Some Beginner Questions About My Setup (Really Long Post)

[Firegod]

I have a couple questions regarding my current setup and possible additional purchases. My current setup is not really crazy. I have a Creative Labs Sound BlasterX AE-5 sound card connected to a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX headphones from Drop(aka Massdrop). Now I also have a THX 789 and a AKG K7XX from them as well, but is not currenty being used as I cannot connect it to my computer without a DAC. Which leads me to a host of questions.
1. Is my current setup ok for general purposes like gaming and listening to music occasionally?
2. Will buying a DAC and using it with the 789 make any difference? Should I go balanced with a Topping D90 which i'm looking at buying?
3. Do they make right angle to right angle XLR connections from DAC to amp to minimize space?
I don't know what I should do, or if should do anything at all. If I do end up buying the D90 and go balanced, I don't think I would need to ever need to buy anything else. Right? I also have a setup for my father as well. His will be a PC connected to a Topping D50(not the "s" version) to a JDS Labs Atom amp connected to another pair of HD6XX headphones. Is the setup that i'm giving to him for Father's Day a good setup?

I'm sorry if this posts contents are all over the place, as I wanted to ask everything that's on my mind at once, instead of posting responses multiple times.
I'm also going to add the links to each of the product listed to make it easier if you need to reference their specifications or anything of that nature as well as their ASR reviews, if there is any of them.

Links to the products listed:
Creative Labs Sound BlasterX AE-5 Sound Card
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blasterx-ae-5
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...and-measurements-of-sound-blasterx-ae-5.9114/
Sennheiser HD6XX
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx
Massdrop THX AAA 789 Amp
https://drop.com/buy/drop-thx-aaa-789-linear-amplifier
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...easurements-of-massdrop-thx-aaa-789-amp.5001/
AKG K7XX
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-akg-k7xx-red-edition
Topping D90 DAC
https://apos.audio/products/topping-d90-dac
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/topping-d90-balanced-usb-dac-review.10519/
Topping D50 DAC
https://apos.audio/products/topping-d50-dac
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iew-and-measurements-of-topping-d50-dac.2403/
JDS Labs Atom Amp
https://jdslabs.com/product/atom-amp/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/

Once again, I'm sorry that this post is absurdly long and all over the place. I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to ask in one post.

 

[twsecrest]

Get a dual RCA jacks to 3.5mm TRS jack cable.
Connect the cable to the SB-ZxR's Front Speaker jack (3.5mm) and the THX 789's SE input (RCA).
Set SB-ZxR to 2-channel, front speaker output. Plug headphones into THX 789.
Doing this will bypass the SB-ZxR's headphone surround sound feature.
But you will still get stereo (2.0) audio, try listening to your music audio or game in stereo audio, see if there is any improvement (audio quality), over plugging the headphones directly into the SB-ZxR.

 

[Wes]

3. see what Ghent has

1. probably
2. you could try it and see - match levels and test blinded; I always buy balanced designs tho it is only required for long cable runs in noisy env.s it shows me the designer is serious

 

[Firegod]

3. see what Ghent has

1. probably
2. you could try it and see - match levels and test blinded; I always buy balanced designs tho it is only required for long cable runs in noisy env.s it shows me the designer is serious

I did look at Ghent Audio today, but did not see right angle connectors for XLR. I did however, find out that this website does have right angle connectors both male and female, in XLR.https://www.performanceaudio.com/ Prices for them are pretty good I believe, though they jump up when you add in the 90 degree connectors. Also the price goes up if you wanted custom color sleeving on it too.

 

[twsecrest]

I did look at Ghent Audio today, but did not see right angle connectors for XLR. I did however, find out that this website does have right angle connectors both male and female, in XLR.https://www.performanceaudio.com/ Prices for them are pretty good I believe, though they jump up when you add in the 90 degree connectors. Also the price goes up if you wanted custom color sleeving on it too.

Check out Monoprice for cables.

 

[ReaderZ]

I have a couple questions regarding my current setup and possible additional purchases. My current setup is not really crazy. I have a Creative Labs Sound BlasterX AE-5 sound card connected to a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX headphones from Drop(aka Massdrop). Now I also have a THX 789 and a AKG K7XX from them as well, but is not currenty being used as I cannot connect it to my computer without a DAC. Which leads me to a host of questions.
1. Is my current setup ok for general purposes like gaming and listening to music occasionally?
2. Will buying a DAC and using it with the 789 make any difference? Should I go balanced with a Topping D90 which i'm looking at buying?
3. Do they make right angle to right angle XLR connections from DAC to amp to minimize space?
I don't know what I should do, or if should do anything at all. If I do end up buying the D90 and go balanced, I don't think I would need to ever need to buy anything else. Right? I also have a setup for my father as well. His will be a PC connected to a Topping D50(not the "s" version) to a JDS Labs Atom amp connected to another pair of HD6XX headphones. Is the setup that i'm giving to him for Father's Day a good setup?

I'm sorry if this posts contents are all over the place, as I wanted to ask everything that's on my mind at once, instead of posting responses multiple times.
I'm also going to add the links to each of the product listed to make it easier if you need to reference their specifications or anything of that nature as well as their ASR reviews, if there is any of them.

Links to the products listed:
Creative Labs Sound BlasterX AE-5 Sound Card
https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blasterx-ae-5
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...and-measurements-of-sound-blasterx-ae-5.9114/
Sennheiser HD6XX
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx
Massdrop THX AAA 789 Amp
https://drop.com/buy/drop-thx-aaa-789-linear-amplifier
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...easurements-of-massdrop-thx-aaa-789-amp.5001/
AKG K7XX
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-akg-k7xx-red-edition
Topping D90 DAC
https://apos.audio/products/topping-d90-dac
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/topping-d90-balanced-usb-dac-review.10519/
Topping D50 DAC
https://apos.audio/products/topping-d50-dac
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iew-and-measurements-of-topping-d50-dac.2403/
JDS Labs Atom Amp
https://jdslabs.com/product/atom-amp/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/

Once again, I'm sorry that this post is absurdly long and all over the place. I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to ask in one post.

1. Hard to say, I would go for a DAC
2&3. D90 is top of the line and yes if you get D90 go balanced all the way. Also they do make 90 degree XLR

Another option is get DX7 pro or one of the other highly rated 2 in 1 reviewed here, DAC performance won't be much different and lots of them are cheaper than a D90.

For your father, just based on measurement here, get the cheaper and newer E30, measurement is better.

 

[maxxevv]

The THX can be connected via RCA. Your AE-5 has 3.5mm output jacks at the back. Its output is fairly good already for a DAC.

So you just need a pair of these to connect to the THX 789. (US$16/cable for 1.5m length according to their listing)

http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/b01.html

I did look at Ghent Audio today, but did not see right angle connectors for XLR. I did however, find out that this website does have right angle connectors both male and female, in XLR.https://www.performanceaudio.com/ Prices for them are pretty good I believe, though they jump up when you add in the 90 degree connectors. Also the price goes up if you wanted custom color sleeving on it too.

Ghent do have what you want to connect to XLR on the THX. But I don't think it makes a difference in the overall scheme of things:

http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/b05a.html

 

[Firegod]

Sorry about making my comment sound confusing when I said "right angle connectors". I looked online a little longer and using different keyword, I ended up finding those right angle XLR cables should I ever buy the D90 for a balanced setup and were wildly cheaper than the previous ones I posted as those were custom cables. This is the website for them and here is said picture of them.

I am going to see today if I have a spare RCA to 3.5 lying around and connect it to my PC today with the 789.


EDIT: I did get around to connecting the 789 to my Sound BlasterX card. I don't believe I heard any difference regardless if I tried to volume match. So for now, I am just going to box up the 789 until further notice.