Audio Setup Recommendations

Christopher1995 · August 23, 2022

I've been doing some research recently looking into updating my Audio setup for my PC, my budget is pretty flexible though i'm trying to keep it around the $1000-$1500 AUD range though i'd prefer not to overspend if i won't really get the benefit at the same time i'm willing to spend more if it's actually going to make a worthwhile difference, my main two use cases are gaming and music

At the moment i'm using the Sony WH-XM4 which no complains about sound really but being bluetooth i've had issues with dropout and some games just don't even work with them either ending up with no sound or using the low quality version of the sound output so i intend to get away from all of that by going wired, the setup will purely be for home office use so from what i've read open back is probably where i want to head towards,i've been considering going with something like the Sennheiser 650HD then pairing that with an amp and possibly dac, i do have future plans to get an XLR mic as well which is why i had considered something like the GoXLR with an amp but i've read mixed things about that too.

So any suggestion or good references would be much appreciate

Psittac · August 23, 2022

3 hours ago, Christopher1995 said:

I've been doing some research recently looking into updating my Audio setup for my PC, my budget is pretty flexible though i'm trying to keep it around the $1000-$1500 AUD range though i'd prefer not to overspend if i won't really get the benefit at the same time i'm willing to spend more if it's actually going to make a worthwhile difference, my main two use cases are gaming and music

At the moment i'm using the Sony WH-XM4 which no complains about sound really but being bluetooth i've had issues with dropout and some games just don't even work with them either ending up with no sound or using the low quality version of the sound output so i intend to get away from all of that by going wired, the setup will purely be for home office use so from what i've read open back is probably where i want to head towards,i've been considering going with something like the Sennheiser 650HD then pairing that with an amp and possibly dac, i do have future plans to get an XLR mic as well which is why i had considered something like the GoXLR with an amp but i've read mixed things about that too.

So any suggestion or good references would be much appreciate

Being on the underside of the earth it's difficult for me to recommend specific products. Do you have some websites that you would shop at? Do you want this budget to include a mic? I went onto amazon.au to get an idea of price.

The HD650 is essentially a slightly tuned HD600 and I would highly recommend saving the budget and going with the HD600 instead, some actually prefer it.

I would recommend this THX amp for the headphones because you know it isn't going to be lacking in power and unless you want to go balanced it's not leaving much on the table Drop THX AAA amplifier Another great option would be this iFi Zen Can There are many options but these are the ones I would love to try on my 6xx myself. Also I would take a gander at what it costs to import a 6xx from drop.com even though they're based in the states.

I would also highly recommend a dac for these headphones, they will thank you for it. You could always hold off for a while on that and get a 3.5mm to RCA cable and get some time with the onboard audio, so that you can understand what a dac really does. You could use this iFi Zen Dac or go with something cheaper like this Topping D10s There really are endless options.

I have noticed that on the AU amazon they tend to show all of the generic stuff if you use generic search terms, I would use specific brands and search for each component. The dac and amp brands I have are smsl and topping with ifi being highly regarded by others. You could go to apos.audio and look at what they have and see if there is a comparable analogue where you are located, apos has a ton of quality stuff and even if you just search for brands and go from there you would be far better off.

My overall theory in the couple suggestions I have made are based off your desire for the 6xx/600/650 which will enjoy a powerful amp and will reflect everything a dac does because they are considered very transparent headphones, they show everything from the 1's and 0's to your ears better than most headphones will. Does that mean they are the best headphones ever? Well in that regard perhaps, but there are other thing's to be had, I'm just going off your initial pick.

If I may add one optional purchase, either now or down the road, it would be an OTL pure tube amplifier. These headphones are going to LOVE tubes, I have 4 tube amp's 3 of which are OTL. (that's tube only) Tubes are more of a special treat when you aren't just staring and clicking and clacking, when you want to sit back and just listen and enjoy. For this, given your region and budget category I would suggest the little dot mkII and do some tube rolling to find a pair of cheap non-chinese tubes you enjoy. You can always PM me should you want to see what I have on mine (would have to look it up). But a special treat would be pure tube on the 6xx family.

Now..... all of this said.... If you listen to your music on youtube, very little of this improvement will come across. I would highly suggest the investment into something like Tidal HiFi or higher. Other streaming services offer good plans too, but Tidal pays out the most to it's artists plus offers lossless so I am entirely behind them.

Oh and seeing that linsoul is named on amazon down unda I would check out their website too for inspiration or a purchase. There really are many ways to find the solution to your listening needs.

The Hope · September 11, 2022

On 8/23/2022 at 9:13 AM, Psittac said:

The HD650 is essentially a slightly tuned HD600 and I would highly recommend saving the budget and going with the HD600 instead, some actually prefer it.

The Philips X2HR was actually designed to beat the most high end Sennheiser headphones for accuracy of timbre, frequencies and detail. Technically, he does that according to measurements.

Philips also did relatively large-scale blind tests at the time, and it turned out that people preferred the Philips X2HR over all the top headphones from Sennheiser.

From this point of view, the Philips X2HR is the best, and the price is many times lower because Philips has no name in this segment.

Psittac · September 15, 2022

On 9/11/2022 at 5:37 AM, The Hope said:

The Philips X2HR was actually designed to beat the most high end Sennheiser headphones for accuracy of timbre, frequencies and detail. Technically, he does that according to measurements.

Philips also did relatively large-scale blind tests at the time, and it turned out that people preferred the Philips X2HR over all the top headphones from Sennheiser.

From this point of view, the Philips X2HR is the best, and the price is many times lower because Philips has no name in this segment.

The Sennheiser 600 family isn't comparable to the fidelio family, they're two completely different headphones. I have the 6xx and the X3 and enjoy them both equally in different ways. The OP sounded sold on the 600 series so I saw no point in telling them to get something different.