Before you buy amp and DAC + recommendations.

[Techicolors]

6 hours ago, SSL said:

 

If you're curious, I now recommend the newly released Schiit Fulla 2 over Chi-Fi stuff like the Fiio E10K. If your onboard is good, the difference may be noticeable but not significant. Up to you to decide if $100 is worth that.

 

Keep in mind that the limiting factor in your system is the HD 558. The biggest improvements will always come from upgrading the headphone, and following with the rest of the chain, budget permitting.

the schiit fulla 2 looks quite nice. i'll check those out

 

i'm just curious about whether a dac and amp will improve the sound to an appreciable degree. but i have a feeling upgrading my headphones will have a bigger impact. for $100 on that schiit dac/amp it's touching some expensive waters

 

i'm wondering as well, though it's probably not the best thing to ask concerning hi-fi equipment, but would gaming audio be any better with a dac/amp? 

[Pomfinator]

4 minutes ago, Technicolors said:

for $100 on that schiit dac/amp it's touching some expensive waters

I started cackling at that remark.

[Dackzy]

4 minutes ago, Technicolors said:

the schiit fulla 2 looks quite nice. i'll check those out

 

i'm just curious about whether a dac and amp will improve the sound to an appreciable degree. but i have a feeling upgrading my headphones will have a bigger impact. for $100 on that schiit dac/amp it's touching some expensive waters

 

i'm wondering as well, though it's probably not the best thing to ask concerning hi-fi equipment, but would gaming audio be any better with a dac/amp? 

You will see the biggest imporvement with better headphones. Yes a DAC and amp would give you a bit better audio quality, but it is not sure that you would notice it and your headphones would be a limiting factor.

 

100$ is fairly cheap when you look at the marked...

[Pomfinator]

If we ever have the time and resources, we should do a section on DAPs, shock everyone on how expensive some of them are

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Pomfinator said:

If we ever have the time and resources, should do a section on DAPs, shock everyone on how expensive some of them are

I might have a cheap Fiio DAP on the way, The Fiio M3, it should be better than my phone  

[Pomfinator]

6 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I might have a cheap Fiio DAP on the way, The Fiio M3, it should be better than my phone  

I bought an AK70 in Japan, I might make a review on it after finals are over.

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Pomfinator said:

I bought an AK70 in Japan, I might make a review on it after finals are over.

damn that is an expensive one. 

I will update this thread with ranking and some other things, when all my school tests and reports and such are done

[applesuxD]

On 3/9/2016 at 1:48 AM, Dackzy said:

Okay guys I have seen a lot of people on here is starting to wanting to buy amps and dacs and let me just explain to you guys why you need one and why you don't need one. This is going to be very basic and generalised.

 

Reasons to get a DAC.

 

1. Noise in your sound

2. Your onboard makes the sound warm or cold sounding

3. Over all low quality sound coming from your onboard

4. Can look nice

 

Reasons to NOT get a DAC.

 

1. No noise.

2. No coloring in your onboard.

3. You already have transparent sound. ( kinda the same as Nr. 2)

4. Takes up space.

5. You will need to buy an amp.

 

Reasons to get a AMP.

 

1. You cant power your headphones. (your headphones don't get loud enough)

2. Your headphones sound muddy only at that pc (kinda the same as Nr. 1)

3. Can look nice.

4. You want to try tube sound. (they get really hot, so do NOT touch them.)

 

Reasons to NOT get a AMP.

 

1. You can power your headphones.

2. Takes up space.

 

Most motherboards on the market to day can power 90%-95% of all the headphones on the market. A DAC and amp will not make your headphones better if you already have transparent sound and they are powered properly.

Save the money and get better headphones if you are unhappy by the sound you have in your headphones.

 

Ohm does not say if your headphones are hard to drive or not.

You can have 600 Ohm headphones that are easier to drive than 32 Ohm headphones.

 

Different explanations (keeping it simple)

 

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Noise: you have crakling or some other sound that should not be there.

 

Warm sound: You have more bass and lower mids in your sound when you use your headphones with that pc.

 

Cold sound: You have more treble and less bass in your sound when you use your headphones with that pc.

 

Coloring: Well your soundcard adds treble/bass/mids.

 

Transparent: your soundcard does not add any extra treble/bass/mids to the sound.

 

Tube amp/tube sound: A tube amp generally makes the sound smoother and warmer because it distorts the sound.

 

Before you go buy an amp for some headphones you just orded wait get the headphones and test them with your onboard before you go spend money on a amp.

Before you go buy an DAC amp combo, if you already has transparent sound and you have nothing wrong with your onboard DAC then you will not notice a difference between your onboard and a DAC and if you buy an DAC you will need an amp.

 

Remember sound is not black and white like some people say it is, there are more to sound than just specs.

 

Only look down here if you really need an DAC and amp or just an amp

 

I have used amazon.de and amazon.com for every product that is not from Schiit where I used their own webshop

 

My recommendations for desktop amps:

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1. Schiit magni 2 EU= 120€ US= 99$

2. Schiit magni 2 Uber EU= 175€ US= 149$

3. Objective 2  EU=?? US=139$

4. Schiit vali 2 with lisst tubes (tube)  EU= 284€ US= 268$

5. Fiio K5 EU= 149€ US= 110$

6. Schiit asgard 2 EU= 269€ US= 249$

7. Little Dot MK2 MKII (tube) EU= 185€  US= 185-200$

8. SMSL sApII EU= 68€/43£ US= 68$ (this a good option for you guys that is on a budget, and just needs a powerfull amp)

9. Schiit Asgard 2 EU= 259€ US= 249$

10. Schiit Valhalla 2 (tube amp) EU= 379€ US= 349$

11. Schiit Lyr 2 ( tube hybrid or Solid state amp) EU= 459€ US= 449$

12. DarkVoice 336SE (tube) EU= 320€ US= 320$.

 

My recommendations for desktop dacs:

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1. Schiit modi 2 EU= 123€ US= 99$

2. Schiit modi 2 Uber EU= 175€ US= 149$

3. Objective Dac EU=?? US= 149$

4. SMSL Sanskrit 6th (this dac has been known for having a usb port that doesn't work properly, but it is good if you get one without the problem) EU= 110€ US= 105

5. Schiit Bifrost EU= 435€ US= 399$

 

My recommendations for desktop Combos:

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1. Objective combo EU= 259£ or 301£ (depending on what model you get, this is from amazon.co.uk) US= 275-290$

2. Monoprice 111567 Desktop Headphone Amplifier EU= ?? US= 113$

3. micca origen EU=??  US= 110$

4. SMSL SD793-II EU= 65€ US= 65

5. Aune T1 mk2 EU= 199£ (amazon.co.uk) US= 250$ (don't touch it while it is running, it also has some QC problems and the amp part isn't that powerful)

6. Schiit Fulla  EU= 99€ US= 99$ Pretty much the best combo you can get for 99$ or 99€, more than powerful for a lot of headphones, while still having high audio quality like the rest of Schiit products. If you don't NEED the power of a schiit stack, then get this one.

 

My recommendations for small Combos that run on usb only:

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1. Schiit Fulla  EU= 99€ US= 79$

2. Audioquest DragonFly EU= 148€ US= 149$

3. Fiio k1 EU= 50€ US= 40$ (on sale) 100$ (this is for you guys that are on a low budget)

4. Oppo HA-2 EU= 300€ US= 300$ (you can use this one with a phone and it has a build in battery)

5. Chord MoJo EU=599€ US= 599$ ( can also be used with a phone)

Where do I find schiit in EU?

http://www.schiit-europe.com/

http://schiit.eu.com/   (UK)

 

Lastly if you have interference look at this guide SSL has made.

FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS POST  

There are no stupid questions, I am here to help  

I hope that this post helped you and cleared some things up for you  

 

 

Should i get Fiio K1 or Schiit Fulla? (first one, not sure if i can find schiit fulla 2 here in singapore yet)

 

Im using Beyerdynamic T70 250Ohms,seems easy to power even with that 250ohms name on it..

 

 

[belie]

So I got a dumb question. I have Logitech z533 speakers that make static white noise and so do my headphones. I wanted to get a sound card, but read your post and want to get a dac now. Obviously, these speakers aren't the best, but they work. I'm trying to look for a dac which I can plug my headphones, speakers and possibly microphone in, helps with cord management. I need to be able to switch from headphones to speakers, without unplugging cords. Got any suggestions?

 

[Dackzy]

On 11/12/2016 at 3:43 PM, applesuxD said:

 

 

Should i get Fiio K1 or Schiit Fulla? (first one, not sure if i can find schiit fulla 2 here in singapore yet)

 

Im using Beyerdynamic T70 250Ohms,seems easy to power even with that 250ohms name on it..

 

 

The Fulla, I can never really recommend the K1, nothing about it makes it stand out at all. It is very meh and onboard is often just as good or better

[applesuxD]

1 hour ago, Dackzy said:

The Fulla, I can never really recommend the K1, nothing about it makes it stand out at all. It is very meh and onboard is often just as good or better

Ok, in my country i can easily only find fiio,schiit and thats almost really it

 

So is there any fiio equivalent? 

[Dackzy]

11 minutes ago, applesuxD said:

Ok, in my country i can easily only find fiio,schiit and thats almost really it

 

So is there any fiio equivalent? 

well if you can get the fulla, then get the fulla.

[applesuxD]

7 hours ago, Dackzy said:

well if you can get the fulla, then get the fulla.

Alright, was considering the E10K as well

[Dackzy]

6 minutes ago, applesuxD said:

Alright, was considering the E10K as well

nah, it is simply not good enough to be on my list. The value is simply not there, atleast not when you compare it to other similar priced combos

[applesuxD]

16 hours ago, Dackzy said:

nah, it is simply not good enough to be on my list. The value is simply not there, atleast not when you compare it to other similar priced combos

Would i need the fulla 2 or is the first version enough? Its now half price here in sg for fulla 1(70-100SGD range),and seeing how retail price always goes i know for sure the fulla 2 will be 200Sgd

 

Im just plugging in to PC, and listening to spotify most of the times. I use it for gaming definitely, and I will pair an electronic drum with the PC, and i will record and mix tracks here and there. Maybe some critical listening

 

But all these I've mentioned i guess mostly depends on the headphones anyways, so would you recommend me to get a fulla 2? Or just save the unnecessary money and get the fulla 1?

 

 

[applesuxD]

-empty- (posted twice,it might be a random bug)

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, applesuxD said:

SNIP

well the fulla 2 is better, but the fulla is still great. It is up to you if you think it would be worth going for the fulla 2 over the fulla.

[revl8er]

On 12/15/2016 at 2:48 AM, Dackzy said:

well the fulla 2 is better, but the fulla is still great. It is up to you if you think it would be worth going for the fulla 2 over the fulla.

The fulla 2 is pretty nice.  Just got mine, upgrading from a smsl sd793-ii.  Using it to power my akgk712 headphones, the difference is definitely noticeable.  When gaming, at the same volume footsteps in CSGO are a lot louder than previously.  Also got more bass out of my headphones, possibly due to the amp.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a reasonable priced dac/amp.  Now I use my smsl to power my hd518s on my consoles.  

[acercon]

I am looking for a amp/dac for my AKG K7XX, it seems that the best option (~$100) is the fulla 2 from schiit. do you guys agree? What about the SMSL SD79C-II (https://www.amazon.ca/SMSL-SD793-II-PCM1793-DIR9001-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QLPJM) How is that one better or worst because it is 14 dollars cheaper.

Thanks!

[Dackzy]

1 hour ago, acercon said:

I am looking for a amp/dac for my AKG K7XX, it seems that the best option (~$100) is the fulla 2 from schiit. do you guys agree? What about the SMSL SD79C-II (https://www.amazon.ca/SMSL-SD793-II-PCM1793-DIR9001-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QLPJM) How is that one better or worst because it is 14 dollars cheaper.

Thanks!

it is worse.

do you already have the k7xx?

[Pomfinator]

2 hours ago, acercon said:

I am looking for a amp/dac for my AKG K7XX, it seems that the best option (~$100) is the fulla 2 from schiit. do you guys agree? What about the SMSL SD79C-II (https://www.amazon.ca/SMSL-SD793-II-PCM1793-DIR9001-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QLPJM) How is that one better or worst because it is 14 dollars cheaper.

Thanks!

Fulla 2 really eliminates the need to rely on Chi-Fi for a USB powered Amp/DAC combo.  Get the Fulla 2 if you need it.

[applesuxD]

4 minutes ago, Pomfinator said:

Fulla 2 really eliminates the need to rely on Chi-Fi for a USB powered Amp/DAC combo.  Get the Fulla 2 if you need it.

Chi-fi?

[Pomfinator]

Just now, applesuxD said:

Chi-fi?

Chinese Hi-Fi.  SMSL, Fiio, LittleDot fit in this category.

[SSL]

11 hours ago, Pomfinator said:

Chinese Hi-Fi.  SMSL, Fiio, LittleDot fit in this category.

 

Hifiman, audiogd, etc

[acercon]

18 hours ago, Dackzy said:

it is worse.

do you already have the k7xx?

 

yea I have had my k7xx for a while now, I asked about it in this post (

 

)