What would be a good headphone/amp/dac to get started in the audiophile world?
Amp DAC to get started… I’d start small and simple.
amp/dac FiiO BTR 5
Headphones:
- KZ ZS10pro (some prefer Tin T2, both good)
- KSC 75
- Porta Pro
All of that performs well as a starter and good starter references. That’s my best answer given 0 information of preferences or what you’re looking for. The best answer is focusing music that isn’t on YouTube (slight pass if you pay for YouTube Music). The gear is fun but it’s there because of the music.
If you want a good setup you want to base it around the ifi zen dac. It’s a dac amp combo and is a hella good deal at 129. Now you have three options for headphones which I think are good for very new people. They are the Philips x2hr, shp9500 or shp 9600. What do you like to listen to? Depending on the answer we can narrow down the options or explore new categories. And a budget would also be helpful.
That’s actually a very solid recommendation. I would maybe change one of the Koss options for a more bassy option, like a Blon BL03 or a K361. Just to get some different flavor. Really good price to performance.
From there, you either give up because it was enough or at least have a nice idea of what you may want from your sound.
Very true, changing some settings in Spotify makes as much difference as changing to $200 cans. Change quality and disable volume normalization.
Solid options, would maybe throw in the mix
Sennheiser HD58X/6XX, AKG K361 and maybe a Hifiman 4XX/5XX if you’re planar curious. But this is maybe if you want to spend a bit more.
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Depending on budget… but maybe: JDS Atom stack (dac & amp) and HE-4XX. This is what I started with. 