DAC/AMP Combo for Sennheiser HD650's

[erhwood]

Alright, so I'm fairly new to the world of audiophile performance audio and such and was wanting some advice on a DAC/AMP combo. I've been using my Sennheiser HD650's for a while now and I want to squeeze every last drop of performance I can out of them and make them sound as best as possible without spending an arm and a leg on a DAC/AMP, so I was wondering if there was a good DAC and AMP on the market that would pair well and compliment my HD650's without spending tons of money. Budget is roughly 250 USD, but am willing to go a a bit over if there is a considerable difference in performance between the options.  Thanks much ! 

[TVwazhere]

 

[NinJake]

Schiit stack aka Schiit modi and magni (there are version 2 and 3 for those as well, if you want to spend a bit more)

 

Check out their schiity website. http://www.schiit.com/home

For a completely schiit audio experience.

[Spuriae]

What improvements in particular are you looking for over your current sound? What motherboard are you using as the source at the moment?

[erhwood]

3 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

What improvements in particular are you looking for over your current sound? What motherboard are you using as the source at the moment?

My current motherboard is this one here; the MSI Z270 Gaming M5 https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z270-GAMING-M5.html

 

In terms of improvement I want just better quality overall because when I compared my HD650's to cheaper headphones/earbuds I have previously owned there's not nearly as big as a difference in terms of quality as I believe there should be. Between the 499$ HD650's and the 35$ earbuds I have kicking around there's not as big of a difference in terms of sound quality as I'd expect when listening to the same music/game/movie from the exact same port on my motherboard. I also find that they don't nearly as loud as I'd like them but that just might be specific to the headphones. Not only that but the audio doesn't sound all that clear, it sounds kind of murky and a little bit mish-mashy.

[erhwood]

3 hours ago, NinJake said:

Schiit stack aka Schiit modi and magni (there are version 2 and 3 for those as well, if you want to spend a bit more)

 

Check out their schiity website. http://www.schiit.com/home

For a completely schiit audio experience.

So if I were to get  a Schiit stack a Modi 2 and a Magni 3 would suffice?

[Spuriae]

36 minutes ago, erhwood said:

My current motherboard is this one here; the MSI Z270 Gaming M5 https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z270-GAMING-M5.html

 

In terms of improvement I want just better quality overall because when I compared my HD650's to cheaper headphones/earbuds I have previously owned there's not nearly as big as a difference in terms of quality as I believe there should be. Between the 499$ HD650's and the 35$ earbuds I have kicking around there's not a big difference in terms of sound quality when listening to the same music/game/movie from the exact same port on my motherboard. I also find that they don't nearly as loud as I'd like them but that just might be specific to the headphones. Not only that but the audio doesn't sound all that clear, it sounds kind of murky.

It's hard to appreciate their near-perfect tonality until you've tried many other things and realized how rare it really is. Unlike emphasized treble or bass, that sort of thing doesn't jump out and impress you. If you want something that sounds "clearer", Magni 3 would be a good pairing.

 

Are you using the rear or front audio header?

[erhwood]

Just now, Nimrodor said:

It's hard to appreciate their near-perfect tonality until you've tried many other things and realized how rare it really is. Unlike emphasized treble or bass, that sort of thing doesn't jump out and impress you. If you want something that sounds "clearer", Magni 3 would be a good pairing.

 

Are you using the rear or front audio header?

I'm using rear, straight from the motherboard.

[Spuriae]

Just now, erhwood said:

I'm using rear, straight from the motherboard.

Try the front. Rear is powered from the codec, front has (most likely) an OP1652 with regulated power and should be louder.

[erhwood]

Just now, Nimrodor said:

Try the front. Rear is powered from the codec, front has (most likely) an OP1652 with regulated power and should be louder.

Will do. With the Magni 3, would I run it just as a solo AMP without a DAC?

[xtroria]

Does it get loud enough and how much volume do you usually use for the headphone?

 

You dont necessarily need an amp as a lot of motherboard audio these days are already good.

[Zodiark1593]

4 minutes ago, xtroria said:

Does it get loud enough and how much volume do you usually use for the headphone?

 

You dont necessarily need an amp as a lot of motherboard audio these days are already good.

I concur. My smartphone on the other hand, even with my Sennheiser Momentums, sounds notably less clear in the upper range. Was considering a Fulla 2 myself for bedside listening.

[Spuriae]

Just now, erhwood said:

Will do. With the Magni 3, would I run it just as a solo AMP without a DAC?

You can plug it into your motherboard. I'm split about the route to go with the DAC:

• The Fulla 2's line out is almost as good as the Modi 2, is the same price, and works as a good standalone DAC/Amp should you upgrade or want an additional setup in the future.
• The amplifier makes a bigger difference than the DAC at this point, so it might make sense to start with the amp upgrade and decide how you want to proceed from there.
• You save on shipping getting both at the same time, and the Magni/Modi combo is a known quantity that would help you creating an upgrade path from there should you want to continue up the ladder.

There are good arguments for each of the three options (Magni only, Fulla 2, Modi 2). Up to you.

[NinJake]

1 hour ago, erhwood said:

So if I were to get  a Schiit stack a Modi 2 and a Magni 3 would suffice?

I ended up buying the 650's and using them for a few weeks before I decided to splurge on getting an external amp and dac. I ended up going with the Modi 2 uber and Magni 2 uber as that's all they had at the time. Now that they have the Magni 3, I'd go with that just in case you decide to upgrade into other headphones down the line sometime, and/or if  you have the extra money to spend.

 

Ever since I got the schiit stack, it was a good upgrade in my opinion, due to the fact I can keep my desktop speakers plugged in, as well as my sennheiser headphones, and whenever I want to switch to either my speakers or headphones, all I have to do is flick as switch and change the audio setting in Windows. No more plugging and unplugging! Also, the benefit of having the dac and amp allows for much louder volumes, and I can easily fine tune the loudness that I want using the knob on the schiity product. There's also a low and high gain switch at your disposal.

[erhwood]

3 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

You can plug it into your motherboard. I'm split about the route to go with the DAC:

• The Fulla 2's line out is almost as good as the Modi 2, is the same price, and works as a good standalone DAC/Amp should you upgrade or want an additional setup in the future.
• The amplifier makes a bigger difference than the DAC at this point, so it might make sense to start with the amp upgrade and decide how you want to proceed from there.
• You save on shipping getting both at the same time, and the Magni/Modi combo is a known quantity that would help you creating an upgrade path from there should you want to continue up the ladder.

There are good arguments for each of the three options (Magni only, Fulla 2, Modi 2). Up to you.

Alright, I checked shipping to where I live and it comes to 41$, so if I was gonna get a Magni 3 AND Modi 2 I'd want to do it in the same order, is there a big enough difference adding that Modi 2 in there? I'll do a bit more research into it as well, thanks much.

[erhwood]

2 hours ago, NinJake said:

I ended up buying the 650's and using them for a few weeks before I decided to splurge on getting an external amp and dac. I ended up going with the Modi 2 uber and Magni 2 uber as that's all they had at the time. Now that they have the Magni 3, I'd go with that just in case you decide to upgrade into other headphones down the line sometime, and/or if  you have the extra money to spend.

 

Ever since I got the schiit stack, it was a good upgrade in my opinion, due to the fact I can keep my desktop speakers plugged in, as well as my sennheiser headphones, and whenever I want to switch to either my speakers or headphones, all I have to do is flick as switch and change the audio setting in Windows. No more plugging and unplugging! Also, the benefit of having the dac and amp allows for much louder volumes, and I can easily fine tune the loudness that I want using the knob on the schiity product. There's also a low and high gain switch at your disposal.

If I were to go with a Schiit stack going down the Modi 2 Uber and Magni 3 route would be good? Or would a Modi 2 be fine rather then an Uber?

[GamerDude]

3 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

I concur. My smartphone on the other hand, even with my Sennheiser Momentums, sounds notably less clear in the upper range. Was considering a Fulla 2 myself for bedside listening.

Not all smartphones are made the same, I'd compared my Sony Z5 Premium against my HiFi Quad DAC equipped LG G6 and there was a noticeable difference in SQ between the two. The Z5P pales in comparison in terms of sheer clarity and max volume....

[Zodiark1593]

11 minutes ago, GamerDude said:

Not all smartphones are made the same, I'd compared my Sony Z5 Premium against my HiFi Quad DAC equipped LG G6 and there was a noticeable difference in SQ between the two. The Z5P pales in comparison in terms of sheer clarity and max volume....

Hence the my part, though to be fair, not many phones are developed with audio enthusiasts in mind.

 

The Fulla 2 I like, though I'm really on the fence on whether I want to spend the money or not. On the other hand though, I can't take my desktop next to my bedside every time I wanted to listen to music either, and then there's the fact that my cheapo Windows tablet could certainly use the Fulla as well.