So, I think my humble collection of gears deserves it's own cyberspace (my best half would have preferred the trash-space...
)
I start from the beginning: I always enjoyed headphones, and I tend to use them any time I must pay close attention to instruments, for example when I have to learn a new song (I play drums). Here is my beloved headphones: Akg (600 ohm) and Yamaha HP-2
I used to have also a Koss HV-1/A, but one of the speakers broke and I'm still searching for a suitable replacement...
When I listen through 'phones I can't stand any hum, so I prefer battery amps (on the right a Quicksand clone and on the left a "soundstage expander"):
But headphones are huge, not so comfortable during hot summer days and, above all, they need extra space in a listening room
... so I caught this earphones bug...
From upper left to lower right:
Fareal Narcissus (300 ohm); Monk+, the bud that started all; K's 64 ohm (nice and good looking!); EMX500S, a fun V-Shaped bud; Rose Mini, my reference, a super neutral IEM; Monk Lite 120 ohm and Odissey portable DAC, a match made in heaven, the quality of Monk+ with bass!; the cell options: Monk+ and Vido, both with mic. Higly recommended!; the high z gang: ty 150 ohm and GM500 300 ohm, the first is really good, the second is like Narcissus, good midband but no bass...
For amplification duty (any bud above 64 ohm benefit from amplification IMHO), I built a Cmoy (powerful, but not so refined), then I built this one:
https://headfonics.com/2017/06/the-class-a-nhb-pocket-amp-by-xrk-audio/What can I say? Fullrange speakers and class A amps sing like angels in heaven! (cit. DiyAudio)
Small amps and earbud can happily live in the clearance space under the plinth...
I also enjoy portable audio...here is my "on the go" DAP-AMP setup (Xduoo X10):
What have I learned so far? If you are on tight budget and tight space, earphones is the way to go. So much fun for so little money (say less than 200€ for my whole earbuds collection, 100€ for both portable amps and € 80 for the dap - with a bit of luck on ebay).
Cheers!
