I’ll try to be as brief as possible.
Current headphones: Fidelio X2HR, DT770 Pro (80 ohm), Jabra 75T Active (exercise), Air Pod Pro, Massdrop NuForce IEM, few others that I forgot.
Source: iPhone 13 (primary), Galaxy Note 8. Don’t have a personal computer, just an iPad and my work laptop. Likely getting a gaming laptop once the 2022 models are out.
Genres: Hiphop, EDM, classical, movie scores, orchestral.
Looking for:
-Bass/sub-bass (tactile), but not necessarily at the cost of sound quality. I don’t need reference quality mids and treble, but I also don’t want pure mud bass.
- I don’t have any particular dislikes.
- I do like soundstage/immersion.
- work from home and will permanently at least be hybrid, so I don’t necessarily need noise isolation
-Prefer portability or ability to move around with headphones in to some degree. Not a deal breaker at all.
Budget: $1,000ish (if I don’t put a budget on it the it’ll end up like my home theater)
Current Considerations
Headphones: Two options
(1) over ear (HE-560 forn$230 on sale) and cheap IEM bass cannons like Campfire Honeydew. I realize Honeydew are muddy bass, but I can get them for $100. It’s kind of a throw away
(2) $400-600 open ear (no ideas) or IEM (Moondrop Dusk?) Closed ear get too hot. IEMs open up the ability to use wired or with Bluetooth ear hooks from Shure or FiiO.
Amps:
(1) SMSL-SP200 - on sale for $140, however can’t be used with IEMs from what I read due to too much power.
(2) Mangius - not sure if powerful enough for HE-560 (assuming i get that or another planar).
(3) Topping A30 Pro - seems powerful enough?
Open to other suggestions.
Dac: Is this necessary if I’m using a phone as the source? Do I need to bypass the phone DAC to use an external one?
(1) Topping under $250
(2) Modius
(3) SMSL M200
Potentially a Bluetooth DAC?
Also would be interested in a portable DAC & AMP up to $500 if it provides sufficient power.
Current headphones: Fidelio X2HR, DT770 Pro (80 ohm), Jabra 75T Active (exercise), Air Pod Pro, Massdrop NuForce IEM, few others that I forgot.
Source: iPhone 13 (primary), Galaxy Note 8. Don’t have a personal computer, just an iPad and my work laptop. Likely getting a gaming laptop once the 2022 models are out.
Genres: Hiphop, EDM, classical, movie scores, orchestral.
Looking for:
-Bass/sub-bass (tactile), but not necessarily at the cost of sound quality. I don’t need reference quality mids and treble, but I also don’t want pure mud bass.
- I don’t have any particular dislikes.
- I do like soundstage/immersion.
- work from home and will permanently at least be hybrid, so I don’t necessarily need noise isolation
-Prefer portability or ability to move around with headphones in to some degree. Not a deal breaker at all.
Budget: $1,000ish (if I don’t put a budget on it the it’ll end up like my home theater)
Current Considerations
Headphones: Two options
(1) over ear (HE-560 forn$230 on sale) and cheap IEM bass cannons like Campfire Honeydew. I realize Honeydew are muddy bass, but I can get them for $100. It’s kind of a throw away
(2) $400-600 open ear (no ideas) or IEM (Moondrop Dusk?) Closed ear get too hot. IEMs open up the ability to use wired or with Bluetooth ear hooks from Shure or FiiO.
Amps:
(1) SMSL-SP200 - on sale for $140, however can’t be used with IEMs from what I read due to too much power.
(2) Mangius - not sure if powerful enough for HE-560 (assuming i get that or another planar).
(3) Topping A30 Pro - seems powerful enough?
Open to other suggestions.
Dac: Is this necessary if I’m using a phone as the source? Do I need to bypass the phone DAC to use an external one?
(1) Topping under $250
(2) Modius
(3) SMSL M200
Potentially a Bluetooth DAC?
Also would be interested in a portable DAC & AMP up to $500 if it provides sufficient power.