Headphone Amp upgrade

[NemoReborn]

Hi there ! This is my first post on this forum. My first name is Clement , i live in Montreal Canada. Im in this hobby for a few years now.

My schiit Fulla2 died a few month ago. I bought a fiio k3 to replace it. I am so far very pleased with the product. And i have to admit it feels way more quality than the fulla2. All the schiit product I owned have be so so for me...

So yea , the k3 is awesome but i might need more output since i am planning to buy a pair of fostex t50rp soon and these are hard to drive.

After lots of read , ive narrowed to 2-3 product / config. I basicly need the experience of you guys to help me decide.

Option 1 - k3 as dac -> jds Atom
Option 2 - topping d10 -> Atom
Option 3 - topping dx3 pro combo ( not sure if this amp can properly drive the t50rp mark 3 tho )

I am open to suggestions also !!

Btw french ismy first language so dont be to hard on me !!! Thank

 

[TuneInSoul]

Since English is not my first language either, hope you can understand.
I use topping a30 as amp.
it is flexible. It has two headphone jacks ,3.5mm and 6.35mm.
And it has two modes, one is low voltage mode and the other is high voltage mode.

so there are basically 4 types of output power.
and it is not the fact that higher output power is better.
so you need to try.
this is my opinion.

 

[flipflop]

I would recommend the first option if you're happy with the K3.
I wouldn't recommend buying an amp before receiving the headphones, though. You might not need it since T50RP mk3 are in a grey area when it comes to amplification needs.

 

[NemoReborn]

Since English is not my first language either, hope you can understand.
I use topping a30 as amp.
it is flexible. It has two headphone jacks ,3.5mm and 6.35mm.
And it has two modes, one is low voltage mode and the other is high voltage mode.

so there are basically 4 types of output power.
and it is not the fact that higher output power is better.
so you need to try.
this is my opinion.

i dont like the impedance output of the a30 tho .. way to high , i own alot of 32 ohm headphones , the 10 ohm output impedance is way to high for these !!!

something sure is that the k3 cant run beyers high ohm or hard to drive headphone ... and from what ive experienced before , even easy to drive headphone sound better with better amp ...

 

[bigx5murf]

IME, the t50rp are not as hard to drive as people say until you start modifying them. This is because the mods are mostly bigger pads (keep drivers further from ears), and stuffing the cups with sound absorbent materials. Both of which lower the efficiency in hopes of flattening the frequency response.

 

[NemoReborn]

I would recommend the first option if you're happy with the K3.
I wouldn't recommend buying an amp before receiving the headphones, though. You might not need it since T50RP mk3 are in a grey area when it comes to amplification needs.

My concern with the k3 is the variable line out.
Do i need to max the volume on the k3 when used as dac !?!?

 

[flipflop]

My concern with the k3 is the variable line out.
Do i need to max the volume on the k3 when used as dac !?!?

The amp part of the K3 should get bypassed entirely when it's used exclusively as a DAC, so the volume control won't matter.

 

[NemoReborn]

The amp part of the K3 should get bypassed entirely when it's used exclusively as a DAC, so the volume control won't matter.

Nope. The line out is variable like i said. Fixed on the spdif but not the 3.5mm out

 

[flipflop]

Nope. The line out is variable like i said. Fixed on the spdif but not the 3.5mm out

Set the volume to max or close to max then. A rule of thumb is to adjust the volume with the last link in your chain, which would be the Atom if you're going K3 + Atom.

 

[NemoReborn]

I could always buy another dac and sell the k3 to a friend. Any dac suggestions to pair with the atom?

 

[flipflop]

A D10 would be fine. D30 if you want some more input options than just USB.

 

[billbishere]

I have a D10 > Liquid Spark --- I think D10 would be a great choice!

 

[AresHarvest]

I can confirm that the DX3Pro has enough power to drive unmodded T50RP to ear-bleed levels, in hi-gain mode. Tried it briefly with BT source (Pixel 2 with Shuttle player, using LDAC codec) and USB (laptop with Foobar 2000).

Edit: forgot to add this was the T50RP Mk3

 

[NemoReborn]

I can confirm that the DX3Pro has enough power to drive unmodded T50RP to ear-bleed levels, in hi-gain mode. Tried it briefly with BT source (Pixel 2 with Shuttle player, using LDAC codec) and USB (laptop with Foobar 2000).

Edit: forgot to add this was the T50RP Mk3

thanks for the info ! but i ended buying Jds labs atom ... even more power ! ... but now i need a good dac to pair with it ... might buy a Peachtree Dac iTx used. Not sure yet , still shopping.

 

[AresHarvest]

OK, good choice. I use an Atom at work, though I haven't tried my fostex headphones with it.

 

[bravomail]

one of the reason I avoid T50 and HD6xx - u need a good strong amp to drive them. What if u just wanna try, u know, get easy to drive but still HiFi headphones? Try 'em on PC, on phone, on tablet. Then, if u like it, u can buy dac, amp, combo, more headphones. I still consider hard to drive headphones to be a sign of bad engineering, or old engineering. It's like spending 200+ dollars on a thing which will require a truck generator to drive them - not very practical. I'd rather get something universal.