PDA

View Full Version : What Your Favorite Audio Equipment?



Shady
02-05-2011, 01:53 AM
Musicians and audiophiles alike have one piece of equipment that they love more than anything else. Some have guitars, keyboards, drums, turntables, speakers etc. Pretty much anything that is involved in the audio process.

I'd say mine would have to be my headphones. No matter what I'm doing, watching a movie, recording and playing back a song or just listening to some good tunes I don't feel like I'm getting the full experience unless I have my headphones on. I rock Sony MDR-V700DJ's but I'm looking at some Allen & Heath XD-53's

Major Tool
02-05-2011, 03:35 AM
Nothing ever beat my old Victor Victrola. Yeah, all the new stuff is fancy and handy and convenient. But I'd give anything to be back in the old sitting room with the not-yet-Mrs. Tool and listening to some very pleasing music. Hiss, pops and all. Would give a lot to have it back again.

fricnjay
02-05-2011, 03:41 AM
As far as playback audio is concerned I cant do without my Yamaha MSP10 studio monitors, I hate home theater speakers for the most part. I am a critical music listener and like to here the recording the way it was really recorded not colored by equipment.

As far as playing music I cant do without my custom Warrior guitar. Sounds like nothing else I have ever played.

And as far as recording music I got to have Apogee converters.

Shady
02-05-2011, 03:44 AM
I don't blame you. Cd's have always been around for me but there are quite a few albums that I would love to experience on vinyl. My parents weren't big into popular music so their vinyl collection was a lot of classical, a little jazz and some choir stuff. I'm pretty sure Hendrix "Are You Experienced" will make my head explode if listened to in that format.

fricnjay
02-05-2011, 03:55 AM
I had a pretty decent record player at one time but I like my digital audio nowadays. Listening to vinyl is an experience but to do it properly costs a fortune. The needles I was using were 300 bucks alone and those were just decent ones. Getting good virgin vinyl is damn pricey too.

Shady
02-05-2011, 04:23 AM
Yeah, In this day and age you could spend a life savings on equipment and still be searching for the perfect sound. I would like to get some really nice studio monitors but I don't have a grand or more to spend on them and like you said finding a virgin vinyl would be costly. I've actually got a DJ Controller in the mail right now and should be arriving Monday. For the time being I'm going to have to stick to my monitor/DJ headphones for my quality checks. I'm gonna have to rig so I run unbalanced RCA out to a RCA to 1/8" into my computer for my master sound while doing all cueing through my headphones. End product will suffer but seeing as this is only the beginning of my DJ hobby I'm ok with it.

Until I come across some more money I will have to stick to the headphones. And to be honest they do a fairly good job. Better than my car audio and my computer speakers for that matter.

fricnjay
02-05-2011, 04:26 AM
You know shady I have seen some great deals on dj turntable setups at pawn shops, in road cases and all. :thumbsup:

Shady
02-05-2011, 04:42 AM
I will definitely have to look at pawn shops the next time I'm looking to pick up some equipment. I knew I'd be in the market eventually for either turntables or cdj's which I why I decided to buy a Denon MC-6000 over a Native Instrument S4. The MC-6000's primary function is that of a controller for 4-decks simultaneously using pretty much any DJ software on the market but it can also be a dedicated mixer. The S4 is reliant on a constant power supply from the computer and only usable when the computer is working. MC-6000 has an independent PS. These days its a whole lot easier to get started using the digital format.

I still wanna get a pair of tec 12s though.

fricnjay
02-05-2011, 04:51 AM
Yea and DJ vinyl is expensive to collect. I know guys who are obsessed they spend a fortune on making custom records to mix with. Even the DJ world seems to be going digital. The even make mixers that will run ipods now.

Shady
02-05-2011, 05:19 AM
To me the ipod "DJ" things are somewhat disrespectful to the art. It opens the door for making a mix at home, bringing it to a club or event, pressing play and look busy by twisting knobs on a deck you aren't using. Even though I'm getting a digital controller that has the ability to beat match with the press of a button I still plan on taking the time to learn it properly as it has pitch sliders. Once I've become extremely proficient then I'll use the button, just for ease.

I know a lot of old vinyl guys are switching over to timecoded vinyl. They keep the feel and look of playin on two tec12s but they don't have to haul around a crate wherever they go.

Noilly Pratt
02-05-2011, 06:57 AM
I love decent audio but with a family, I've never been able to afford them. I have a Denon cassette deck in the car and for the year (1992) it's very nice sounding. It had a CD changer but that died a little while ago.

Home stereo is an early Yamaha audio/video receiver (just RCA inputs/outputs) early 90's vintage I think. I have JVC speakers for the "A"s and Radio Shack Minimus 7's for the "B"s. Not 5.1 or anything but very clear and loud double stereo.

My fave? A Grundig console stereo. Currently not working, it's in my daughter's room. 12" woofers, mids, tweeters and also 2 full rangers on the side. It's a real thumper!

My current fave audio equipment that works is my Sony MDR XB500 headphones (XB = extended bass) teamed with my Sony MP3 player. Such clarity and detail!

But I do enjoy listening to vinyl. A friend of mine is a rabid early Elton John fan and in comparing my album collection said we should listen to both the vinyl version and the CD version of "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". The CD had the clarity and no pop edge, but the vinyl one had the power and the oomph of a live concert.

We did the same thing with Frampton Comes Alive and the same results...you could hear things in the CD version...more subtle stuff, but you felt the roar of his Gibson Les Paul right in your face with the Vinyl edition. I have a nice Sony Turntable with an expensive ($100 at the time) needle, vs a decent Toshiba CD player.

fricnjay
02-05-2011, 07:58 AM
I have a pretty decent home theater but I tell you who has a nice system is Anthem. I run an Outlaw 990 preamp and have nothing but matching Yamaha msp studio monitors for my 7.1. I did have my room mapped by an acoustics engineer which really helped with the standing waves in the room. Anthem is running an Anthem preamp and M&K speakers. Not sure what power amps he is using but personally I think those M&K's are some of the best home speakers money can buy. I do love my Outlaw pre though, it is so transparent. It is exactly what I like in an audio system, no color just perfect original detail.

Shady
04-20-2011, 09:14 PM
Just picked up a pair of Shure SRH750DJ's and I'm loving them. Clear highs, full bass and extremely light and comfortable. The earcups are slightly deeper than my old Sony MDR V700DJ headphones which means they aren't sitting directly on my ears. Its not as deep as some Sennheisers I've worn before. Those just feel ridiculous.

Hal-9000
04-20-2011, 09:19 PM
Dumb question Shady? (I have ghetto equipment in all respects, speakers, amps, comp speakers etc)

I use headphones quite a bit for music, games and now TV shows played via my computer.Are there decent, relatively cheap wireless headphones out there?

Shady
04-20-2011, 09:50 PM
I'm not a real expert on wireless headphones, unfortunately. I can understand why you'd like to get them though, I've thought about it several times. The issue with wireless headphone is to get the same quality out of them as wired headphones the price will be dramatically higher. With audio, quality is directly reflected in price (except for Beats by Dre. Overpriced big time). Sennheiser is suppose to have some pretty good wireless headphones. Might want to check out reviews on the RS 120 and RS 160. Not sure if Allen & Heath make wireless, theyre a bit more on the pro based side, Sony probably has a few good models and I would expect that Pioneer might too.

Hal-9000
04-20-2011, 10:21 PM
thanks mang...I'm new to the wireless world in general.Just bought my first keyboard/mouse combo (cheapest Logitech offering).
I still lift the keyboard carefully thinking there's a wire and it's gonna hit something on my desk :lol:

I hate using my headphones and falling asleep on the couch.I forget about the wire for a moment and comedy gold ensues :oops:

Noilly Pratt
04-21-2011, 02:47 PM
For headphone moments, I use my Sony Walkman. No, not the AM/FM bricks of old - now they're MP3 players. At Christmas for $40 I got an 8GB one and it says it has filtering to make MP3s sound better, and there's a definite sonic improvement. I was steered to get the "E" series as they have the more audiophile stuff inside. (better EQ) It also has a built in FM radio.

http://www.sonystyle.ca/wcsstore/SonyStyleStorefrontAssetStore/img/718x407/NWZE354BLK_1.png

At 8GB it holds a LOT of music. Just don't use the supplied headphones...get better ones.

FBD
04-21-2011, 04:44 PM
headphones...beyerdynamic dt770s :thumbsup: