Audio Setup

[Eagle16]

Hello, 

I am in need of some audio advice. I am looking to spend about $250 on an audio setup. I want to get a good pair of open-back headphones, and some kind of amp and dac combo unit to use instead of on-board stuff. I am looking at the dt990pro 250ohm, the HD 598 SE, and the ATH-AD900X headphones. Not sure if there are any other good options available. For a amp dac device I was looking at the fiio e10k or the creative sound blaster ZX. If anyone knows of anything better or a combination of headphones and amp/dac that works well together, I would appreciate you leaving your advice in a comment. 

 

Thanks

[SSL]

Any of those headphones would be a good choice, depending on your sound preference.

[Dackzy]

If you end up picking the HD 598 I would take the 558 since they sound the same. As SSL said they are all good headphones, and I dont think that you would need an amp and dac for them.

[nickspacemonkey]

Get a good DAC. The Fiio E10K is a solid buy, there are a few around that are really good. Schiit make a really good AMP and DAC that linus has reviewd.

[Dackzy]

3 hours ago, nickspacemonkey said:

Get a good DAC. The Fiio E10K is a solid buy, there are a few around that are really good. Schiit make a really good AMP and DAC that linus has reviewd.

Read my post and you will see why you are wrong (linked in my signature)

[Derpologist]

9 hours ago, Dackzy said:

If you end up picking the HD 598 I would take the 558 since they sound the same. As SSL said they are all good headphones, and I dont think that you would need an amp and dac for them.

Amp, probably not, but DAC, yes! As long as you arent recording or producing, and dont need accurate flat sound, they improve the listening experience a ton. 

[Dackzy]

12 minutes ago, Derpologist said:

Amp, probably not, but DAC, yes! As long as you arent recording or producing, and dont need accurate flat sound, they improve the listening experience a ton. 

NO NO AND NO. How much do you know about audio? If you recomend a dac but not a amp, do you even know what they are and what they do? Have you even read my post about this or are you listing to all the stupid youtubers?

[Dackzy]

25 minutes ago, Derpologist said:

Amp, probably not, but DAC, yes! As long as you arent recording or producing, and dont need accurate flat sound, they improve the listening experience a ton. 

sry for the little flame.

[nickspacemonkey]

4 hours ago, Dackzy said:

Read my post and you will see why you are wrong (linked in my signature)

I'm not wrong, he may not need to get a DAC but why the hell not. Ditch the onboard, unless you have like a $200 plus board they usually have no headphone amp and are not really anything good.

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, nickspacemonkey said:

I'm not wrong, he may not need to get a DAC but why the hell not. Ditch the onboard, unless you have like a $200 plus board they usually have no headphone amp and are not really anything good.

ALL MOTHERBOARDS HAVE AMPS FFS, IF THEY DIDN'T THEN YOU COULD NOT USE HEADPHONES WITH THEM.

READ MY GOD DAMN POST. WHY SHOULD YOU WASTE MONEY HUH? PLEASE TELL ME WHY.

@SSL Please help me now I cant take this anymore.

[nickspacemonkey]

So why can't i use my headphones with my board? Or rather they don't get very loud...

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, nickspacemonkey said:

So why can't i use my headphones with my board? Or rather they don't get very loud...

NO AMP=NO SOUND, how can a dac power anything please tell me how a dac can power headphones and how you are going to hook up a dac up to headphones since a dac does not have a headphone in.  A dac is a digital to analog converter and that is it.

Just read my post so you can learn the basic things.

[Dackzy]

You have a pair of headphones that are not very efficient that is it... I AM DONE 

[nickspacemonkey]

But i never said only get a DAC. Why don't you read my posts. I said a Fiio E10k is a solid buy, and Schiit does a really good amp/DAC 2 units or whatever. I'm not wrong, why don't you get off your high horse.

[Dackzy]

7 minutes ago, nickspacemonkey said:

But i never said only get a DAC. Why don't you read my posts. I said a Fiio E10k is a solid buy, and Schiit does a really good amp/DAC 2 units or whatever. I'm not wrong, why don't you get off your high horse.

First the e10k is a COMBO not just a dac.
Second a dac cant do anything with out a amp
third HE DOES NOT NEED A DAC AND AMP, even if he has noise SSL has a guide for that and if you read my post you would know the basic things and you would also know that even they cheaper mother boards have pretty transparent sound today and he will not be able to hear the difference unless his board sucks ass. The E10K is not transparent that is why you can hear a difference.
If you just read my post instead of all of this you would have learned a lot of things and all of this would not have happened.

PS. It's just plain stupid to spend money on something you dont need.

[SSL]

7 minutes ago, nickspacemonkey said:

But i never said only get a DAC. Why don't you read my posts. I said a Fiio E10k is a solid buy, and Schiit does a really good amp/DAC 2 units or whatever. I'm not wrong, why don't you get off your high horse.

Because it's likely unnecessary to spend even that kind of money on such a limited budget.

 

You are simply wrong with your statement about motherboards. The majority these days work properly assuming that they right drivers are installed and configured.

[nickspacemonkey]

I know the E10k is a combo unit not just a DAC, thats why i said it's a solid buy and would reccomend it.

I know that.

So what? You don't NEED shoes, but they are kinda nice to have.

 

I guess the difference between us is that i like nice hardware, you have just a laptop, which imo is terrible.

 

So can anbody explain to me how to increase the gain from my onboard so i can use my headphones with it? As apparently according to you guys it should be doable. They don't get quite as loud as i would like.

[Dackzy]

6 minutes ago, nickspacemonkey said:

I know the E10k is a combo unit not just a DAC, thats why i said it's a solid buy and would reccomend it.

I know that.

So what? You don't NEED shoes, but they are kinda nice to have.

 

I guess the difference between us is that i like nice hardware, you have just a laptop, which imo is terrible.

 

So can anbody explain to me how to increase the gain from my onboard so i can use my headphones with it? As apparently according to you guys it should be doable. They don't get quite as loud as i would like.

Hmm a laptop with a nvs 4200m and a  i7 2640m that is better than 14 inch laptops that cost up to 1800$ and tell me why does my laptop matter I also have a desktop with a i7 4770k. I also have 1100€ headphones BUT WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS? I like nice hardware that is why I have a thinkpad.

 

You dont need an amp and dac since you cant hear the difference between onboard and a dac if the onboard is transparrent then only thing you do is to add a physical volume button and that is it.

 

What motherboard do you have?

[nickspacemonkey]

Because most sole laptop owners know nothing about computers. Laptops also get outdated fast, nonupgradable in terms of CPU and GPU, also alot of them end up with overheating problems after a few years. But nevermind, you have a desktop, I understand people need laptops as secondary machines.

 

Asus Z97-K

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97K/

[Dackzy]

Just now, nickspacemonkey said:

Because most sole laptop owners know nothing about computers. Laptops also get outdated fast, nonupgradable in terms of CPU and GPU, also alot of them end up with overheating problems after a few years. But nevermind, you have a desktop, I understand people need laptops as secondary machines.

 

Asus Z97-K

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97K/

Well the only two laptops I can find that can replace my t420s when it comes to raw power are the T460p(i7) and the P40(i7).

I will look into it okay  in 1-2min I will be back with a answer

[Dackzy]

3 minutes ago, nickspacemonkey said:

Because most sole laptop owners know nothing about computers. Laptops also get outdated fast, nonupgradable in terms of CPU and GPU, also alot of them end up with overheating problems after a few years. But nevermind, you have a desktop, I understand people need laptops as secondary machines.

 

Asus Z97-K

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z97K/

Could you give me a screenshot of the audio driver you have?

[nickspacemonkey]

2 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

Could you give me a screenshot of the audio driver you have?

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56868&authkey=!AJnrI65v7hjMfd4&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

 

Should be the latest from the Asus website, only reinstalled Windows a few months ago.

[Dackzy]

there should be something like this in your taskbar.

[Dackzy]

4 minutes ago, nickspacemonkey said:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56868&authkey=!AJnrI65v7hjMfd4&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

 

Should be the latest from the Asus website, only reinstalled Windows a few months ago.

Asus gives me this and I think you also have something that kinda looks the same the taskbar loge looks like this

[nickspacemonkey]

2 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

there should be something like this in your taskbar.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56869&authkey=!ABjRUQ7MCFh9YcY&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56870&authkey=!AAG09vmwiGqMcvg&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56872&authkey=!AOHJZu118tKMUqM&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=115D848C2F87F3D3!56871&authkey=!ABLqHqiKegknSYk&v=3&ithint=photo%2cpng

 

Sorry for the onedrive links, i have 2TB free for next 3 years..

 

*EDIT*

Yeah mine seems more basic.