Hi,
3 years ago I’ve decided to buy a good pair of headphones and I’ve discovered at the same time the obscur world of audiophiles.
At this time I was very enthusiastic about all the things that I could read and I finally bought a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 for a really good price and because everyone was saying that it needed a lot of power I also bought a Fiio A5 to use it with my phone (I hadn’t a lot of money to spend, my priority was a nice pair of headphones).
When all this package arrived I was surprised (and a little bit embarrassed) that my phone was perfectly capable of pushing these headphones, the fiio A5 didn’t change anything in the sound but it just aded more power (that’s what it’s designed for but
I don’t need to listen to music at 130 db to appreciate it) and it was highly impractical... I also tried mp3 vs flac 16 bit and even 24 bit and once again i was a little embarrassed because i couldn’t tell any difference (I’m young and I’ve got all my hearing capabilities...) or if there is a difference I absolutely don’t care because
I think that it is not worth all the money and effort vs spotify... (maybe with a better dac ???)
Since this time i listen to spotify with my Samsung S10e and my HD-650 almost every day and I’m perfectly fine with it, I’m always between 1/3 and 2/3 of the volume... and I think that the majority of the audiophiles are full of s _ _ _ (sorry)
But with the quarantine happening in Europe I dive back into this world and I’ve discovered this forum wich seems more serious and « scientific » than most.
My questions are the following :
1) If I buy a good dac (like Topping D50s) and a good headphone amp (like THX 887) will it make an
easily noticeable difference in sound quality vs my phone or will it be same difference between mp3 and flac 24 bit ? As i said before i don’t care if that’s just a little difference barely noticeable with more power :-/
2) I would like to use spotify via my phone or my iPad wirelessly : if I use a bluetooth dac (like Fiio BTR5 or iFI Zen Blue), will it
noticeably degrade the audio quality (spotify) vs a more classic dac ?
3) Fiio A5 vs Monoprice THX 887, same question : is the upgrade
easily noticeable for my ears or is the THX 887 just an excessive amount of power and better curves in theory ?
I understand that my questions can look totally stupid for some people who care about every little differences they can hear whatever the cost (and I have absolutely no problem with that) but please keep in mind that I’ve never tried anything else than my phone and my Fiio A5 and I’m not interested in some minor upgrades
(please excuse me if my english is not perfect and for this long and stupid message)