Audiophiles in India, a rare sight!

[moshel]

hello guys,

it feels good to know that there are people in India who care about good quality music. Until 2 days back i didnt know such people exist here.

Well the best thing is that I can finally get my queries sorted out for my upgrades.

Kudos to all my new mates!

regards,
Moshel

 

[Asit]

A very warm welcome to the forum, moshel.

You can start by letting everybody know about your system and your musical preferences.

 

[marsilians]

In a country of > 1.15 Billion, I would guess that we have some of every kind simply by the law of statitics. So no surprises.

Welcome to the forum!

hello guys,

it feels good to know that there are people in India who care about good quality music. Until 2 days back i didnt know such people exist here.

Well the best thing is that I can finally get my queries sorted out for my upgrades.

Kudos to all my new mates!

regards,
Moshel

 

[moshel]

thanks alot for your wishes.

Well i dont have a extensive rig, I am in the process of building one, and this is the start.

I have a Sony DAV-DZ120K HT system, however the DVD player is not working so its mostly useless, and i cant even change the dvd player as the speaker cables are different.

other than that I have a PC connected to Altec Lansing 621 speakers, which I must say are very very good.

for a more private listening i have Sennheiser HD212 pro hooked up to crossroads headphone amp. Dont like the boomy and loose bass of the HD 212 but hooking it to the amp, made the bass more meaningful and tight. without the amp the bass seems to be prolonged. in other words, i get the feeling as the bass is slowly fading after every beat.

my plan!
currently:
1st thing is to get a 2 channel stereo amplifier to hookup to my PC via usb, so that i can connect my altec lansings and HD212 as required.
2nd, get a pair of passive bookshelf speakers, I am looking at the wharfedale 9.1 diamond (dont remember the exact name), heard that those cost about 9k to 11K, is it true?
this is only for my music listening

long term plan
1. get a av receiver with HDMI capabilities
2. 5.1 channel passive speakers including floor standers
3. a full HD LCD TV
4. DLP projector with HDMI

I listen to rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, pop, rock and classics from the likes of ABBA.

I like my music with a lot of clarity and detail. every guitar string should be heard and that too without any coloring (unfortunately till date i havent heard any music without coloring, as almost all products available in the market add coloring). Bass is something that is essential, but too much of it puts me off. I dont like it when a overpowered bass drowns the sound of the mids.

 

[moserw]

Welcome. Great to have you onboard.

 

[moserw]

my plan!
currently:
1st thing is to get a 2 channel stereo amplifier to hookup to my PC via usb, so that i can connect my altec lansings and HD212 as required.
2nd, get a pair of passive bookshelf speakers, I am looking at the wharfedale 9.1 diamond (dont remember the exact name), heard that those cost about 9k to 11K, is it true?
this is only for my music listening

Explore a high end/audiophile soundcard like the Asus Xonar Essence STX. It works great for speakers and headphones too. SQ is amazing, you've to hear it to believe it. Of course content like FLAC and other lossless formats helps. You can go for powered speakers/monitors from Audioengine, Genelec, etc. AVI ADM 9.1 is another great option.

long term plan
1. get a av receiver with HDMI capabilities
2. 5.1 channel passive speakers including floor standers
3. a full HD LCD TV
4. DLP projector with HDMI

I listen to rap, Hip-Hop, R&B, pop, rock and classics from the likes of ABBA.

I like my music with a lot of clarity and detail. every guitar string should be heard and that too without any coloring (unfortunately till date i havent heard any music without coloring, as almost all products available in the market add coloring). Bass is something that is essential, but too much of it puts me off. I dont like it when a overpowered bass drowns the sound of the mids.

Here you can concentrate on an AVR that does great for music and movies like the new Yamaha range, HK, etc. Still I've found keeping music and movies separate is much better in the long run. In any event a single AVR should do instead of going for an AVR for movies and 2 channel stereo amp for music. Also, improving the soundcard and speakers for the PC will give you very good mileage at a fraction of the cost.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Hi ,
Just my thought,
Your altec is poweed speakers - so cannot be connected to amplifier.
Anyway these are good speakers.
For 2 channel at least I can suggest you can go for used rout. At least in mumbai you can find a lot of good stuff.

 

[moshel]

Explore a high end/audiophile soundcard like the Asus Xonar Essence STX.

i read the review for this soundcard but cant find the price in indian rupees.

secondly,
The back of the card has "RCA Jack: *2 (Front R/ Front L), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Headphone out), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Mic/Line-In)
Digital S/PDIF Output: Coaxial/ Toslink Combo"

does this mean that i can connect my altec lansings and HD212's simultaneously? (that is the most important thing for me). i believe the speaker cable would go into the RCA to 3.5mm convertor which is bundled along and a headphone out is also provided separately.

can this drive passive speakers too?

how good are the powered speakers like Audio engine 2 and M-audio Studiophile AV 30 and M-audio Studiophile AV 40? these come in wooden casing but with built in amplifiers, and are marketed towards audiophiles.

 

[moserw]

i read the review for this soundcard but cant find the price in indian rupees.

Costs around 8-9K, way cheaper than any stereo amp and its SQ is really very, very good.

secondly,
The back of the card has "RCA Jack: *2 (Front R/ Front L), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Headphone out), 6.30mm Jack*1 (Mic/Line-In)
Digital S/PDIF Output: Coaxial/ Toslink Combo"

does this mean that i can connect my altec lansings and HD212's simultaneously? (that is the most important thing for me). i believe the speaker cable would go into the RCA to 3.5mm convertor which is bundled along and a headphone out is also provided separately.

Yup, you can connect both at the same time, but need to manually switch in the s/w provided to switch between modes.

how good are the powered speakers like Audio engine 2 and M-audio Studiophile AV 30 and M-audio Studiophile AV 40? these come in wooden casing but with built in amplifiers, and are marketed towards audiophiles.

Audioengine A2 is ok, but A5 is very good. Have no experience with the M-Audio so cannot say.

 

[gobble]

Costs around 8-9K, way cheaper than any stereo amp and its SQ is really very, very good.

Er .. Moserw .. why are you equation a sound source with an amp? Its only a PC soundcard with a DAC right?

Cheers

 

[moserw]

Er .. Moserw .. why are you equation a sound source with an amp? Its only a PC soundcard with a DAC right?

Cheers

Since OP's source/content is on PC it does not make sense in going for stereo amp, speakers, cables, etc. IMHO. Much better to build a music/HTPC that will deliver SQ on par at a fraction of the cost. BTW I have heard the Asus Xonar Essence STX and it really rocks. So much that I am throwing my Creative in the dump and getting one for myself. The objective here is to get the best SQ right? The Asus Xonar Essence STX achieves that by leaps and bounds.

 

[moshel]

this Asus Xonar Essence STX is really something, its got such gr8 reviews, its a DAC and headphone amp rolled into one.

I wanted to buy something for a more private listening, going behind the computer everytime to plug out the speaker cable and plug in the headphone cable is a pain. with this card i can have them both plugged in simultaneously! but really for my budget, i cant get a good enough amp so this is obviously better.

just one last question, can this drive passive speakers?

 

[moserw]

this Asus Xonar Essence STX is really something, its got such gr8 reviews, its a DAC and headphone amp rolled into one.

I wanted to buy something for a more private listening, going behind the computer everytime to plug out the speaker cable and plug in the headphone cable is a pain. with this card i can have them both plugged in simultaneously! but really for my budget, i cant get a good enough amp so this is obviously better.

just one last question, can this drive passive speakers?

All PCs would need powered speakers unless you can lay your hands on this http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater-pc-htpc-media-pc/3738-fyi-htpc-mobo-built-amplifier.html.

Use your Altec Lansing for the time being and later on you can upgrade to better speakers. For starters I would recommend the Audioengine A5.