Help With HD 660s Setup

[Coops0]

Hey!

 

I have the HD 660s right now, and am trying to get the most out of them.

I currently just have them directly plugged into my computer via aux.

 

I have a "X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI" motherboard. The headphones are loud enough, but I'm not sure if I'm really taking full advantage of the headphones.

Should I purchase an AMP/DAC? A high quality music player?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Tigerleon]

48 minutes ago, Coops0 said:

Hey!

 

I have the HD 660s right now, and am trying to get the most out of them.

I currently just have them directly plugged into my computer via aux.

 

I have a "X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI" motherboard. The headphones are loud enough, but I'm not sure if I'm really taking full advantage of the headphones.

Should I purchase an AMP/DAC? A high quality music player?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'd recommend something easy to use and fun to play around with. The sound blaster G6 is a great allrounder. You don't need much more power for the HD 660s

[The Torrent]

46 minutes ago, Coops0 said:

Hey!

 

I have the HD 660s right now, and am trying to get the most out of them.

I currently just have them directly plugged into my computer via aux.

 

I have a "X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI" motherboard. The headphones are loud enough, but I'm not sure if I'm really taking full advantage of the headphones.

Should I purchase an AMP/DAC? A high quality music player?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

i personally don't think you should bother. I went from a ASUS B450 F onboard to a JDS Labs Element II on HD800S just beacuse i wanted to and tbf in a blind test i probably couldn't tell the difference and i think your mobo has better audio than mine too.

 

If you have spare money and like the look of an amp go for it, you can always buy a usb c apple dongle tho if u really feel u need something.

 

If u want to get more out of your headphones download Equalizer APO and check out oratory1990's Harman Target eq curves on reddit.

[Coops0]

3 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

I'd recommend something easy to use and fun to play around with. The sound blaster G6 is a great allrounder. You don't need much more power for the HD 660s

 

3 minutes ago, The Torrent said:

i personally don't think you should bother. I went from a ASUS B450 F onboard to a JDS Labs Element II on HD800S just beacuse i wanted to and tbf in a blind test i probably couldn't tell the difference and i think your mobo has better audio than mine too.

 

If you have spare money and like the look of an amp go for it, you can always buy a usb c apple dongle tho if u really feel u need something.

 

If u want to get more out of your headphones download Equalizer APO and check out oratory1990's Harman Target eq curves on reddit.

Thank you both!

 

Something I failed to mention was that I have the XD05 Plus right here next to me, but for some reason the USB connection is not working. I'm able to get it working through aux, but honestly I'm not entirely sure it's worth it for an amp. I'm considering maybe my motherboard is limiting the sound, is that cause for a dedicated player? 

[Tigerleon]

4 minutes ago, The Torrent said:

I went from a ASUS B450 F onboard to a JDS Labs Element II on HD800S just beacuse i wanted to and tbf in a blind test i probably couldn't tell the difference and i think your mobo has better audio than mine too.

Every headphone reacts different to amplification and getting a better quality DAC/amp will get you the cleanest audio, like forever. Having onboard gives most often than not annoying hissing or pops randomly only because you're trying to play a game. You can obviously search for results comparing different DACs vs onboard and I can tell you there is a difference.

[The Torrent]

Just now, Coops0 said:

 

Thank you both!

 

Something I failed to mention was that I have the XD05 Plus right here next to me, but for some reason the USB connection is not working. I'm able to get it working through aux, but honestly I'm not entirely sure it's worth it for an amp. I'm considering maybe my motherboard is limiting the sound, is that cause for a dedicated player? 

not sure what you mean by motherboard is limiting the sound. I assume you mean not volume wise but your motherboard is causing your XD05 to not work? Has it been detected as a USB device on the computer? Have you tried it with a different computer?

 

If you just mean your motherboard is limiting sound quality, nah ur fine imo.

[The Torrent]

1 minute ago, Tigerleon said:

Every headphone reacts different to amplification and getting a better quality DAC/amp will get you the cleanest audio, like forever. Having onboard gives most often than not annoying hissing or pops randomly only because you're trying to play a game. You can obviously search for results comparing different DACs vs onboard and I can tell you there is a difference.

most higher end onboards actually have decent shielding now. I probably get more interference on my Element II with my phone next to it than i used to with my onboard........

 

 

it even has rgb to show the shielding

[Tigerleon]

Just now, The Torrent said:

most higher end onboards actually have decent shielding now

My onboard has hissing with the latest realtek chip. My PCIE soundcard has 0. Even sitting below my GPU.

[The Torrent]

Just now, Tigerleon said:

My onboard has hissing with the latest realtek chip. My PCIE soundcard has 0. Even sitting below my GPU.

idk maybe thats u. OP hasn't mentioned hissing and if hes not noticed it its not a problem. dont fix whats not broken.

[Coops0]

1 minute ago, Tigerleon said:

My onboard has hissing with the latest realtek chip. My PCIE soundcard has 0. Even sitting below my GPU.

Yep, even using the AMP through AUX I'm getting some hissing. 

[The Torrent]

Just now, Coops0 said:

Yep, even using the AMP through AUX I'm getting some hissing. 

u never mentioned hissing before.

 

U can invest if u dont like the hissing of course.

[Coops0]

Just now, The Torrent said:

u never mentioned hissing before.

 

U can invest if u dont like the hissing of course.

Sorry- yeah I mainly made this thread to ask what I should be investing in. Thank you, yeah I guess I'll need to look into DACs that don't interfere with my motherboard.

[The Torrent]

Just now, Coops0 said:

Sorry- yeah I mainly made this thread to ask what I should be investing in. Thank you, yeah I guess I'll need to look into DACs that don't interfere with my motherboard.

for around 100 quid i recommend an Apple Dongle and an JDS Labs Atom. If your XD05 works fine as an amp literally just buy an apple dongle for 10 quid and trust me you can spend a few hundred and not tell the difference.

[Coops0]

Just now, The Torrent said:

for around 100 quid i recommend an Apple Dongle and an JDS Labs Atom. If your XD05 works fine as an amp literally just buy an apple dongle for 10 quid and trust me you can spend a few hundred and not tell the difference.

Thanks!

[HumdrumPenguin]

2 hours ago, The Torrent said:

i personally don't think you should bother. I went from a ASUS B450 F onboard to a JDS Labs Element II on HD800S just beacuse i wanted to and tbf in a blind test i probably couldn't tell the difference and i think your mobo has better audio than mine too.

 

If you have spare money and like the look of an amp go for it, you can always buy a usb c apple dongle tho if u really feel u need something.

 

If u want to get more out of your headphones download Equalizer APO and check out oratory1990's Harman Target eq curves on reddit.

Are you plugging the power cord of the amp directly to the wall or to a power conditioner/regenerator? If not, try that and let me know if you see any differences. Many years ago I used to have an HD700 as my main headphone, and whenever plugging in directly to the mobo, I remember it being a disaster. It was a Strix z97 I think.

[HumdrumPenguin]

2 hours ago, Coops0 said:

Yep, even using the AMP through AUX I'm getting some hissing. 

The hissing is due to internal noise on your pc. You need to get an external DAC to get rid of it. The amp will not solve this, as it amplifies the signal that already is coming with the noise in it.

[The Torrent]

11 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

Are you plugging the power cord of the amp directly to the wall or to a power conditioner/regenerator? If not, try that and let me know if you see any differences. Many years ago I used to have an HD700 as my main headphone, and whenever plugging in directly to the mobo, I remember it being a disaster. It was a Strix z97 I think.

My pc is plugged into just an adapter plugged into the wall no conditioner or anything.

 

Shielding has improved since those days.

[HumdrumPenguin]

44 minutes ago, The Torrent said:

My pc is plugged into just an adapter plugged into the wall no conditioner or anything.

 

Shielding has improved since those days.

When you have a dedicated amp, plugging in straight to the wall makes quite a difference. I don’t think it matters if you are using a sound card though, as the power cord used is the one for the PC. I have a Hegel H120, and I could clearly hear differences when plugging it to the Belkin strip, directly to the wall, and directly on the AudioQuest Niagara 1200. Add 10 or 12 gauge power cords to the mix and things go even further (2x AudioQuest Monsoons in my case). That’s based on hearing only, but to me it was a night and day thing, not something you need to try really hard to see if you can catch differences or not.

[The Torrent]

12 minutes ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

When you have a dedicated amp, plugging in straight to the wall makes quite a difference. I don’t think it matters if you are using a sound card though, as the power cord used is the one for the PC. I have a Hegel H120, and I could clearly hear differences when plugging it to the Belkin strip, directly to the wall, and directly on the AudioQuest Niagara 1200. Add 10 or 12 gauge power cords to the mix and things go even further (2x AudioQuest Monsoons in my case). That’s based on hearing only, but to me it was a night and day thing, not something you need to try really hard to see if you can catch differences or not.

Wdym difference, just noisefloor?

 

Even my element II is plugged into an adapter and it's USB travels through my 'power adapter moshpit' and I don't notice any issues...

[HumdrumPenguin]

3 hours ago, The Torrent said:

Wdym difference, just noisefloor?

 

Even my element II is plugged into an adapter and it's USB travels through my 'power adapter moshpit' and I don't notice any issues...

Better dynamics, and with the power conditioner I get much lower noise floor, allowing for certain instruments to be heard when before it wasn’t possible.

[The Torrent]

1 hour ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

Better dynamics, and with the power conditioner I get much lower noise floor, allowing for certain instruments to be heard when before it wasn’t possible.

yh so just noise floor i guess i can understand that.

 

I'm not sure if these exist in america but ive always used them and not taken much regard for them so maybe this is the reason i never get any ranged. Do you guys use ferrite cores on your cables?