Sound blaster Z + magni 2 uber.

[tuunade98]

Will adding an amp like the schiit magni 2 uber to my sound blaster z actually improve sound quality? At the moment I've got 2 headphones, beyerdynamic dt 990 pros 250ohms and an audio technica ath-ad900x. The ad900x has a low impedance, so I don't really need anything to drive them properly, but the dt 990 pros on the other hand are quite high(250 ohms). I'm also thinking about getting new headphones soon maybe, perhaps the sennheiser hd650. So my big question is, will getting an external amp like the magni 2 uber be worth it? Will it actually improve sound quality? I will be using a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect the magni 2 uber to my Line in on my sound blaster z. What do you guys think? A lot of people think that the dt 990 pros are amazing, but to me compared to the ad900x, the dt 990 pro feels quite lacking. The audio technica ath-ad900x just sounds better imo, with a larger sound stage and less fatiguing treble. Is this really the way its meant to be? Will adding an external amp to my sound blaster z help at all?

[Dackzy]

no.

 

[BrightCandle]

Yes it does. I did it and might a dramatic difference. The impedence of the output of the soundblaster Z really means it only suits very high Ohm headphones and then it doesn't really have the power to drive them. I wrote a post about my Soundblaster Z and modi/magni setup a few weeks ago and you might want to search for that and read my impressions and how I set it up.

[Dackzy]

9 minutes ago, BrightCandle said:

Yes it does. I did it and might a dramatic difference. The impedence of the output of the soundblaster Z really means it only suits very high Ohm headphones and then it doesn't really have the power to drive them. I wrote a post about my Soundblaster Z and modi/magni setup a few weeks ago and you might want to search for that and read my impressions and how I set it up.

and ohm has nothing to do with how hard headphones are to drive. The reason why you noticed a difference is because the soundblaster is a colored amp and dac and schiit is not and a amp will only amplify the colored sound.

[SSL]

An amp isn't going to do squat for the sound signature of the DT990

 

[tuunade98]

Besides something like the sennheiser hd800, what headphones do you guys think has the largest/widest sound stage? Besides something like the audio technica ad series. I read that the sennheiser hd600/650 has somewhat of a warm feeling to it, which is something that I'm not really looking for. I want something like the audio technica ad900x but enhanced on a whole different level. I'm guessing the better ad1000x or ad2000x would achieve this, but I'm thinking of a different brand this time. I heard something like the AKG k712 and q701 would achieve this, what do you guys think? And of course if I really end up needing an amp, I really don't mind getting one, I'll most likely be getting the magni 2. 

 

EDIT: preferably something under $800 aud.

[sobe]

As per your OP regarding the 990's, yes and no... Different amps (even sticking to just solid state) can actually vary the produced sound (to an extent mind you, nothing too magical about one quality amp over another, even if it is priced higher, with the exception of tube amps for tube rolling to seek differences), but the perceived differences may actually not sound different(or too different) to you. It's mostly to do with how the amp handles the drivers, but just don't expect magical upgrades of audio quality, because that simply won't happen. And keep in mind, you can go tube to tame some of the treble of the 990's, but as SSL mentioned, you aren't really going to change their sound signature, they are treble happy headphones.

 

If you DO plan to move into the audio arena and want to look at new headphone options and form up a collection like many of us have here, then I absolutely recommend the Schiit Magni 2 (or Schiit Vali 2 if you want to intro tube amps, or if budget permits further and you don't mind a little DIY, one of my favorites, the G1217 Project Ember) as a great little amp that should have no problem powering the large majority of headphones out there with few exceptions.

[tuunade98]

I honestly don't think im done buying headphones yet. My ad900x sound amazing, but I'm still not really 100% satisfied. I'm starting to think, to actually get better audio quality i may have to head into the $1000+ AUD category, which I personally do not really want to(I'm not bill gates). I believe that the ad1000x and ad2000x will be what im kind of looking for, thing is if I do get those, it will simply just make my ad900x obsolete. Yes i'm starting to head down that path where I will have multiple headphones xD, so I thought to myself a magni 2 uber with my sound blaster z would be sufficient for the time being for my future headphones. And if need be in the future, I could also get the DAC modi. 

 

 

EDIT: now i'm a little bit more confused, what is a tube like the vali suppose to do? I don't 100% understand what a DAC does either but I know an amp supposabaly allows you to listen at higher volumes, if your current amp is too weak...

[sobe]

As far as tube vs solid state, to put it simply, tube amps will distort the sound a bit, but the perks would be generally wider soundstage thanks to going the tube route along with smoothing certain frequencies and creating a warmer sound. Solid state amps are generally going to be transparent and unlike the tube amps, SHOULD offer a black background, there are some that simply can't cope with the latter though. This is where the higher end amps kind of make their mark.

 

Really it comes down to personal preference. I have and use both SS and tube amps, but I am particularly fond of tube amps for my own tastes. And if you go tube rolling you may notice different tubes can alter the sound in various ways, which for me is both interesting and something to play with. I'd honestly suggest starting out though with a solid state amp such as the Magni, because tubes aren't for everyone, it's a love it or hate it kind of thing.

 

No reason to be confused though  As for the DAC, it's in the name, Digital-to-Analog Convertor, and as it states in the name, processes the digital signal into analog such that can be sent to your headphones. Now, while I love having a discrete and standalone setup such as recommending say the Schiit Magni and Schiit Modi stack, please keep in mind you don't NEED the separate DAC unless you are experiencing white noise and the such, and as such you can just connect the Magni to your mobo's onboard using a needed 3.5mm to RCA cable.

 

 

Now, as for your AD900X becoming obsolete, do what I've done, sell them over on Reddit or Head-Fi  Hell, I had a 10 can collection going but I realized I needed to narrow mine down due to headphones I hardly touched anymore, and as such I am down to 4 pair (5 when the Fostex X00 come in from Massdrop).

[tuunade98]

thanks for the awesome reply Sobe, I will think about the magni 2 uber then. Not anytime soon as I need a new boom arm first, but when I do get an external amp, I might just get that one. I'm also leaning towards the sennheiser hd600 or 650, can't really decide yet but more on the lines of the 600 as it is cheaper. Getting the magni and using my blaster z as the dac should really make the 600hd shine right?

 

EDIT: what do you mean by "white noise". Keep in mind im a total clueless noob when it comes to most of this stuff at the moment. Plus I was thinking of connecting the magni to my sound blaster z's line in, is that okay? Obviously with a 3.5mm to rca cable.

[sobe]

54 minutes ago, tuunade98 said:

thanks for the awesome reply Sobe, I will think about the magni 2 uber then. Not anytime soon as I need a new boom arm first, but when I do get an external amp, I might just get that one. I'm also leaning towards the sennheiser hd600 or 650, can't really decide yet but more on the lines of the 600 as it is cheaper. Getting the magni and using my blaster z as the dac should really make the 600hd shine right?

 

EDIT: what do you mean by "white noise". Keep in mind im a total clueless noob when it comes to most of this stuff at the moment. Plus I was thinking of connecting the magni to my sound blaster z's line in, is that okay? Obviously with a 3.5mm to rca cable.

The Magni should be more than enough, like I said, for the majority of headphones on the market with the largest benefit over sound card is moar loudness 

 

And yep.

[SSL]

1 hour ago, sobe said:

generally wider soundstage thanks to that distortion

 

So distortion causes wider soundstage now?

 

54 minutes ago, tuunade98 said:

thanks for the awesome reply Sobe, I will think about the magni 2 uber then. Not anytime soon as I need a new boom arm first, but when I do get an external amp, I might just get that one. I'm also leaning towards the sennheiser hd600 or 650, can't really decide yet but more on the lines of the 600 as it is cheaper. Getting the magni and using my blaster z as the dac should really make the 600hd shine right?

 

You sound curious, so I would pony up the cash for the Vali 2 if you can. You'll probably want to try tubes eventually, and this way you'll have the option to try both - the Vali accepts Schiit's solid-state tube replacement.

[sobe]

4 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

So distortion causes wider soundstage now?

 

 

You sound curious, so I would pony up the cash for the Vali 2 if you can. You'll probably want to try tubes eventually, and this way you'll have the option to try both - the Vali accepts Schiit's solid-state tube replacement.

 

Bah, I'll have to edit that with the correct info. Not distortion at all. Generally tube amps are attributed with a wider soundstage as a whole, certainly not due to distortion lol.

I was also unaware of that info about the Vali 2, I only used the Vali which was all-internal. That's pretty cool actually.

[tuunade98]

vali2, I actually prefer headphones with bigger soundstage which might explain why I prefer my ad900x over my beyerdynamics. So the vali 2 should actually somewhat give me a larger soundstage with my headphones? What is with the light bulb looking thing sticking out of the vali 2, it looks ugly.

[Dackzy]

48 minutes ago, tuunade98 said:

vali2, I actually prefer headphones with bigger soundstage which might explain why I prefer my ad900x over my beyerdynamics. So the vali 2 should actually somewhat give me a larger soundstage with my headphones? What is with the light bulb looking thing sticking out of the vali 2, it looks ugly.

That is the tube. It will run very hot and it will stop working at some point, where you then need to buy a new tube, tubes are not that expensive and it will take a long time before you will have to change it.

[SuicideAnomaly]

5 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

That is the tube. It will run very hot and it will stop working at some point, where you then need to buy a new tube, tubes are not that expensive and it will take a long time before you will have to change it.

There are some that are clearly forged with unicorn tears, because they are obnoxiously expensive.

[Pomfinator]

59 minutes ago, SuicideAnomaly said:

There are some that are clearly forged with unicorn tears, because they are obnoxiously expensive.

I remember watching a "review" of the Vali 2 and the guy recommended people to drop $70 on a replacement tube for it.  That's half the cost of a Vali 2, with that kind of money you can upgrade to a Valhalla 2 and go full OTL tube-gloriousness.

[tuunade98]

I might just listen to Sobe and get the magni. I won't be getting it just yet but i will be sometime in the future. Probably get it after I get my new boom arm. 

[tuunade98]

I finally went ahead and ordered a schiit magni 2, figured I didn't need the extra preamp outputs on the uber, so I just went for the normal magni 2. As for 3.5mm to rca cables, will any of these cables do fine? https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Search/results/?keywords=3mm%20to%20rca. I'm thinking I might get rid of my sound blaster z as well, and just hook the amp up to my onboard audio via the green headphone jack. So 3.5mm to green headphone jack on motherboard's onboard audio and both RCA to the schiit magni 2, what do you guys think of this setup? Should I infact keep the sound blaster z and use that instead? Does the length of the 3.5mm to rca cable really matter? I'm thinking 2m might be a little too short, not entirely sure just yet. 

[SSL]

15 minutes ago, tuunade98 said:

I finally went ahead and ordered a schiit magni 2, figured I didn't need the extra preamp outputs on the uber, so I just went for the normal magni 2. As for 3.5mm to rca cables, will any of these cables do fine? https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Search/results/?keywords=3mm%20to%20rca. I'm thinking I might get rid of my sound blaster z as well, and just hook the amp up to my onboard audio via the green headphone jack. So 3.5mm to green headphone jack on motherboard's onboard audio and both RCA to the schiit magni 2, what do you guys think of this setup? Should I infact keep the sound blaster z and use that instead? Does the length of the 3.5mm to rca cable really matter? I'm thinking 2m might be a little too short, not entirely sure just yet. 

 

Get the shortest cable you can work with. You need 3.5mm TRS to 2xRCA. Any brand should be fine provided good reviews.

[tuunade98]

What is TRS? so the cables I linked earlier should be fine? 

 

nevermind i just googled TRS, I know what it is now. Thanks SSL.