I don't know that I'm a true audiophile. I just love music and when I got my first well paying job, I got a Rega Planet 2000 CPD, Brio Amp and Jura Loudspeakers. I also had the Seinheiser 650s and the Rega Ear headphone amp.
It was good. It was simple. I enjoyed the music and never thought twice about gear. I was always blown away by the sound I got from both headphone and speaker setups. Even though a good portion of my music was MP3s burnt to CD.
For various reasons including an earthquake, I lost the CDP, Rega Ear and HD650s.
I now a pair of AKG Q701s and need a DAC and headphone amp.
I'm overwhelmed by choices, conflicting reviews and don't live somewhere where I can try much of anything in person. My only experience has been with a Grant Fidelity TubeDac and a HRT Streamer. Both felt like a significant downgrade in sound.
Right now I'm wondering should I get the Rega Dac given people compliment it's organic/analog/vinyl-ish sound.. something I prefer over a overly detailed criticial hifi sound. And if I do get the Rega Dac, how much difference will it make between getting a headphone amp like the Rega Ear vs Matrix M stage vs Ray Samuels or Woo Audio WA6.. Rhinelander etc.
My source is a macbook. I've seen people post comments about how even with a Rega Dac and high quality audio tracks, you still won't get the same sound as you did from the Planet/Saturn CPDs. Because the CD transport is just superior... ?
