Newb needs help hooking up my new DAC/Amp to my computer and Edifier speakers

[SuperWookie]

Hey everyone. I'm new here. I've been a casual lurker on a bunch of "Audiophile" forums for years and years. But never really was able to afford getting into the good stuff. I’ve got the obligatory ATH-M50x and the Hidiz M145 planar IEMs along with a nice little powerful DAC/Amp from FiiO, the K5. And over the last few years, been having a blast listening to them and hearing music in a different light. And now that I'm finally able to start getting my feet wet by moving up to some high end equipment that will give me a taste of the best, I've got some questions. This is a silly beginner question, but something I can't find a video or article that provides info for my specific situation.

So first of all, I decided to go all in and bought the DCA Aeon X Closed from drop. And then did my research and found out the SMSL DL200 is probably one of, if not the best DAC/Amps around it's price. And is even better than many others that cost a lot more. So I got the headphones yesterday and the DAC/Amp will be here tonight! Sooooo excited to try them out together Friday night after work and see what "high end" audio is all about.

I also recently picked up some Edifier R1700BT speakers during BF deals on Amazon as well to complete my desk setup. I've been slowly buying and building my dream computer desk setup (well, at least dream within a budget and size constraints of where I live currently). Love how they sound and how they look and found out I can hook them up to the DAC as well to help them sound better?

Also, in a few weeks, I’ll post an initial review of the DCA Aeon X Closed Headphones in that thread just to add another opinion for posterity sake. I want to try them without EQ first, then try them with Robbo99999’s EQ settings. Also will try Oratroy’s EQ as well. So excited about this. I’ve never spent this much money on anything audio related and it felt super wrong buying all this stuff, haha. Like I should be saving my money instead. But… you only live once and we got a nice Christmas/Thanksgiving bonus this year and I’ve been wanting to dip my feet in this high end audio for 10+ years since I became interested in all types of speakers as a teen years ago (hifi speakers, headphones, IEM’s, etc) and decided to finally....

I bounced around a lot between a bunch of options, but the thing that really got me about the DCA were the reviews about how comfortable they are and the high quality (at least relative to other brands). I almost went with the HiFiman XS or XV, but after I had settled on them, I just kept reading so many people having QC issues with them. The headbands not being comfortable at all, the XS especially feeling chintzy and cheap. That they could easily break and all sorts of other horror problems where HiFiman wouldn’t replace or fix headphones that clearly were not right.

Whereas I read lots of good reviews and reviewers saying the DCA headphones (and specifically this model) were some of the best closed back headphones in the $500 range. And take EQ really well. Even though they cost almost double what I was going to spend, you'll get a taste of what the best of the best is with something like this and that really is what sealed the deal for me getting these. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be super happy with them and this DAC/Amp. Listening to music after work in my office is my getaway. My time to relax and just lose myself. And I figured if I’m going to spend a decent chunk of money on headphones and a desktop DAC/Amp setup, that I might as well go big and do it right. And lets be honest, these DCA headphones look the T*TS!!!! Absolutely stunning looking. Sooooo clean. They remind me of the design thought process of a BMW M3 or Aston Martin DBS. They're totally badass, but not over the top and gaudy. Just clean and sexy as hell with no fluff or bling. And being a human with not small ears, I really look forward to how comfortable an over ear headphone with large ear shaped cups like the DCA's have. I've read countless reviews of people saying "you don't need to know much about the comfort. I put these on, and sometimes forget I'm even wearing headphones." That sounds amazing! These ATH-M50x's are not comfortable and I'm constantly adjusting them and having to take them off every so often because they're smooshing my ears. So these large cups like DCA and HiFiman have are VERY appealing to me. Comfort is really high on my list and that's probably the second most excited aspect about these I'm looking forward to other than the sound.

TLDR starts here
So my question is, how do I hook this stuff up? Haha. I know the headphones go in the front 6.3 or 4.4 inputs obviously. But on the back there is a L + R RCA jack, then two more jacks that are labelled TRS R + L. And then a USB-C, Coaxial and Optical port. No idea what half of these do or what they are for? Only have experience with the RCA jacks and USB. So do my Edifier speakers hook into the RCA jacks on the back of this DL200? Or do I use these TRS jacks? And then how do I hook the DAC/Amp up to my computer? Do I use the TRS jacks? The Optical jack? The Coaxial? Or the USB-C? I’m guessing that’s how this would work? Speakers to the RCA jacks, headphones in the front and then my best guess would be the USB-C to my computer? But not sure. I know this is a silly question, but I have no idea and can’t find any videos or articles telling me exactly how this works?

Thanks for any help in advance, I appreciate you helping a newb out.

 

[rvcjew]

You would go usb c to your pc to get the audio/signal from it, then plug your speakers into the rca out of the smsl and into the "pc in" of the edifiers. You don't have any balanced items to plug in so ignore all the rest of the stuff except for BT if you want to pair your phone etc to it to play music from the phone into your headphones or the speakers. For pc use you use the usb input with the usb c cable. In the smsl set the config if it's not default to use the rca as the output instead of the trs (sometimes it just has both be used which is fine as well). Optical and coaxial are just another form of input you don't need to worry about. Unless your pc has optical out but I would still go with usb unless you have driver issues.

Don't forget the driver you'll need.

https://www.smsl-audio.com/upload/portal/undefined/SMSLUSBAudioDriver.zip

As well as the manual you might need.

PDF.js viewer

 

[Doodski]

@SuperWookie I am actually a pretty serious guy most days and maybe for sure too serious the past few days for some stupid reasons but I really like your image nickname and image that you use for ASR.. LoL. It gives a certain light hearted fun motif. It's also nice a bright, colorful and unique image so that makes seeing and recognizing your comments very effective and fast. I am lining up for a purchase of the Edifer 2000 Mk3 speakers or maybe I'll stretch a bit and get the Edifer 3000 speakers and it is solely based on features and I never heard the speakers before and that is totally not my usual method of buying speakers in any way, shape or form. Your hardware that you detailed in this thread is more than ample for good sound.

 

[SuperWookie]

You would go usb c to your pc to get the audio/signal from it, then plug your speakers into the rca out of the smsl and into the "pc in" of the edifiers. You don't have any balanced items to plug in so ignore all the rest of the stuff except for BT if you want to pair your phone etc to it to play music from the phone into your headphones or the speakers. For pc use you use the usb input with the usb c cable. In the smsl set the config if it's not default to use the rca as the output instead of the trs (sometimes it just has both be used which is fine as well). Optical and coaxial are just another form of input you don't need to worry about. Unless your pc has optical out but I would still go with usb unless you have driver issues.

Don't forget the driver you'll need.

https://www.smsl-audio.com/upload/portal/undefined/SMSLUSBAudioDriver.zip

As well as the manual you might need.

PDF.js viewer

Ok, excellent. Thank you so much for helping explain all that to me. I was like... um, all I know is the headphone jacks and the RCA jacks. No idea what this other stuff is or what it's for . Right now, my speakers are connected via a 3.5mm plug into the back of my computer. So I was a bit scared when I didn't see something like that on the DAC/Amp.

So I guess my next question is, do I need to buy a USB-C to 3.5mm so that the DL200 goes right into the Line Out plug on my motherboard? Or can I just use a USB-C to USB-A to hook the DL200 up to my computer?

And thank you for linking the Driver and Manual. That'll help me get a head start reading up about how it works today at work, so when I get home I can just go to town.

 

[SuperWookie]

@SuperWookie I am actually a pretty serious guy most days and maybe for sure too serious the past few days for some stupid reasons but I really like your image nickname and image that you use for ASR.. LoL. It gives a certain light hearted fun motif. It's also nice a bright, colorful and unique image so that makes seeing and recognizing your comments very effective and fast. I am lining up for a purchase of the Edifer 2000 Mk3 speakers or maybe I'll stretch a bit and get the Edifer 3000 speakers and it is solely based on features and I never heard the speakers before and that is totally not my usual method of buying speakers in any way, shape or form. Your hardware that you detailed in this thread is more than ample for good sound.

Haha, thanks. I'm super tall and years ago at work, a buddy of mine and I used to play this StarWars game on our phones. And I always chose Chewy as my character since I relate to him in more ways than one. So he started calling me SuperWookie, haha. And then one day while trying to make an online avatar, I just happened upon this logo someone had made. It was for Wook-Tang. A play on Wu-Tang clans logo but with Chewy influences, haha. And I was like, yep, there's my avatar/logo! Perfect. Plus it's funny. All I had to do was just add the SuperWookie words in a "graffiti" like typeface and BAM, done.

And in the words of Sam Elliot from the Big Lebowski... "I like your style dude" (your avatar).

And HOLY MOLY those speakers you're looking at are expensive and look nice! I bet those sound really nice. Hope you get them.

 

[JeremyFife]

Hi, deep breath and don't worry

Your DAC is a "Digital to Analogue Converter" so you feed it with a digital signal. That's USB out from your computer to USB in on the DAC

You have two different analogue outputs;
#1 Headphones - you've got that
#2 Speakers - there are two options: RCA and Balanced (TRS). Your Edifiers need the RCA connection. It doesn't matter if you choose "PC in" or "Aux in".

You will be applying EQ to your phones - good stuff! - remember that you can also EQ the speakers, but you can deal with that later.

Enjoy

 

[SuperWookie]

Hi, deep breath and don't worry

Your DAC is a "Digital to Analogue Converter" so you feed it with a digital signal. That's USB out from your computer to USB in on the DAC

You have two different analogue outputs;
#1 Headphones - you've got that
#2 Speakers - there are two options: RCA and Balanced (TRS). Your Edifiers need the RCA connection. It doesn't matter if you choose "PC in" or "Aux in".

You will be applying EQ to your phones - good stuff! - remember that you can also EQ the speakers, but you can deal with that later.

Enjoy

Oh weird! So a USB-C to USB-A cable from the DAC into my computer will work?! Wild. Thanks

I'm a bit confused on the #2 part. I understand my speakers use RCA. They're already hooked up. But my question is, do the speakers get hooked up directly to the DAC? Or just to the Line Out on my computer on the back? That's where I'm a bit lost.

And yeah, I'm super excited to get this all setup. I've been using Equalize APO with the Peace GUI right now to EQ my ATH-M50x's and new speakers. It's fun and really helps make both sound a lot better. So I can't wait to try it with the Aeon X phones.

Thanks

 

[rvcjew]

Hi, deep breath and don't worry

Your DAC is a "Digital to Analogue Converter" so you feed it with a digital signal. That's USB out from your computer to USB in on the DAC

You have two different analogue outputs;
#1 Headphones - you've got that
#2 Speakers - there are two options: RCA and Balanced (TRS). Your Edifiers need the RCA connection. It doesn't matter if you choose "PC in" or "Aux in".

You will be applying EQ to your phones - good stuff! - remember that you can also EQ the speakers, but you can deal with that later.

Enjoy

I wasn't sure if the pc in had an eq in it for nearfield or something compared to aux in. I guess they are the same?

 

[rvcjew]

Oh weird! So a USB-C to USB-A cable from the DAC into my computer will work?! Wild. Thanks

I'm a bit confused on the #2 part. I understand my speakers use RCA. They're already hooked up. But my question is, do the speakers get hooked up directly to the DAC? Or just to the Line Out on my computer on the back? That's where I'm a bit lost.

And yeah, I'm super excited to get this all setup. I've been using Equalize APO with the Peace GUI right now to EQ my ATH-M50x's and new speakers. It's fun and really helps make both sound a lot better. So I can't wait to try it with the Aeon X phones.

Thanks

They go from the speakers rcas directly to the rcas of the dac. Nothing goes to the pc it self but your usb c to usb A cable. To clarify nothing goes into the colored 3.5mm of your motherboard anymore. When that's all done download and install the driver form the first post I made. Then your pretty much set to at least make sound. You can change some config settings but it's a good start.

 

[JeremyFife]

Oh weird! So a USB-C to USB-A cable from the DAC into my computer will work?! Wild. Thanks

I'm a bit confused on the #2 part. I understand my speakers use RCA. They're already hooked up. But my question is, do the speakers get hooked up directly to the DAC? Or just to the Line Out on my computer on the back? That's where I'm a bit lost.

And yeah, I'm super excited to get this all setup. I've been using Equalize APO with the Peace GUI right now to EQ my ATH-M50x's and new speakers. It's fun and really helps make both sound a lot better. So I can't wait to try it with the Aeon X phones.

Thanks

#2 it'll work either way but your new DAC is better than the one in your computer, and things are simpler if you have one single volume control etc

So, I'd go
Computer => USB => SMSL DL200
SMSL DL200 => Headphone Jack => Headphones
SMSL DL200 => RCA => Edifier

 

[SuperWookie]

They go from the speakers rcas directly to the rcas of the dac. Nothing goes to the pc it self but your usb c to usb A cable. To clarify nothing goes into the colored 3.5mm of your motherboard anymore. When that's all done download and install the driver form the first post I made. Then your pretty much set to at least make sound. You can change some config settings but it's a good start.

Oh wow. Ok, thanks for clarifying! I appreciate the help. I'll have to give a quick status report later this evening once I'm home and can get this stuff setup and listening to it all

 

[SuperWookie]

#2 it'll work either way but your new DAC is better than the one in your computer, and things are simpler if you have one single volume control etc

So, I'd go
Computer => USB => SMSL DL200
SMSL DL200 => Headphone Jack => Headphones
SMSL DL200 => RCA => Edifier

Excellent! Thank you so much.

 

[SuperWookie]

Got it all hooked up Friday night. Thanks everyone. Works like a charm and is super easy to use this DL200.

The DCA Aeon X's sound great, but still getting used to them. It's a LOT different then regular "consumer" grade Headphones and even though it's crazy clean, precise, low distortion and smooth, it's lacking certain aspects of headphones I'm used to. Mostly thick, deep, warm, heavy sound. I've been messing with EQ frantically the entire weekend and getting better at figuring out what these headphones do well and what I want to boost or cut. And obviously as you go through this HiFi journey, your tastes will probably change a bit I'm guessing. Going from loud, bass heavy, boomy, thick sounding headphones/iems to much cleaner well balanced equipment. While keeping the overall shape of the Harman EQ curve. It's fun, but also frustrating and takes a long time. But that's good, it'll give me something to worry about or obsess over now, hahaha.

I have to say, I was expecting some sort of sonic nirvana from these headphones and the amp/dac, and it doesn't do that. I was a bit disappointed actually. But the more I go back and fourth between my old ATH-M50x and these, the more I can see why these are so highly rated and why better equipment is considered "better" sounding by audiophiles. It's just going to take time and lots of tweaking the EQ. I'm 99% sure I'm going to keep them. I just need to get used to them.

The one thing I can say they do much better is comfort. I'm at a complete loss as to why ALL manufacturers don't make EAR shaped earcups for headphones. It seems like such an easy thing to think about doing, but little to no manufacturers do it. And I know these are Planar's, so they don't have the round DD shape. But still, you'd think this would be WAY more prevalent and they'd figure out ways to get the round DD's inside of a more ear shaped deep earcup. They are CRAZY comfortable and have SUCH a nice feel to them. This is a very premium product and you can feel it in the materials. The clamping force is enough to keep them snug against your face/head, yet not so tight they hurt or are tiring. The headband is almost imperceptible. And the earcups are barely noticeable and as soft as a Chinchilla. Really impressed with the build and comfort, 10/10.

Oh, and having the Edifier R1700 speakers go through the DL200 also helps them out a lot as well. I have a specific EQ setting I created in Peace/EQAPO, just for the speakers and they sound so much better now than just using the Treble and Bass knobs on the side. Makes a big difference.

Well thanks again everyone for your help. I'm on my way into the HiFi journey now. I'm hooked

 

[AnalogSteph]

I'm at a complete loss as to why ALL manufacturers don't make EAR shaped earcups for headphones.

You and me both then. Small supraaurals in particular (HD25-alike) seem to be made for some peculiar alien species. That's why I've long been a fan of Sennheiser's open circumaurals with their oval or teardrop-shaped, sufficiently deep pads.

Side note - if you ever need to EQ your cans and speakers separately, it may be advantageous to move the latter back to onboard audio. It generally still is plenty good enough not to be a bottleneck.

 

[SuperWookie]

You and me both then. Small supraaurals in particular (HD25-alike) seem to be made for some peculiar alien species. That's why I've long been a fan of Sennheiser's open circumaurals with their oval or teardrop-shaped, sufficiently deep pads.

Side note - if you ever need to EQ your cans and speakers separately, it may be advantageous to move the latter back to onboard audio. It generally still is plenty good enough not to be a bottleneck.

Thanks for the side note, although I'm not entirely sure I understand. I'll just tell you what I've done and you can explain if it's right or wrong or maybe what I could change.

So I have it all hooked up like you guys stated. Speakers are on the LO or lineout and the Headphones are on the HO or headphoneout. And all I have to do is click the knob on the SMSL DL200 and it lets me chose headphone or speakers. And it switches immediately. Then in my PEACE/Equalizerapo app, I have a speaker EQ I made and then I have about 4-5 EQ's for the headphones. So if my speakers are on, I just chose that EQ I've saved. And if I have my headphones on, I just select one of my EQ's I have saved for that.

I have Robb99999's EQ#2 setting for the DCA Aeon X, as well as Oratory's settings. And then 2 of my own I'm working on, which honestly, sound much better to MY ears. And all I have to do is chose which output on the front of the DL200 I want in order to listen to the speakers or the headphones. And the DL200 helps the Edifier speakers sound much better, just like it does for the headphones. It's a great little unit. Super easy to use as well.

So I'm not sure what you mean by "it may be advantageous to move the latter back to onboard audio." I mean, I understand that I can put the speakers back onto my motherboard instead of using the DL200. But the speakers sound so much better through the DL200 and then EQ makes it much better.