What amp can give me the most realistic/natural sound possible .... 
... One amp without budgetary constraints and one under 1k dollars

O² after all..... what's there left to design ?   

Quote from: donunus on March 04, 2013, 11:02:43 AM

What amp can give me the most realistic/natural sound possible .... 
... One amp without budgetary constraints and one under 1k dollars

O² after all..... what's there left to design ?   

I have one already... so i guess I am set bwaahahahahaha

hi - at it again (sorry guys, ended up returning a few closed/portable headphones I tried and did not quite like - hoping IEM will be more satisfactory)...
IEM ~$500 (willing to stretch a bit, ok with buying used) with preferably not too much bass, nor too much treble. I like mids to  be good.
I think non-fatiguing is key here, a clean presentation without bad spikes would be desired... just not sure if I can find that easily.
I don't like bi/tri-flange tips, do much prefer something like Sony Hybrid tips. comfort is quite important for long listening too.
source is iPad 4th gen but actually kind of looking for something more portable for when I don't bring a bag, so something neat small would be nice if you could recommend.
just tried: Sony MDR-1R (sooo comfy... just a bit too much bass and some oddities going on in upper mids? not quite sure what it was... a bit overly smooth perhaps), Sennheiser Momentum (my ears are too big sound is pretty good, wish it was less V-shaped but otherwise nice), UE6000 (bit bassy for my taste, tad too warm/smooth) as well as Beyerdynamic DT1350 (couldn't get a good fit/seal and treble kind of... was super thin. might have had a bad pair)
also demo'ed a pair of Amperior which were just too V-shaped to work for me. not bad though.
I do understand if I am being too picky here, but I heard IEM's have come a long way.
these will be my main 'phone for a longer time, so I'm being more hopeful than I should.

and also another recommendation: active speakers for ~$300? or passive+amp totalling around that too?
something nice and clear to upgrade from a pair of Logitech computer speakers.
I think same goes for this as above for sound?
for a friends b-day, who just got a new gaming corner set up (will of course be used for music and TV/movies too).
will be used together with the FiiO E17's DAC which I TBH have very little idea of how it sounds with anything else than Logitech speakers (using the Line-Out Dock to bypass the internal amp)

hopefully not asking too much here, just checking mostly to see if I should give up or save up! sorry for the mess, and thanks.

and also another recommendation: active speakers for ~$300? or passive+amp totalling around that too?
something nice and clear to upgrade from a pair of Logitech computer speakers.
I think same goes for this as above for sound?
for a friends b-day, who just got a new gaming corner set up (will of course be used for music and TV/movies too).
will be used together with the FiiO E17's DAC which I TBH have very little idea of how it sounds with anything else than Logitech speakers (using the Line-Out Dock to bypass the internal amp)

I really like Audioengine A2s, which can be had for <$200. Surprisingly enough, the dinky little stands that they charge $25-$30 for actually do make more than just an aesthetic difference. Got mine + the stands for ~$150 new on Massdrop, think I saw a refurb for even cheaper on clearance at Shoreline. The bass is slightly emphasized, but clarity is very good; leaps and bounds ahead of my old Bose speakers. Positioning is important, had to fiddle around a bit to get the best I could out of them.