Need a DAC / AMP (combo or separated) for my new beyerdynamic headphone

[xtroria]

3 hours ago, SwimmingG said:

I researched a bit about the AKG K712 PRO and found a lot of people saying they're perfect for gaming.

Since that's my first priority I think I'll give them a try, I'll share my experiences once the time comes.

 

To get back to the core of this thread, what DAC / AMP combo do you recommend for the AKG?

Will I be fine with the Fulla 2 or should I look for something of higher quality to get the most out of the headphone?

Fulla 2 is gonna be fine. Why even spend more on the amp compared to the headphone?

[SwimmingG]

4 hours ago, xtroria said:

Fulla 2 is gonna be fine. Why even spend more on the amp compared to the headphone?

What do you mean? The Fulla is 125€, the headphones ~210€. If I would go for the Modi + Magni combination it would be like 260€.

[nicobombai]

1 hour ago, SwimmingG said:

What do you mean? The Fulla is 125€, the headphones ~210€. If I would go for the Modi + Magni combination it would be like 260€.

In some places, the headphones you are looking for can sometimes be cheaper or at the same price of the Fulla 2. IIRC, i saw dt990 at $100-120 range (for a week) last year at Amazon US.

 

With that being said, he meant, its not advisable to spend more on the amp than the cost of the headphone itself. Its better to get a better headphone than spending more on the amp/dac.

[SwimmingG]

9 hours ago, nicobombai said:

In some places, the headphones you are looking for can sometimes be cheaper or at the same price of the Fulla 2. IIRC, i saw dt990 at $100-120 range (for a week) last year at Amazon US.

 

With that being said, he meant, its not advisable to spend more on the amp than the cost of the headphone itself. Its better to get a better headphone than spending more on the amp/dac.

That's true, I also see very low prices on the low DT series from time to time. However that doesn't apply to the Manufaktur-Version I would of got, which is always at 199€ minimum (DT 880).

The Fulla is more expensive here since it's a US product and only available to me through Schiit Europe, who are in the Netherlands. It's understandable that they can't sell it for $99 here too. I'll try to get one when they're available again.

I don't really care about the headphone / DAC / AMP price ratio, as long as I get good products. I just hope the Fulla will be better than my internal SoundBlaster Z soundcard, which is horrible.

 

So my setup will be:

 

AKG K712 PRO headphones (I'll try these, if I don't like them I'll get the DT 880 250 Ohm)

ModMic v5 (I hope I'll get it attached on that small looking surface of the AKG's)

Fulla 2 DAC / AMP combo

 

For connecting the ModMic I'll use the Syba CM-UAUD USB soundcard, which is recommended by AntLion itself for the ModMic.

It'll be a bit of a cable jumble but I can live with that if everything is working fine.

[nicobombai]

14 hours ago, SwimmingG said:

So my setup will be:

 

AKG K712 PRO headphones (I'll try these, if I don't like them I'll get the DT 880 250 Ohm)

ModMic v5 (I hope I'll get it attached on that small looking surface of the AKG's)

Fulla 2 DAC / AMP combo

 

For connecting the ModMic I'll use the Syba CM-UAUD USB soundcard, which is recommended by AntLion itself for the ModMic.

It'll be a bit of a cable jumble but I can live with that if everything is working fine.

Nice setup.

But just my 2cents, you know you can just plug in the modmic straight towards the motherboard? cos using the usb soundcard will not benefit you and will just add more un-necessary things.

[xtroria]

4 minutes ago, nicobombai said:

Nice setup.

But just my 2cents, you know you can just plug in the modmic straight towards the motherboard? cos using the usb soundcard will not benefit you and will just add more un-necessary things.

Except for modmic USB soundcard does affect the mic sound. Modmic seems to pickup a lot of EMI noise from motherboard and a USB soundcard solves this problem most of the time. Sounds better too compared to MB 3.5mm plug

[nicobombai]

1 minute ago, xtroria said:

Except for modmic USB soundcard does affect the mic sound. Modmic seems to pickup a lot of EMI noise from motherboard and a USB soundcard solves this problem most of the time. Sounds better too compared to MB 3.5mm plug

Ah ic, thanks for the clarification my man!

[SwimmingG]

5 hours ago, xtroria said:

Except for modmic USB soundcard does affect the mic sound. Modmic seems to pickup a lot of EMI noise from motherboard and a USB soundcard solves this problem most of the time. Sounds better too compared to MB 3.5mm plug

Yeah that and also I couldn't get it loud enough neither on my motherboard plug nor with the internal SoundBlaster Z soundcard from Creative. Both required amplifiying up to +30db to be understandable which makes the quality and background noises horrible. It's way better since I got that USB soundcard

[SwimmingG]

Hey Guys,

 

I finally received my Fulla 2 from the Netherlands and I have to say everything is fine!

It was really easy to set everything up and the AKG K712 Pro sound great with the Fulla!

 

It was a bit of a hazzle to attach the ModMic to the AKG's because they have that elevation on the sides + mesh surface but I was able to put the sticky pad underneath and adjust the Mic by bending it.

What I also noticed is that the ModMic sounds better with the Sabrent External USB soundcard than with the one from SYBA, which got recommended to me by @AAJoe I was a bit sad about this because I thought I could a bit more out of a 90€ stick-on microphone but hey, in the end it was just another 10€ USB soundcard and it was worth the test I guess

 

Now I have a final question. I saw a lot of people saying that the K712 Pro isn't as good for hearing positional sound compared to the other AKG headphones without applying Equalizer settings.

Will turning off / lowering the bass improve the positional sound detection and how can I archieve it? Since I'm not using a soundcard anymore I don't have a built-in EQ anymore

I'm asking because I don't really notice a improvement compared to e.g. beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro when it comes to positional audio witht he AKG's

[AAJoe]

It's hit or miss with those Sabrent guys, but I am sorry you had to spend the extra 10 euro unnecessarily. Can you return the un-needed adapter?

[SwimmingG]

10 hours ago, AAJoe said:

It's hit or miss with those Sabrent guys, but I am sorry you had to spend the extra 10 euro unnecessarily. Can you return the un-needed adapter?

I could but it wouldn't be worth it considering the packaging and shipping costs.

I just sounds very weird with the SYBA, very muffled and absent. It's fine though as long as I have the Sabrent, where it sounds good.

 

Can someone help me with my EQ problem?

[LethoX]

Pretty sure you can find a free EQ just searching on google, then from there just try experimenting. Seeing what brings out the footsteps the most. Also, what games do you play?

[SwimmingG]

I'm mainly playing FPS (CS:GO, PUBG, R6, COD) where positional audio is very important.

I searched for a free EQ and installed "Equalizer APO", which looks and works very well.

I opened the 15-band Graphic EQ and turned down the first 5 values (25-160) to -20 (these are the bass values right?).

It does lower the bass a lot and you can hear positional audio more clearly, but it makes listening to music or watching movies less fun.

That's why I'm currently trying to somehow make it possible to automatically alter these bass settings when starting a game.

When I'm on my desktop I want the sound to be normal, when I'm starting a game e.g. CSGO the bass should turn down.

The problem is that it seems like Equalizer APO is writing it's settings to the Windows registry, so the effects can't be turned on and off by opening and closing the EQ. That's why I need to somehow alter the "Disable all audio enhancements" setting in the Windows Audio Settings through cmd or similiar, I don't know if it's possible to alter that setting through cmd though. Enabling and disabling this option also enables and disables the EQ effects.

Another solution would be to find the registry values the EQ is changing and change them back with a batch script but I don't know how to find them.

If I cant get it to work I might look for another EQ which effects can be easier controlled through cmd / programs.