A Beginners Question?

[Meliketoast]

Hey ive lateley thinking of getting into the hobby and i recently got a akg k371 and wanna expand what i have. i have never tried open backs mostly gaming headphones and i have done tons and tons of research and i think im concluding in that i wanna buy a Harmonicdyne Zeus due to it has some qualities i personally think ill enjoy and found out it has alot of soundstage a pad swap and im unsure how much a dac and a amp will effect it. (Note i use apple a dongle.)

I have heard that class A amps suits this amp well and im unsure about that, why others wouldn't work well. I was thinking of getting a Schiit stack but hear others stacks sound better so im getting scared of getting tradeoffs and struggle to differentiate how different amps sound.

What ive considered for a amp and dac is.
Schiit magni 3+
schiit modi 3+
topping d10
topping a30
topping e30
topping a50s
jds atom amp+
jds atom dac

 

[Doodski]

What is your preferred price range?

 

[JoeBrooklyn]

You can't go wrong with either the Schiit stack ($200) or Topping stack E30/L30 or D10/L30 ($300) Or even the Dx3 pro+ DAC/amp combo ($200) All are well reviewed here and represent tremendous value.
BUT I think there are better headphones - like the Dan Clark Aeon RT for just a bit more money.

 

[DVDdoug]

and im unsure how much a dac and a amp will effect it.

None at all... Unfortunately, soundstage is an illusion that can't be directly measured. It seems to be related to frequency response and that can be adjusted/altered with EQ, but you may not want to alter the frequency response or it may be a trade-off. I'm not an expert on this so maybe someone else can recommend how to adjust your EQ, or what headphones are better for soundstage. Open or closed headphones might also make a difference.

I have heard that class A amps suits this amp well

Nonsense! (And class is a characteristic of the amplifier so I'm not sure what you mean.) Class A amplifiers can theoretically have lower distortion at low levels but in the real world class A/B or D can perform equally well (or better).

Class-A amplifiers are terribly inefficient (with most of the energy converted to heat). That's not a serious issue with headphone amplifiers since they a low-power anyway but IMO it's a "dumb design" for a power amplifier, and it's virtually impossible to make a high-power class-A amplifier.

The important factors are:

Amplifier power and headphone or speaker sensitivity. (Do they go loud enough without distortion?)

Amplifier noise... (Are you hearing hum, hiss, or whine in the background? Of course, a more-sensitive headphone is louder so the noise is more noticeable.)

Distortion... (Almost never an issue unless you're over-driving the amplifier.)

Frequency Response... (The biggest factor that makes one headphone or speaker sound different from another. Almost never an issue with a DAC or amplifier.)

 

[ZolaIII]

Why on earth would you buy hedaphones with gimmick 75$ cable? For what do you intend to use hedaphones? I presume you like Harman curve.

 

[beetleburper]

I quite like the zeus brilliant for gaming

 

[ZolaIII]

Let's just say K702 and SBX G6 are hard to beat combo when it comes to gaming and both for the price of Zeus.

 

[Doodski]

Class-A amplifiers are terribly inefficient (with most of the energy converted to heat). That's not a serious issue with headphone amplifiers since they a low-power anyway but IMO it's a "dumb design" for a power amplifier, and it's virtually impossible to make a high-power class-A amplifier.

What do you consider as a high power amp?

 

[beetleburper]

Let's just say K702 and SBX G6 are hard to beat combo when it comes to gaming and both for the price of Zeus.

Not a fan of the k702 and soundblaster people still buy them ?? much prefer the Zeus the detailing and soundstage is amazing for gaming bit of over kill but I'm using topping e50/l50 stack.

 

[ZolaIII]

OK let me put it otherwise spartal qualities and deticated scout trigger. I really don't care about preference in this case.

 

[beetleburper]

That scout thing was the worst thing ever what was it designed to hear your enemies while making every thing sound like total hot garbage.


Haha I'm honestly not sure if you're trolling me man.

 

[ZolaIII]

I am certain that fancy cable things are considered as trolling hire. You have a button for DSP-EQ profile switching which I hate to brake it to you are adjustable. G6 whose reviewed hire long time ago and performed perfectly fine (ADC whose disappointing but good enough for basics chat). Anyhow having a deticated switch for DSP profiles you can access quickly is a large plus for gaming.
Regarding spartal quality's they are not really explained if you don't like K702 and have money and can still find HD800 go for it it will be a little better regarding mentioned.
People who game want deacent good quality equipment for a fair price. They don't want gimmick like 75$ fancy cable or 5 dB better DAC SINAD. Embedded DSP (even with limited and far from ideal exposed user end) and Dolby (lossy older versions) decoder makes it scream regarding value for money compared to PCM DAC/amp combo that costs 3~4x more doesn't have any of those but ouuu it has a 5~10 dB better SINAD (120 dB compared to 110).
If you have any better suggestions I and everyone else here will be eager to see it and everything else is flatus vocis.

Best regards.

 

[beetleburper]

I was once like this as well I had a sound blaster z and thought it sounded amazing until I tried a DAC and amp combo trust me once you try a quality DAC and amp combo instead of a gimmicky built for gamers you'll never go back.

Like who is stopping during a competitive match to change their sound profile haha.

( Hold up guys just gotta change my profile to hear foot steps on the fly with my quick switch )...

The sound difference is amazing channel separation and sound stage I'm able to locate enemies with pin point accuracy and don't even get me started on sound clarity it's so clear and crisp to the ears I'm hearing sounds in games I never knew were there before.

I'm looking at focal clears as my next headphones but I'm yet to test them out.