Before you buy amp and DAC + recommendations.

[Dackzy]

12 minutes ago, Firesorce said:

I bought the HD6XXs and a Massdrop O2 amp.

 

I don't have a DAC, and use a $30 MATX trash motherboard, with free noise and warm sounds.

 

Do I buy the Schiit Magni 2 dac or the SMSL magic hifi 32bit 384khz?

 

 

you mean modi 2, right? The Magni 2 is an amp. Yeah the modi 2 is fine, better than basically any SMSL DAC.

[spwath]

5 hours ago, Dackzy said:

you mean modi 2, right? The Magni 2 is an amp. Yeah the modi 2 is fine, better than basically any SMSL DAC.

 but smsl supports higher numbers, so it must be better!

 just like how laserdisc is better than dvd/blu-ray because it has larger diameter discs!

[Dackzy]

1 hour ago, spwath said:

 but smsl supports higher numbers, so it must be better!

 just like how laserdisc is better than dvd/blu-ray because it has larger diameter discs!

Flawless logic /s

The worst part is that some actually believe that is how it is. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Dackzy said:

Flawless logic /s

The worst part is that some actually believe that is how it is. 

Comment from the peanut gallery: Yes, but this one goes to eleven...

 

[Firesorce]

I actually don't know how to judge a dac or even an amp.

 

I genuinely thought a wider range of bitrate and sample rate support would be better.

 

How do you judge what is good and what is not?

[Dackzy]

1 hour ago, Firesorce said:

I actually don't know how to judge a dac or even an amp.

 

I genuinely thought a wider range of bitrate and sample rate support would be better.

 

How do you judge what is good and what is not?

Well, you listen for how much detail comes through with a given unit,  then you also look for if it changed the sound stage and then Ofc you listen after to see if there has been changes in the bass, mid bass,  mid,  upper mid and treble, often when going with higher end gear you hear that the bass gets tighter and it might get a little more impact and the rest also gets a bit "cleaner" sounding. That is kinda the quick explanation 

 

You are basically looking at every aspect of audio to judge these things.

 

Some of the really good gear you can get today can only do 16bit 44.1 kHz and you don't need more for your 2.0 or 2.1.

[Firesorce]

Could you go in-depth as to why the SMSL Magic Hifi would be worse than the Schiit Modi 2?

These are the only two models that stand out in their price-range I'd say, and thus the only two DACs that I am considering to buy at the moment.

My goal is to assemble audio gear, headphones not stereo, to enjoy music on sites like Tidal which hosts FLAC-files. I thought higher bitrate and sample rates would impact that experience the most.

 

While I wish to get the greatest experience I can get, I also want to stay somewhat budget-oriented, aiming for a sweetspot. Price/performance wise I chose the HD6XX with an O2-amplifier exactly for that reason, I'm a bit reluctant to purchase an expensive DAC, without knowing why I'm buying something in that price-class. 

 

Edit: I have not tried any of the aforementioned DACs before, in real life, so I cannot judge whether something's got a larger soundstage, or anything regarding the audio experience with them. That's why I'm resorting to numbers and potential.

[Dackzy]

9 hours ago, Firesorce said:

Could you go in-depth as to why the SMSL Magic Hifi would be worse than the Schiit Modi 2?

These are the only two models that stand out in their price-range I'd say, and thus the only two DACs that I am considering to buy at the moment.

My goal is to assemble audio gear, headphones not stereo, to enjoy music on sites like Tidal which hosts FLAC-files. I thought higher bitrate and sample rates would impact that experience the most.

 

While I wish to get the greatest experience I can get, I also want to stay somewhat budget-oriented, aiming for a sweetspot. Price/performance wise I chose the HD6XX with an O2-amplifier exactly for that reason, I'm a bit reluctant to purchase an expensive DAC, without knowing why I'm buying something in that price-class. 

 

Edit: I have not tried any of the aforementioned DACs before, in real life, so I cannot judge whether something's got a larger soundstage, or anything regarding the audio experience with them. That's why I'm resorting to numbers and potential.

well, let see how I can explain this in a fairly simple way. It is about the quality of the decoding and not about the amount you can decode. The SMSL is all about decoding as big as a file as it can, while the Schiit is about decoding it well, you know getting as many details out as it can, making the different frequencies as clean as it can get them, while SMSL is more "eh this is okay". It is basically quality vs quantity. SMSL gear, in general, is known for being bad or eh, they simply cannot do the things, as well as other brands, can. Their (SMSL) implementation of the DAC chips are often rather bad, meaning you can go out and buy a DAC from a different company with the same chip in it, but it will sound better. It really does matter how you build up your circuit and how high-quality components you use. This is why you can see a DAC that cost 700$ while using the same chip as a 200$ DAC and the 700$ will sound better because they spend more time and money on making the implementation good.

You can think of it as dropping a 600HP engine into the body of a small Fiat Punto vs the same engine in a car that is actually built for it. The car that is actually built for the engine will perform better.

 

Also, anything above 16bit 44.1kHz is basically a waste, a well mastered 320 kbps file, and then a well mastered 16bit 44.1kHz file will sound identical to most people, even people that have trained their ears a lot can sometimes (actually quite often) not tell the difference, so going above 16bit 44.1kHz is in many ways a waste, unless you are doing 5.1 and 7.1, but then we are getting into gear that can actually do that, which a normal stereo DAC can't.

 

headphones are stereo, stereo refers to the use of two speakers that take their own channel each and maybe a subwoofer. A headphone has two drivers, one for left and one for the right, therefore stereo. Just as you can get a single speaker with a single driver like many KEF speakers have.

 

I would recommend that you skip the O2, it clips with medium to high impedance and HD 6xx are high impedance, plus it is just not that good anymore. A magni 2 would be a better amp, since it is cleaner with wider sound and it doesn't drown as many details out.

 

You should basically never look at the numbers on these things, a lot of it means jack shit to you as the listener, the only way you can determine if something is good is to test it with your own ears. It is kinda like looking at the frequency response range of headphones, where you sometimes can read stuff like 10Hz and up to 40kHz, while the average human ear can hear from 20Hz to 20kHz.

 

The sweet spot is different from person to person, some think 2000$ DACs are worth every single penny and offer a great sweet spot, while others think your 100$ DAC is the sweet spot king.

A magni 2 and modi 2 is a very good DAC and amp for a combined of 200$. Which TBH I think you should just go with and maybe later try out a tube amp for the HD 6xx.

[Firesorce]

Thank you, It's all clear to me now. I'll go with a modi 2, but probably stick to the O2 because returning it to massdrop would be a hassle. (EU-> US)

I'll be sure to post my experience with my new audio gear in a new topic once it's all there. 

[Dackzy]

1 hour ago, TClause said:

so i just purchased a pair of audio technica m20x's that have an impedance of 47 ohms... They havent arrived yet but will i need an amp or will the plug in directly tro my pc/ smartphone work jsut fine? thanks

 

as my post says impedance doesn't really matter and yes your pc and phone will be just fine

[spwath]

50 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

as my post says impedance doesn't really matter and yes your pc and phone will be just fine

Besides, 47 ohm is pretty low anyway, not that is matters.

[auleia]

Dackzy, i see in your target signature 2 + odac, how come you do not advise it? Translate by google.

[Dackzy]

53 minutes ago, auleia said:

Dackzy, i see in your target signature 2 + odac, how come you do not advise it? Translate by google.

Well because I won't recommend things that only become a okay to good value when used. They simply cost too much when they are new. 

[auleia]

cioè, sono buone, e quindi consiglia anche altro? Mi scuso, ma non conosco l'inglese. 

[Dackzy]

5 minutes ago, auleia said:

cioè, sono buone, e quindi consiglia anche altro? Mi scuso, ma non conosco l'inglese. 

I had to translate that.

Used value = okay

New value= bad/ nothing special 

You can always get a schiit fulla 2 or a schiit modi 2 + magni 2

This is their EU store: schiit-europe.com

[auleia]

schiit fulla 2 non è meglio però di objective, o no? 

[Dackzy]

2 minutes ago, auleia said:

schiit fulla 2 non è meglio però di objective, o no? 

fulla 2 is a bit worse than the O2/ODAC, but its new price is also a lot lower

[auleia]

ok, il "famoso" chip 4490, è presente nel objective 2 + odac?

[Dackzy]

27 minutes ago, auleia said:

ok, il "famoso" chip 4490, è presente nel objective 2 + odac?

the ODAC can have ES9023 or PCM 5102A, most of them seem to have the PCM 5102A, but the actual chip used doesn't really matter much, it is more about how the DAC is build up around it.

[auleia]

Allora tra fulla 2, odac, fidelity v90/hpa, per gioco principalmente, cosa scelgo? Le cuffie saranno:

beyerdynamic DT770 pro (chiuse), s

 

hure SRH840 (chiuse), grado MS1 (aperte),

sennheiser HD598 (aperte),

audio technica ATH AD900x 

quali si abbinano di più?

[Dackzy]

20 minutes ago, auleia said:

Allora tra fulla 2, odac, fidelity v90/hpa, per gioco principalmente, cosa scelgo? Le cuffie saranno:

beyerdynamic DT770 pro (chiuse), s

 

hure SRH840 (chiuse), grado MS1 (aperte),

sennheiser HD598 (aperte),

audio technica ATH AD900x 

quali si abbinano di più?

just get the fulla 2

[auleia]

ok, grazie ancora.

[mrthuvi]

How much better is the Audio-GD NFB-11.28 vs Schiit Fulla 2? The NFB one is out of my price range and equipment need at the moment but should I save up for 2 months, get the better one and never upgrade again?

[Dackzy]

3 hours ago, mrthuvi said:

How much better is the Audio-GD NFB-11.28 vs Schiit Fulla 2? The NFB one is out of my price range and equipment need at the moment but should I save up for 2 months, get the better one and never upgrade again?

Well it offers more detail,  wider sound, cleaner and more power, but right now it seems like with the new magni 3 that the schiit stack is closing the gap up to the NFB 11.28. Also what headphones do you have?

[mrthuvi]

37 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

Well it offers more detail,  wider sound, cleaner and more power, but right now it seems like with the new magni 3 that the schiit stack is closing the gap up to the NFB 11.28. Also what headphones do you have?

I'm using HE 400i at the moment. Here where I am, plus shipping, Fulla 2 ~US$130, Shiit stack (modi 2 and magni 3) ~ $260 (gonna take some time before magin 3 is in stock though), NFB 11.28 is ~ $360.