I'm on some semi-audiophile adventures right now. I just got a Fiio A3 amp and Grado SR80e headphones. I've been listening to both the Grados and my Tin Audio T2 IEMs with the amp, and it's a very nice experience.
Next up: upgrading my turntable so I can listen to my LPs without fear of scratching them. Currently I'm only listening to streaming music. High bit-rate, but still.
@SelectElderberry That sounds like some nice experimenting, William. I do have a Fiio and enjoy the sound, it drives full sized headphones well.
Plus can be an external DAC and sound card for a laptop, and very portable.
Vynil, was all I had in older times, and the maintenance to keep them clean wasn't very fun. 😄
@SelectElderberry
I had the same experience too, listening to music from LPs, which molds my listening habits to this very day -- enjoyin an entire album, more than tracks mixed in playlists.
Although I love the randomness in some great Spotify radio. We wouldn't do that kind of thing back then, it was too time consuming.
Put the record on, sit and enjoy the album art, have some conversation. And was so nice to get some new LPs to listen to, even if borrowed for a short time.
Remember listening to a cassete tape all night, when it was the only one we had. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon all night. 😄
We have unfettered access to music now, even free accounts on streaming servers allow more music than we could dream of having back on the day, eh?
My Fiio is impressive, and reachargeable, plus the DAC capability.
Headphones, real ones, can't sound good with anemic phone or laptop outputs driving them.
And Fiio products are reasonably priced to boot. 😉
@design_RG I still like putting on LPs in social situations for that exact reason! I think they make a good antidote to my own inclination to put on this single, then that one, then another, and just kind of keep skipping around.
I didn't realize I could use the Fiio as a DAC, but now that I know that I'm sure as hell going to use it that way! I tend to use Bose QC35s at work (open office plan, yay) but a DAC would still improve the music quality!
@SelectElderberry Yes, that DAC capabilty is wonderful, I imagine most devices we use to play will have low cost DAC chips on them, and we take their output thru the amp.
Haven't connected mine in that way yet, but remember reading the documentation and it explains. A USB connection to a laptop shows as a external sound card, and you just play thru it. My Fiio is a simpler model, but I still find it impressive, love the rechargeable battery and other features.
Bought a simpler small amp years ago from a small builder, but it required battery swapping, not so practical.
Playing the LPs when having guests is a great idea. 😄
@design_RG
I've been impressed. Portable amps have come a long way since I last used one, 10 years ago.
I grew up with vinyl and cassettes, but not in today's audiophile sense 😂