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Need help plz :/

Kiewiet83
By Kiewiet83
in Audio
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Hi guys :)

 

I am a bit frustrated and confused and I hope that you will be able to help me .

 

For the past 2 months I have wanted to upgrade my sound for my pc ,currently I am running my headphones ( DT880 premium 250 ohm) from on board sound so I have wanted to get something like a amp+dac unit or sound card or really anything that will improve my sound .

 

I have looked at a couple of options but they are either just to expensive or don`t have good feedback.

 

Currently I am looking at the FiiO E18 but this seems to have been made for portable use and has not been recommended by the people I have talked to ,to use for a pc setup.

 

I have come across the AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2 and it has great reviews but is this a DAC only or a AMP/DAC ?

 

I have talked to some audio product dealers and they recommend the Creative Sound Blaster ZxR PCIe sound card.I am not sure if I should even consider this because from what I have learned is that I should stay away from sound cards completely or is this not the case with this specific card?

 

What should i do?Is the E18 good for pc ?

Should I go with the Dragonfly ?(If its a dac only should I get a external amp and what should I look at?)

Is the Sound Blaster a good option?

 

Please can you guys help me  :) .

 

Please note again I have DT880 premium 250 ohm headphones and I do need a much better amp than my current on board.

 

Thanks guys!!!

Any help would be great :lol: .

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FiiO E10K should be good.

If you want something really good you could get a schiit modi+magni or an Objective2+ODAC but thats overkill. The FiiO E10K is enough for your headphones.

hello!

is it me you're looking for?

ᴾC SᴾeCS ᴰoWᴺ ᴮEᴸoW

Spoiler

Desktop: X99-PC

CPU: i7 5820k

Mobo: X99 Deluxe

Cooler: Dark Rock Pro 3

RAM: 32GB DDR4
GPU: GTX 1080

Storage: 1TB 850 Evo, 1TB HDD, bunch of external hard drives
PSU: EVGA G2 750w

Peripherals: Logitech G502, Ducky One 711

Audio: Xonar U7, O2 amplifier (RIP), HD6XX

Monitors: 4k 24" Dell monitor, 1080p 24" Asus monitor

 

Laptop:

-Overkill Dell XPS

Fully maxed out early 2017 Dell XPS 15, GTX 1050 4GB, 7700HQ, 1TB nvme SSD, 32GB RAM, 4k display. 97Whr battery :x 
Dell was having a $600 off sale for the fully specced out model, so I decided to get it :P

 

-Crapbook

Fully specced out early 2013 Macbook "pro" with gt 650m and constant 105c temperature on the CPU (GPU is 80-90C) when doing anything intensive...

A 2013 laptop with a regular sized battery still has better battery life than a 2017 laptop with a massive battery! I think this is a testament to apple's ability at making laptops, or maybe how little CPU technology has improved even 4+ years later (at least, until the recent introduction of 15W 4 core CPUs). Anyway, I'm never going to get a 35W CPU laptop again unless battery technology becomes ~5x better than as it is in 2018.

Apple knows how to make proper consumer-grade laptops (they don't know how to make pro laptops though). I guess this mostly software power efficiency related, but getting a mac makes perfect sense if you want a portable/powerful laptop that can do anything you want it to with great battery life.

 

 

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Also I looked at the E10K but was told that this wont be good enough to run the 250 ohm versions as they are only rated to 150 ohm ,I am not sure if this is true or not but that is what I was told ,just a couple of things ,I really do not care at all if its portable ,nice looking ,big,small .This is for my home pc so it will probably stay in exactly the same spot for years to come  :)  

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FiiO E10K should be good.

If you want something really good you could get a schiit modi+magni or an Objective2+ODAC but thats overkill. The FiiO E10K is enough for your headphones.

Yea ,I was just about to purchase it and then was told from experience that the amp just is not good enough for the 250 ohm headphones ,does anyone use the E10K with a pair of 250 ohm headphones and what is your experience?

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Yea ,I was just about to purchase it and then was told from experience that the amp just is not good enough for the 250 ohm headphones ,does anyone use the E10K with a pair of 250 ohm headphones and what is your experience?

according to this: http://www.head-fi.org/t/688881/can-a-fiio-e10-drive-dt-770-250-ohm-sufficiently

It should be fine. I can't think of any other better amps without going into Objective 2+ODAC territory.

hello!

is it me you're looking for?

ᴾC SᴾeCS ᴰoWᴺ ᴮEᴸoW

Spoiler

Desktop: X99-PC

CPU: i7 5820k

Mobo: X99 Deluxe

Cooler: Dark Rock Pro 3

RAM: 32GB DDR4
GPU: GTX 1080

Storage: 1TB 850 Evo, 1TB HDD, bunch of external hard drives
PSU: EVGA G2 750w

Peripherals: Logitech G502, Ducky One 711

Audio: Xonar U7, O2 amplifier (RIP), HD6XX

Monitors: 4k 24" Dell monitor, 1080p 24" Asus monitor

 

Laptop:

-Overkill Dell XPS

Fully maxed out early 2017 Dell XPS 15, GTX 1050 4GB, 7700HQ, 1TB nvme SSD, 32GB RAM, 4k display. 97Whr battery :x 
Dell was having a $600 off sale for the fully specced out model, so I decided to get it :P

 

-Crapbook

Fully specced out early 2013 Macbook "pro" with gt 650m and constant 105c temperature on the CPU (GPU is 80-90C) when doing anything intensive...

A 2013 laptop with a regular sized battery still has better battery life than a 2017 laptop with a massive battery! I think this is a testament to apple's ability at making laptops, or maybe how little CPU technology has improved even 4+ years later (at least, until the recent introduction of 15W 4 core CPUs). Anyway, I'm never going to get a 35W CPU laptop again unless battery technology becomes ~5x better than as it is in 2018.

Apple knows how to make proper consumer-grade laptops (they don't know how to make pro laptops though). I guess this mostly software power efficiency related, but getting a mac makes perfect sense if you want a portable/powerful laptop that can do anything you want it to with great battery life.

 

 

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I wouldn't get anything.

If your sound is loud enough, and you don't notice any interference, no need for anything

Despite what people may say on certain HEAD phones hi- FI forums, DACs and amps don't magically make your headphones sound a lot better.

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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I wouldn't get anything.

If your sound is loud enough, and you don't notice any interference, no need for anything

Despite what people may say on certain HEAD phones hi- FI forums, DACs and amps don't magically make your headphones sound a lot better.

Thanks for the advice !

 

Volume is a bit of a problem ,I would definitely like them to be louder ,would you suggest that I just get a amp then or what would you do?

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I wouldn't get anything.

If your sound is loud enough, and you don't notice any interference, no need for anything

Despite what people may say on certain HEAD phones hi- FI forums, DACs and amps don't magically make your headphones sound a lot better.

 

Read that:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_factor#In_practice

 

So it does make quite a lot of difference. Of course the magic key word is: Preference.

 

I would stick to the manufacturer's specifications.

 

On the other hand there is a huge amount of people driving the 880s with the E10k and are happy with the results. So either you go for something like the O2+ODAC Combo, or you should stick with something like the E10K.

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Bass boost option:

 

Fiio E10K

 

DSD and awesome form factor:

 

Micca OriGen

 

Cheap and great performer (requires spdif/optical):

 

SMSL SD793-II

Internets Machine: Intel 4690k w/ Be Quiet! Pure Rock 4.7Ghz. MSI Krait z97. 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport Ram. MSI GTX 970 SLI 1520mhz. 500GB Samsung EVO 840  & 3TB WD Blue Drive. Rosewill 1000w Modular PSU. Corsair Air 540

My Beats Yo: Desktop:SMSL SA-160 Amp, KEF Q100 w/ Dayton 100w Sub Theater: Micca MB42X-C x3, MB42X x2, COVO-S x2 w/Dayton 120w Sub Headphones:  HIFiMan HE-400i, PSB M4U2, Philips Fidelio X2, Modded Fostex T50RP, ATH-M50, NVX XPT100, Phillips SHP9500, Pioneer SE-A1000, Hyper X Cloud 1&2, CHC Silverado, Superlux 668B

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Read that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_factor#In_practice

So it does make quite a lot of difference. Of course the magic key word is: Preference.

I would stick to the manufacturer's specifications.

On the other hand there is a huge amount of people driving the 880s with the E10k and are happy with the results. So either you go for something like the O2+ODAC Combo, or you should stick with something like the E10K.

I'm sorry, what? Do you even know what damping factor is??? Professionally, once the damping factor reaches 20:1 speakers to source, you're totally fine. In a non-professional setting, and with headphones, 8:1 is the accepted minimum. That means that the fiio could have an output impedance of over 30 ohms, which, by the way, it doesn't. For headphones, damping factor has very little to do with anything anymore, unless you're talking about tube amps, which we are not. Spwath knows what damping factor is, because he has seen SSL and I rail on about it on several occasions.

OP will be totally fine.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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I'm sorry, what? Do you even know what damping factor is??? Professionally, once the damping factor reaches 20:1 speakers to source, you're totally fine. In a non-professional setting, and with headphones, 8:1 is the accepted minimum. That means that the fiio could have an output impedance of over 30 ohms, which, by the way, it doesn't. For headphones, damping factor has very little to do with anything anymore, unless you're talking about tube amps, which we are not. Spwath knows what damping factor is, because he has seen SSL and I rail on about it on several occasions.

OP will be totally fine.

Yeah I (mostly) know what I'm talking about, because if I don't know, I won't talk about it (a policy more people need to follow)

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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