Looking for new headphones, need some reccomendations.

[CTR640]

@PsittacMan, my knowledge is damn limited regarding the dac/amp bs

Yep, now you see I just enjoy audio than being a critical listener. But it's also that thing about a stack. It takes up space and you'll have more cables than necessary.

I'd rather have a single unit. But it's probably I no longer worry about wether it can drive high impedance or not. I used to worry about that, even when using the headphones with my smartphone too. Now I only use my Airpods non-Pro purely for ergonomic reason for my smartphone.

 

Fiio K5 Pro is an analythical device. I don't recommend this to use with bright headphones like Beyerdynamic DT series because the sibilance will be increased aswell. For people that are sensitive to that like me, it is a no-go. I don't know how it sounds with X2HR but for 200 bucks, the K5 Pro is pretty overpriced. It used to be about 149 bucks but Fiio changed the chips and charged it more. For 200 bucks there are better ones. There is iFi Zen Air for 99, it's basically a stripped down Zen DAC (V2) because you probably won't be using all the features.

[H713]

The key is that you need to tag the correct username. If you do @OfficialTechSpace, it works perfectly. If you aren't official about it, things don't work.

 

As for the use of a line output on a computer, typically what you need is a 3.5mm TRS to dual RCA cable. Works fine, and usually the DACs on motherboards are slightly less crappy than the headphone amps on them.

 

In any case, start with an amplifier, and if you feel inclined to get a better DAC in the future, that's an easy upgrade. 

 

 

 

 

[Tigerleon]

Any of the amp/DAC combos that @Psittac has listed are well known and good. As he said Creative has some good units as well for a more software sided solution with different sound settings etc. Of course, possible with any DAC as well but Creative have their own software which is pretty user friendly. The most popular Creative amp/DACs are the Sound Blaster G5, G6 or their X4. The G3 is a really budget one and is most likely as good as your HyperX dongle.

[Tigerleon]

On 7/15/2022 at 5:38 PM, CTR640 said:

However, @Tigerleonreviewed a HifiMan, I think the 400 or 400se

I reviewed the HE400i 2020 but those broke in one of the connectors and it turned out they didn't make those anymore so they sent me their HE400se with their better pads as compensation. The HE400se are definitely more clear and a bit brighter. The HE400i has more subbass overall. The stage and imaging is pretty much the same judging from the gap I had when I sent the HE400i's in. I prefered the 400i 2020 but the HE400se are not far behind for me atleast. Fun fact I learnt after I got them is that they have their stealth magnet design in the HE400se which are used in some of their higher end headphones.

[DriedSponge]

12 hours ago, CTR640 said:

There are single units which is a dac and amp in one device. The benefit is having just one device instead of a stack or one device next to other device.

So far, I wouldn't worry about that. I had the Fiio K5 Pro (DAC) and Lake People G103S (AMP), so two devices and they were connected using RCA cables.

Later I moved on to Klipsch Heritage dac/amp and I'm not missing anything really. It's also powerfull enough to drive 600ohm headphones. But this Klipsch dac/amp is no longer in production.

 

Is there any particular dac/amp you want within your budget?

 

@PsittacI tried to tag techspace, I even copied his nickname but no luck. Weird.

Ah okay, that makes more sense now, thank you. I was looking into the FiiO K3, and the schitt fulla-2 (both were recommended to me here). I'm willing to spend $100-$150.

 

11 hours ago, Psittac said:

The DAC is what coverts a digital signal, say your mp3 flac file or digital stream into an analogue signal that your headphones understands.  The problem is that it is only a reference or line voltage meaning that it has no power to it, just a signal, so it can't run your headphones.  The amp takes that low power signal and turns it into a high power signal that is capable of pushing the drivers on your headphones.  The differences in sound reproduction can happen at almost any point in the chain from file to ears, pretty much anything other than a cable is going to change the sound.  The biggest change in sound comes from headphones but how that digital signal is interpreted to start with can make a difference as well as how the amplifier responds to your headphones.  Once you have a dac amp and headphones the cheapest and most effective way to get a changed sound short of buying new headphones, is to change the pads.  I don't know about the X2HR but the X3 to me doesn't seam like it want's pads but I should look around and see what people are saying.  Lastly the funnest part to me is going with tube's, once you've got a tube amp you're able to change the tubes and drastically change the sound, for $10 it's like getting a new variation of your headphones.  Problem being that tube rolling is very hit or miss, some headphones make you want to wharf with certain tubes, but when you get the right combo it's excellent.  But you should always have a dac and solid state (non tube) amp first.

 

I hooked up my Fulla E to my X3 today so I can give you thoughts on it.  Coming from my other setup's it sounds a little bright in perhaps the mid treble? if that's a thing and a touch lacking in bass, and that was my recollection from my schiit stack a few years ago.  It's a great sound and pairing but only if that's what you're after.  Maybe @CTR640 can give impressions of Fiio products?  Aslo @Tigerleon has had excellent experiences with creative products, so maybe he can give you a feeling for what those are like.

 

*edit: you are able to use the DAC built into your computer, that would require a 3.5mm to RCA cable running from the line out of your onboard audio.  I don't think I've ever done that so I'm not sure if the onboard DAC is respectable or not.  @H713would probably have insight into this and tech space should be able to comment as well but I can't at him.  One option is to start with an amp and run it off your onboard DAC then get a stand alone DAC down the road.

 

Yeah it's odd, I think I've had that problem in the past.

Thanks for the explanation, it makes everything much more clear now. I'll probably start with a combined DAC/AMP, as it seems more simple, cost effective, and it would be nice for me because I value my desk real estate.

I really appreciate all of you for putting so much thought into your responses, so thank you!!!