help for choice dac or headphone

[ZolaIII]

@fabtou14 please try to shape your listening preference at first (preferably with some deacent headphones which you already own playing with EQ-ing) then sum up situations and environment you will be facing and direct your efforts in finding hedaphones you really like (sound, comfort, use cases) and auditioning would be preferable if possible.
Edit: for example there are a rather great cheap IEM's which have a great sound isolation but I mi self will never find those comfortable on the long run.

 

[fabtou14]

Closed headphones are not as good as open ones just because of the challenges of making them closed - reverberance, standing waves en so on.
A decent pick, especially if you are on a budget are the AKG K371/361

My budget is max 300€

 

[Noodles]

Those are ~ €100, closed backs don't really get good until you > 5x that price at least.

 

[Firefly00]

The headphones you mentioned are ALL ABOUT BASS, its not even funny:

Ah yes, the Hifiman Sundara and He 400i, both of which are truely overblown bass cannons . If OP wants bass, there’s a thing called EQ, rather than telling them to go buy junk from a gas station.

 

[Jimbob54]

Ah yes, the Hifiman Sundara and He 400i, both of which are truely overblown bass cannons . If OP wants bass, there’s a thing called EQ, rather than telling them to go buy junk from a gas station.

Noodles was replying about the Meze there. Which are horrifically unbalanced towards the low end. Hence the graph on the post of his you quoted being the Meze graph. And they do sound like gas station garbage.

 

[Jamesj562]

The least expensive way would be headphone of choice + $9 apple dongle into a b stock $89 jds labs atom + via 3.5mm input. Then down the line when your budget increases you can add the dac of your choice from $90-$200

 

[solderdude]

Two little questions? The contribution of a dac must it be meaningful listening?

The amplifier can make a meaningful difference, the DAC not so much.
DAC can be separate or a DAC/amp combo.
What you need is basically dictated by the headphone(s) it must drive and how loud you want them to go.

Can I invest in a better headphone and not use a dac?

If you already have a DAC (with built-in amp) you should invest in a headphone that can be driven by that device

Basically dac + medium headphone = good headphone.

The only way to turn a medium headphone into a better headphone is by using EQ.

My budget for headphones or headphones / dac is 300 €.
I'm interested by :
Hifiman sundara
Hifiman HE 400i
Audio Technica ATH - MSR7b

Sundara is open, HE400i (HE400SE) are open, MSR7b = closed and your current AE2 is closed.

I'would like light and confortable headphone

That rules out Hifiman when lightweight is a requirement. They are comfortable though.
Hifiman are around 400 gram, the AT around 300 gr.


AKG K371 is around 250 gram and comfy and can be driven from low power gear (the Sundara and 400 need a bit more power)
Neutral sound (similarish tonal balance as the AE2) and you can spend the reamaning budget on a DAC/amp if you want.

When you prefer warm bassy sound and like the looks the Meze it is an option. You can always EQ the bass out again.

 

[fabtou14]

The amplifier can make a meaningful difference, the DAC not so much.
DAC can be separate or a DAC/amp combo.
What you need is basically dictated by the headphone(s) it must drive and how loud you want them to go.



If you already have a DAC (with built-in amp) you should invest in a headphone that can be driven by that device




The only way to turn a medium headphone into a better headphone is by using EQ.




Sundara is open, HE400i (HE400SE) are open, MSR7b = closed and your current AE2 is closed.



That rules out Hifiman when lightweight is a requirement. They are comfortable though.
Hifiman are around 400 gram, the AT around 300 gr.


AKG K371 is around 250 gram and comfy and can be driven from low power gear (the Sundara and 400 need a bit more power)
Neutral sound (similarish tonal balance as the AE2) and you can spend the reamaning budget on a DAC/amp if you want.

When you prefer warm bassy sound and like the looks the Meze it is an option. You can always EQ the bass out again.

Hello Solderdude,
Thank you for this simple and clear answer. I'm still in the thinking phase and leaning at the moment rather towards open headphones such as the senheiser 560s or the closed audio-technica MSR7b (about 130 euros second-hand). It's not easy to choose a headphone without trying it on. And I don't have a resellers at home.
I will see later for the dac / amp.
I am also equipped with the marantz Pm6007 amplifier, which has a built-in dac, as well as the rapsdac mini, and am a Qobuz subscriber. And I plan to eventually switch to audirvana. By cons I would be interested in using an EQ when I plug my headphones into my Mac. What could you advise me?
Thanks

 

[solderdude]

The Marantz most likely has a high output resistance on its HP out.
The ATHMSR7 is not bothered by it.
The HD560S will become a bit bassier/warmer.

Which one will be best for you I simply cannot say.

 

[fabtou14]

The Marantz most likely has a high output resistance on its HP out.
The ATHMSR7 is not bothered by it.
The HD560S will become a bit bassier/warmer.

Which one will be best for you I simply cannot say.

If I plug it into a mac or a phone, what EQ do you recommend?

 

[solderdude]

The AT will go 6dB louder driven from a phone.
The AT is closed so more 'portable'.
I don't have any apple devices, maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[Noodles]

iOS does not allow system wide EQ afaik, but you can use per app eq... so any player that has an in-built eq will do the job.
Neutron and Music player X would probably be my pick outside of what apple or streaming services have to offer.
If you need more EQ bands - Jet audio is probably a good option as well.