Buying guides
What to buy, and why, before anyone asks you to spend. Every pick names what is wrong with it.
Start with this one
How to Choose HeadphonesWhere you listen, how closely you listen, and what it takes to drive the thing. Answer those three and the catalogue narrows fast. Picks at every step.Read it
Most people do not need an external DAC. The three situations where one earns its place, what to buy in each, and the gap in the middle.
Five open-back picks from about a hundred dollars to the point where the curve flattens, chosen with an amplifier in the room rather than a phone in your pocket.
Your laptop already has one. The question is whether a better one changes anything you would still notice a week later, and where it stops mattering.
Most people do not need one. Some need one and do not know it. How to work out which you are, before you spend anything on a box.
Where you listen, how closely you listen, and what it takes to drive the thing. Answer those three and the catalogue narrows fast. Picks at every step.
Two kinds of writing here
Learn explains how the gear works. The buying guides say what to buy, and name what is wrong with each pick. If you would rather settle it with your own ears, the listening room at 215 East Lewis Street in Livingston is free and by appointment.