television watching. I have a quality little HD television that's perfect for my sitting distance and well worth the 300-500 it costed me, I have an excellent all purpose machine in the PS3 which also is my blu ray player which is also well worth what I spent on it (more so I'd say), so now's just to get the audio on keel. Right now my headphones alone wow me (again well worth the 130 i spent) and yet I want more as the rest of my rig is basic stuff that isn't even amped properly as they're plugged straight into the tv jack lol....so with a real DAC and a proper head amp with a very well respected headphone - am I allowed to say holy effin hell ?! I hope so!
 
Btw, blu ray with headphones that have a wide soundstage, jesus christ it's awesome.

 

[Inquartata]

Do you have the blu-ray of Inception? I recently listened to those tracks via PS3 optical out/Astro MixAmp/and just a pair of SRH750DJs. OH MY GOD. I also tried some HFI 780s, but I couldn't get the sound low enough to not hurt my ears. (The 750DJs were right at the limit). With better components in the chain and even better headphones? I can't even imagine how awesome it'd sound.

 

[colmustard]

definitely go with the 600 ohm premium version of the dt880s

 

[Thommohawk]

Quote:

Do you have the blu-ray of Inception? I recently listened to those tracks via PS3 optical out/Astro MixAmp/and just a pair of SRH750DJs. OH MY GOD. I also tried some HFI 780s, but I couldn't get the sound low enough to not hurt my ears. (The 750DJs were right at the limit). With better components in the chain and even better headphones? I can't even imagine how awesome it'd sound.

I still haven't seen Inception lol, one of those movies I meant to watch but haven't gotten around to it yet....will do though as EVERYONE says it's awesome! Btw, PS3 is extremely underrated as a multimedia player, I use it for all my music, video and HD content and it does it all extremely well - music is a particularly surprising highlight. I have a 360 too which is good in this department (the music visuals are epic!) but PS3 does the audio better so dunno if it's got a better dac or amp or whatever lol. But It's also got digital output and lots of other options too so it wins by default. Only crappy thing is neither console supports FLAC lossless just WAV lossless.
 
Also the 600 ohm Beyer's are £60 more expensive than the 250ohm version and I'd have to purchase directly from Beyer....just how much difference is there honestly between the 250ohm and 600ohm Beyers ? I thought the ohms rating was just a case of how much difficult it is to drive and other than that it's the same headphone ? 

 

[revolink24]

The DACMagic is AWESOME.