Beginner Upgrade Advice(Small room with portable DAC, bookshelf speakers and IEM)

[sinicusnongrata]

I am a beginner at this, currently, I am having these setups, looking for minimal upgrade suggestions, any recommendations would be much appreciated!

I choose compromise and listen to streaming apps: Qobuz, Tidal, I used soundiiz and transferred most of my collections to these two apps and considering keep only one of them.

My preference for music genres: House, Jazz, Pop, Funk, Amapiano, Dub, etc.

I am not considering using a streamer or build my own local library via Wiim, Raspberry Pi, Roon service... Basically I listen to UAPP on my Pixel 8 or PC via USB-C-DAC-RCA/3.5MM 2PIN to my IEM or Edifier R1280T, I also listen to some low quality radio:NTS, Soulection, RA, Soundcloud, Youtube DJ sets.


Headphones:
Meze Audio 99 Classics Headphones(Regret to buy it and considering a refund)

IEM:
Linsoul THIEAUDIO Hype 4

Portable DAC:
FiiO BTR7(charge it by my phones and put my phones on a Qi wireless charging pad or using dual USBC Y splitter)

Active Bookshelf Speaker： Edifier R1280T Speakers

Tips: Dekoni Audio Moldable Memory Foam Isolation Earphone Tips - 4.9mm Mercury

ANC Earbuds: Sony WF-1000XM5

Portable Speaker： JBL Charge 5 - Portable Bluetooth Speaker SBC/AAC Codec 328Kbps(Use it on bedside before sleep)

Player:
Windows 10 PC
Motherboard： ASUS TUF X299 MARK 2 Intel® LGA 2066 ATX motherboard(Realtek S1220A Codec Sound Card)

iPad Mini 6
Pixel 8
iPhone 16 Pro Max
OnePlus 9 Pro

Apps:
Bluetooth Codec Changer(to improve my Sony earbuds)
USB Audio Player Pro(Wired connect my btr7 in DAC mode via a cheap short USBC cable)
Poweramp Equalizer(stilling learning PEQ)


Bookshelf Upgrade Plan(an easy active monitor system with LDAC Bluetooth function would be better):

KEF LSX II LT $900
Klipsth The Fives $700
Klipsth R-51PM $400
Kanto YU4 Powered Speakers with Bluetooth and Built-in Phono Preamp $330

ADAM Audio D3V Active Desktop Monitoring System with USB-C Connection $299​

IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor 50 watt Portable Wireless Bluetooth Studio Reference Monitors, Dual Speakers $299​

Kali Audio LP-UNF 4$299JBL Professional 305P MkII 5-Inch 2-Way Powered, Active Monitor Speakers $298

PreSonus Eris 4.5BT Bluetooth Studio Monitors, Pair $169​

PreSonus Eris 3.5BT Bluetooth Studio Monitors, Pair $129​

Zen DAC V3 $229 another DAC for destop since btr7 has poor battery life.​

 

[sanmateo]

what would you say is the biggest deficiency or pain point with your current setup?

What is the biggest improvement you're hoping for with this upgrade?

 

[sinicusnongrata]

what would you say is the biggest deficiency or pain point with your current setup?

What is the biggest improvement you're hoping for with this upgrade?

Thanks for replying, I've done more research during the past few weeks, and now I have a whole other plan going on. With the current setup, the Edifier speakers sound not that good to me and everything has to be working with Fiio BTR7 and it gets quite hot. Considering buying a pair of JBL 305P MkII, the connection is quite confusing and somehow I need a balanced XLR(Probably not necessary and it requires a fully balanced setup). After that, I noticed some other things that can get you paranoid: DSP, Bluesound Node, Wiim Streamer, Rasberry Pi, Dirac Live, JRiver, Daphile, etc. I think I will do more studying and find my balance resolution, btw Personally redbook is quite enough, and based on that, streaming might work, some of the latest all-in-1 streamers and powered speakers can fulfill my needs, but LDAC is lacking.

 

[sanmateo]

I'm sure you saw the Edifier review. Actually not a bad little speaker.

why not get a umik-1 microphone and play with the free REW software to see if a little EQ would help things? Elevate the speakers on some books to minimize reflections and raise them level with your ears. Toe them in slightly to correct for off-axis performance.

also, given your musical tastes, what about a capable little subwoofer to build a 2.1 system? That might be the biggest bang for your buck (no pun intended.)

 

[sinicusnongrata]

I'm sure you saw the Edifier review. Actually not a bad little speaker.

why not get a umik-1 microphone and play with the free REW software to see if a little EQ would help things? Elevate the speakers on some books to minimize reflections and raise them level with your ears. Toe them in slightly to correct for off-axis performance.

also, given your musical tastes, what about a capable little subwoofer to build a 2.1 system? That might be the biggest bang for your buck (no pun intended.)

Thanks for the advice! will check immediately, like you said, this small and budget speaker is not that bad, with a little bit of EQ fix, maybe I will not even upgrade to another fancy speaker. I am currently using a 15° Tilted Desktop Speaker Stands Paired with Vibration Absorption Pads and turn the speakers a bit to me.

 

[sinicusnongrata]

我确信您已经看过Edifier 的评论。实际上，这是一款不错的小音箱。

为什么不买一个 umik-1 麦克风，用免费的 REW 软件试试，看看一点 EQ 是否有帮助？抬高一些书上的扬声器，以尽量减少反射，并使其与耳朵齐平。稍微向内倾斜，以纠正离轴性能。

另外，考虑到你的音乐品味，用一个功能强大的小型低音炮来组建 2.1 系统怎么样？这可能是最划算的选择（没有双关语的意思）。