New Source or New Headphones?

Hi, i currently own a pair of Senn HD 485's and i love em to death but the over-bright highs and the sometimes recessed mids are now beginning to annoy me a little when i really pay attention to the sound. So i was thinking of getting a minor upgrade..

I had decided to get a Nuforce uDac-2, even though i'm not too sure how much better it will be as a source as compared to by notebook's sound card (which is pretty damn good as far as notebook soundcards go..), but i decided to trust the reviews and go for it..

TILL

I saw that i can get a pair of AudioTechnica ATH-M50's here in India for a little more than i was going to pay for the uDac...


so now i'm stuck do i get the new source or the new headphones??
any help/suggestions?

 

There really is not much in the way of "better onboard" I have the realtek HD stuff and its nothing compared to the uDAC-2,

That said however I found the onboard was more dark & muddy than the uDAC-2 even though the uDAC-2 adds a nice punch to the bass.

So upgrading may make your Senns even more bright (dont know for sure since they should not be that bright it may be your onboard after all)

So I think maybe you should just decide on what to get first.

Would you like a new pair of headphones, or a more clean more accurate source?

Id probably get the M50 first if I was you since it is a better headphone, then later on when/if you get the uDAC-2 it will only make them better.

Since the M50 are closed and not open, that alone should help make the music sound more the way your looking for.

 

Make sure they are not fake M50's if you do get them.

Have you tried using an equalizer to compensate?