AtlanticMadness
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2012
- Posts
- 5
- Likes
- 10
Hello guys. (TL;DR below) I'm pretty new to audiophile gear, but I'm looking to get a somewhat good home setup going for under $500. Seeing as it's Black Friday weekend. I figured it would be a good time as any.
My old setup was simply plugging my m50's straight into my desktop's headphone jack.
Well now my M50's are broken (lent them to a friend for too long). And my computers headphone jack is a bit loose/pushed in causing me to do some annoying twiddling back and forth to get the proper sound of it. Line in at the back of my case simply does not cut it, I loose a lot of little details in my music compared to using the headphone jack.
I'm not fully schooled on the glossary of terms so I won't try and describe the sound I'm looking for, but for starters, I'm looking for something that can pick up on the m50's shortcomings and perhaps polish what already excels at.
I listen to a very wide variety of genres, everything from folk to hardcore, soul, classical, hip-hop, punk, pop, younameit. If I had to pick one I listen to the most I'd say Progressive/Experimental Rock. At times the songs can get quite busy and complex with tempos switching abruptly. I'd like a set of cans that can keep up with this and clearly highlight every nuance and detail in the track. I'd really like to hear as much as I can, close to the way it was intended to be heard. A nice full sound if that makes any sense.
Hopefully you'll get where I'm coming from. I have no idea what would cater to the sound I like. I suppose something neutral would be ideal? I would prefer something closed, only because I am concerned about external sounds interfering with my listening experience (I live on a busy street in NYC, none of my rooms are 'silent'). I also don't want my music being heard 50 feet away if I decide to use it outside of home. I don't know how much of an issue or not this is with open designed headphones.
As for DAC/AMPs, portable or not doesn't matter to me, but with my budget I suppose portable is what I'll get.
Am I asking for too much for my budget? I'm a neophyte to all of this, so it's a tad overwhelming, but some input/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
TL;DR:
Sorry for being long-winded, I'm just looking for the best mileage out of my budget and I'm a bit lost.
My old setup was simply plugging my m50's straight into my desktop's headphone jack.
Well now my M50's are broken (lent them to a friend for too long). And my computers headphone jack is a bit loose/pushed in causing me to do some annoying twiddling back and forth to get the proper sound of it. Line in at the back of my case simply does not cut it, I loose a lot of little details in my music compared to using the headphone jack.
I'm not fully schooled on the glossary of terms so I won't try and describe the sound I'm looking for, but for starters, I'm looking for something that can pick up on the m50's shortcomings and perhaps polish what already excels at.
I listen to a very wide variety of genres, everything from folk to hardcore, soul, classical, hip-hop, punk, pop, younameit. If I had to pick one I listen to the most I'd say Progressive/Experimental Rock. At times the songs can get quite busy and complex with tempos switching abruptly. I'd like a set of cans that can keep up with this and clearly highlight every nuance and detail in the track. I'd really like to hear as much as I can, close to the way it was intended to be heard. A nice full sound if that makes any sense.
Hopefully you'll get where I'm coming from. I have no idea what would cater to the sound I like. I suppose something neutral would be ideal? I would prefer something closed, only because I am concerned about external sounds interfering with my listening experience (I live on a busy street in NYC, none of my rooms are 'silent'). I also don't want my music being heard 50 feet away if I decide to use it outside of home. I don't know how much of an issue or not this is with open designed headphones.
As for DAC/AMPs, portable or not doesn't matter to me, but with my budget I suppose portable is what I'll get.
Am I asking for too much for my budget? I'm a neophyte to all of this, so it's a tad overwhelming, but some input/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
TL;DR:
- $500 max budget
- Need upgrade from ATH M50
- Beginner, need closed headphone + DAC/AMP
- PC source
- Music is my #1 concern over everything, but I do quite a bit of gaming
- Multiple genres
Sorry for being long-winded, I'm just looking for the best mileage out of my budget and I'm a bit lost.