How good is the ALC1150?

Anemoneum · November 23, 2014

So I'm grabbing a pair of HE-400s soon, but I frequently hear that they are too demanding for onboard audio and need a good amp/dac to run. My question is, considering how much praise onboard audio gets around here, is it true that everything will be too quiet, and that I will be wasting the cans' potential? If so, would the Essence STX, which is well-respected in Head-Fi, be enough to remedy that? Do I even need to get both a DAC and an amp (i.e if it's loud enough, can't I just get a dac, or if it's too quiet, can't I just get an amp)?

Some options I'm considering:

-O2 or ODAC (can't afford both-broke college student)

-Magni or Modi

-E17 (don't care about the portability though)

-Essence STX(inb4 backlash along with Logan's video)

Sorry for asking so much, but it's such a touched-on topic, yet there doesn't seem to be any kind of agreement that I can work with.

Edit: It says O2+ODAC in my sig, but in all honesty I just borrowed my friend's for a week to try them out. Unfortunately I did not have any good headphones at the time, so I can't base much on it.

bomerr · November 23, 2014

If you look at the circuit for the onboard audio you'll see that it isn't even close to heavy duty components used in a good amp.

So the best reason to get a good onboard audio chip is for a clean, precise digital to analog conversion.

My advice would be to get the good headphones first and then if you feel they need an amp get that later when you can afford it.

creatip123 · November 23, 2014

I have the HE400. Tried it with xonar DG, with 'built-in headphone amp', it distorted north and south. Later, try it with onboard, VIA chip, also white flag, only got to 60-70% of my enjoyable volume.

There's a big chance you'd need an external amp, but yeah, the proper workflow would be get the headphone first, and see if your current device can run it properly or not.

Anemoneum · November 23, 2014

Guess I'll probably have to get an amp, then.How's your listening experience with just an amp (no dac)?

Mush Brain · November 23, 2014

Basically the 889 with a few enhancements, it's a real meaty sound chip for onboard.

Anemoneum · November 23, 2014

On the JDS Labs page for the custom O2. Which gain setting should I use: Medium (1x-3.5x), or Standard (2.5x-6.5x)?

Note that I'm not buying it just yet. Still waiting for my HE-400s to come.

Lauen · November 23, 2014

standard gain should be fine.

the DAC part on the 1150 is pretty good, specs better than what you can hear, except for the noise floor, which might be a little high for some IEM's. the amplification part is where it lacks. ASRock Purity Sound 2 is hands-down the best onboard sound solution.