[PaulieB]

I have recently bought a pair of AKG k550 headphones and i am looking to get the best performance out of them.
 
I am currently using my laptop and ipod to play music but am considering buying a Fiio E17 or a CD player for around €200 to improve my listening experience.
 
The CD players Im looking at is the Yamaha CD S300 and the Marantz CD5004 or others in that category.
 
What option would be best for me?
 
Cheers

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I have recently bought a pair of AKG k550 headphones and i am looking to get the best performance out of them.
 
I am currently using my laptop and ipod to play music but am considering buying a Fiio E17 or a CD player for around €200 to improve my listening experience.
 
The CD players Im looking at is the Yamaha CD S300 and the Marantz CD5004 or others in that category.
 
What option would be best for me?

Get the Fiio E17 and get 320k or FLAC audio files for use on the laptop.

 

[PaulieB]

What is the benefits of this set up over the CD player please?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

What is the benefits of this set up over the CD player please?

If all your audio files are 320K or FLAC, and listen to your audio files thru the laptop, you really have no need for a "high end" CD player.
Also chances are the laptop audio hardware is not that great for driving headphones, (low cost DAC and high impedance headphone output jack).
So you really want to use the E17 (with it's better DAC and low impedance headphone output) to drive the headphones anyway.