[pdp7]

so i need to order a new set of headphones..my 4 year old sony's kicked the can last night. they were nothing terribly fancy, but worked well for what i needed, which was primarily gaming.


this time around, im going with a pair of ultrasone's. been eyeing them for awhile but never pulled the trigger. now again, i'll be using them primarily for gaming, but also to plow through some music (digital) ive not touched in quite some time. granted, they arent 5.1 which all the huge gaming oriented companies are flaunting, but i do just fine without it.


my questions:


the last pair of sony's plugged straight up to my integra 9.8, can i do the same with the ultrasone's? physically, i can. but for quality, would it be wise?


do i need one of those headphone amps/dacs?

 

[ndskyz]

Which Ultrasones did you get? Generally speaking they are fairly efficient cans that dont require a huge amount of power so you should be good with your integra 9.8 I have a Pair of Ultrasones Proline 750's and they work fine plugged into my Onkyo 804 when I want to listen to SACD's on the HT and they work just as well plugged into my little Logitech desk top 2.1 set up when Im on my main gaming rig.

 

[pdp7]

ordered the edition 8. cant wait for them to arrive. i have shure se530 iem's but the cord is way too short. dont really feel like plunking down for extension wiring so i'll save those for workouts. figure if the edition 8's are anything like the 530's im in for a treat.


when i use the 530's i couple it with a corda move. when i tried to run the 9.8 to corda, i was getting horrible static, regardless of the volume set on the integra or the corda...would this have anything to do with the quality of the corda or the connections?

 

[ndskyz]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pdp7 /forum/post/18257953


ordered the edition 8. cant wait for them to arrive. i have shure se530 iem's but the cord is way too short. dont really feel like plunking down for extension wiring so i'll save those for workouts. figure if the edition 8's are anything like the 530's im in for a treat.


when i use the 530's i couple it with a corda move. when i tried to run the 9.8 to corda, i was getting horrible static, regardless of the volume set on the integra or the corda...would this have anything to do with the quality of the corda or the connections?

The Ed 8's? Nice set of cans. Im really interested to know whats causing the static between the integra and the Corda. Meier makes GREAT stuff so I doubt you have a problem with the amp. How are you connecting the Integra to the Move. It could be interconnects. OR the output on the Integra has a grounding issue. Might want to check with Onkyo and see if they have any known issues with the output on the Integra. I do wonder if the Move will be enough to drive the Ed 8's. It should handle IEM's very well..but a full sized closed can like the Ed 8's may need a lil more current swing than a 9volt battery could provide. When I break out my big cans (AKG K701's) I have to hook them up to My Little Country Tube amp to make them sing!..power hungry cans are the 701's

I take it you have been to Head-fi.org? Great group of guys there with plenty of info for whatever questions you might have.

 

[pdp7]

i went to that head-fi site and they are a little extreme for my tastes.

while i respect the intricacies they can describe, for me simple and quality go a LONG way in my book without getting into foofoo talk


im connecting it from the headphone out from the integra right to the corda.

i power it via usb from the ps3. that's not really a concern now though so i'll just forget all about it since i have the ed8's coming and have even bigger problems haha.


that brought me to another altogether.

im looking at headphone amps, and connectoin wise im not really seeing too much that fits my needs. headroom has an amp with optical in, which works nice cause i have my opt out unused at the moment.


other than that, all other companies seem to offer rca. so if i go that route, how would i connect the 9.8 to the seperate headphone amp, designate it to zone 2?


here's an interesting thing i found doing a google search.. http://audiophilechina.com/cp-show.a..._id2=2&s_id=24


is the 6.35 out equivalent to the non metric 1/4"?


i googled your unit too, and it also has these tubes. resembling a lightbulb, i imagine they also wear like a lightbulb and break? how much of a hassle is it to replace these things? i like no fuss, no muss. but, i also appreciate quality..


edit..need clarification on this as well.

the higher the ohm number, the less power they need?

and conversely, the lower the ohm, the more power they need?


so your 701s are 62 ohm, and need lots of power...while the ed8's are 30 ohm...requiring even more power??



as you can tell im not an electrical engineer haha

 

[ndskyz]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pdp7 /forum/post/18261039


i went to that head-fi site and they are a little extreme for my tastes.

while i respect the intricacies they can describe, for me simple and quality go a LONG way in my book without getting into foofoo talk

LOL Foofoo talk..yes a lot of that there. But still good info none the less

Quote:
im connecting it from the headphone out from the integra right to the corda.

i power it via usb from the ps3. that's not really a concern now though so i'll just forget all about it since i have the ed8's coming and have even bigger problems haha.

Yeah too many problems there. You have an amp amplifing a signal thats allready been amplified. (The headphone out on the integra is already been amped, and you are running it into ANOTHER amp) Try to stay away from that

Quote:
other than that, all other companies seem to offer rca. so if i go that route, how would i connect the 9.8 to the seperate headphone amp, designate it to zone 2?

Yes that could work, or you could use the RCA output for the Tape or VCR You'll have a hard time finding an amp that has more than JUST RCA inputs. Because in the world of 1000 dollar headphones and headphone Amps you DO NOT want to keep adding more functionality to the unit because with each function you introduce you also introduce NOISE to the circuit.

Quote:
here's an interesting thing i found doing a google search..

is the 6.35 out equivalent to the non metric 1/4"?

Yes 6.3mm is the same as the 1/4 headphone jack..the BIG jack that wont fit into an Ipod. The Little Dot you found is one of the most talked about Tube Amps on Head-fi.org. But for 700 bucks it should be

Quote:
i googled your unit too, and it also has these tubes. resembling a lightbulb, i imagine they also wear like a lightbulb and break? how much of a hassle is it to replace these things?

Yes my Little Country does have tubes (lightbulbs) They last a long time and are easy to change as... well...a light bulb.

Quote:
i like no fuss, no muss. but, i also appreciate quality..

I think you'll be fine if you plug the Ed 8's into the headphone out of the Integra. Thats no fuss no muss. But I'd be willing to bet you'd get a lot better sound with a proper Headphone amp. All the reviews and comments I've read on the Ed 8's basically say "yes they sound ok/good when used with an Ipod, but really open up and sound excellent when they have a good clean source and amp behind them" I think you'll find that to be true with most headphones in the Plus 300 dollar range.

Quote:
edit..need clarification on this as well.

the higher the ohm number, the less power they need?

and conversely, the lower the ohm, the more power they need?

The opposite, the higher the Ohm the more power they need.

Quote:
so your 701s are 62 ohm, and need lots of power...while the ed8's are 30 ohm...requiring even more power??

Actually the 701's are rated at 62ohms but they have a very low sensitivity rating.. It's more that just the impedance of the cans you have to worry about. And without getting too foo foo. It's many different things that determine the power consumption of headphones.