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Thanks so much for the replies.
Indeed, the synergy/pairing stuff that people post about makes it quite challenging for newcomers. I was starting to think I could make the wrong purchase and possibly ruin the experience. But then the listed devices are way out of my price point. Schiit stuff in general is incredibly expensive in EU I think, so unless these offer such a huge boost (I've seen people claim the Multibit and Bifrost thing is incredible, I have no idea. It's all new to me) I would preferably not get into that.
My budget is near 1K. But if there is no substantial improvement to be gotten from spending more, then I don't really feel the need to do so.
I like the option to EQ with the ADI-2, but I am also not against just doing it on an OS level. I do know I really do not want to mess with tubes of any kind though.
I'll be looking at the Loxjie, thanks. Much appreciated. Good price on that!
When I originally bought my Topping e30/l30 for my DC Æon Noire I bought two pairs, one for my friend who has the 800. He has since been mostly cured of audiophilia nervosa. Using EQ for the 800s is a good idea, as some have explained, and if you don't want the EQ to be in the DAC/amp rather than at the source there are other options available which have been tested by Amir.
Just read this thread top to bottom and learned a lot. I can empathize with the OP as I felt much the same a couple of months ago. I’ve happily enjoyed my Audeze EL-8 Titaniums since they came out but the build quality was always terrible and they are falling apart a bit so I figured I’d get something new. After much research I was where the OP was: confused and bewildered, though perhaps less budget constrained and I don’t expect build quality in most things (though it’s nice when I luck into it). So I ordered:
* Woo Audio WA7 ($1400)
* Topping A50 III & D50 III interconnected via balanced TRS ($~450ish?)
* iFi hip-dac 3 ($179)
* DCA E3 with balanced 4.4mm cable ($2000)
The DCA E3s sound great via the Topping stack’s and hip-dac 3’s balanced outs, but terrible via the WA7’s balanced out even with volume maxed out. The Audeze EL-8 sounds great out of any SE out, including the WA7. My ears can’t hear a difference between the Audezes ($800 at the time) and the E3s. Realizing how poorly the WA7 drives my E3s despite being 3-5X more expensive than my other amps, I learned that I have a lot to learn about pairing well and that more expensive doesn’t mean better anything.
Tubes and low impedance low sensitivity planar magnetics like the E3 are terrible combination due to poor impedance matching, and tubes lose significant amount of current drive at low impedance. WA7 is meant to drive high impedance, high sensitivity headphones instead. Stick with the Topping combo and that's endgame for the E3
Tubes and low impedance low sensitivity planar magnetics like the E3 are terrible combination due to poor impedance matching, and tubes lose significant amount of current drive at low impedance. WA7 is meant to drive high impedance, high sensitivity headphones instead. Stick with the Topping combo and that's endgame for the E3
See, now that’s fascinating to me because I saw a few reviews of the WA7 paired with the Abyss Diana MR and supposedly that was a great combo. The E3 rates very similar to the MR and I wanted a closed back so I figured it would work just fine.
Why not try something far cheaper first than your budget? Headphone DAC's amplifiers have come a long way and I often think it is more about preferences than outright performance. I am not saying you should go as low as the K11 I just bought but that thing really surprised me, even compared to my Mojo. There are others of course. What you save almost gets you a life time subscription to Roon or something like 6 years subscription to a streaming service . Probably more useful than a piece of hardware you will likely have doubts about again 6 months after you bought it ... .
Get the JDS Element 3 MK2. If you like to listen at low volumes from time to time perfect channel matching basically to infinity. I have the Atom2 stack and it's great but wish I had the volume control from the Element.
Picked up a pair of HD800S a few months ago as well a Topping D50 iii + A50 iii stack.
Love the combination and can store 5 different EQ settings on the D50 iii for different music genres.
Couldn't be happier with the setup, but if you don't need EQ the Topping stack is overkill for the HD800S.
I find the stock HD800S tuning to be perfect for acoustic music or live recordings.
But its been really great to be able to EQ to Harman or diffuse field for rock, metal, Hip-Hop, or EDM.
I max out at under noon on the volume knob on medium gain with 2.5 volt RCA output from the D50 iii when not using EQ.
Even with EQ with a -10 dB gain I've never needed the high gain setting its but nice to have the extra power for other less efficient HP's in the future.
Small form factor for a desk and they're nice looking units and you'll have the option to run balanced if you have ground loop issues.
99% of my listening sources are iOS based so having EQ on the DAC means you can EQ Apple Music which is nearly impossible otherwise.
Get the JDS Element 3 MK2. If you like to listen at low volumes from time to time perfect channel matching basically to infinity. I have the Atom2 stack and it's great but wish I had the volume control from the Element.
Can't agree enough on precision volume control. I had the element 2 and it was great. Ragnarok 2 now and I love how much I can dial it in, same with my Lyngdorf 1120 amp as well fine tuning for low volume sessions is a thing I didn't really know about starting out when choosing volume knobs on devices!
I just ordered these cans, am looking for your opinion if you can spare some of your time. I am going to use it for gaming/music. I enjoy all genres including hip-hop.
Can you point me into the right direction for dac/amp? A lot of the threads are old and looks like you commented recently about my same situation. The cans only come with the factory cables.
I just ordered these cans, am looking for your opinion if you can spare some of your time. I am going to use it for gaming/music. I enjoy all genres including hip-hop.
Can you point me into the right direction for dac/amp? A lot of the threads are old and looks like you commented recently about my same situation. The cans only come with the factory cables.
Will you be using a PC as your source for both gaming and music? What is your approximate budget?
I am still impressed with the Loxjie A40. It is an integrated (both preamp and amp) class D amplifier. It has a good headphone amp with both 1/4 inch and 4.4mm balanced jacks.
Will you be using a PC as your source for both gaming and music? What is your approximate budget?
I am still impressed with the Loxjie A40. It is an integrated (both preamp and amp) class D amplifier. It has a good headphone amp with both 1/4 inch and 4.4mm balanced jacks.
Just read this thread top to bottom and learned a lot. I can empathize with the OP as I felt much the same a couple of months ago. I’ve happily enjoyed my Audeze EL-8 Titaniums since they came out but the build quality was always terrible and they are falling apart a bit so I figured I’d get something new. After much research I was where the OP was: confused and bewildered, though perhaps less budget constrained and I don’t expect build quality in most things (though it’s nice when I luck into it). So I ordered:
* Woo Audio WA7 ($1400)
* Topping A50 III & D50 III interconnected via balanced TRS ($~450ish?)
* iFi hip-dac 3 ($179)
* DCA E3 with balanced 4.4mm cable ($2000)
The DCA E3s sound great via the Topping stack’s and hip-dac 3’s balanced outs, but terrible via the WA7’s balanced out even with volume maxed out. The Audeze EL-8 sounds great out of any SE out, including the WA7. My ears can’t hear a difference between the Audezes ($800 at the time) and the E3s. Realizing how poorly the WA7 drives my E3s despite being 3-5X more expensive than my other amps, I learned that I have a lot to learn about pairing well and that more expensive doesn’t mean better anything.
I dont know E3 or the woo audio wa7, but i have copland DAC 215 (class A and 2 tubes on end) and it sound much better pairing with audeze LCD-3 (100ohm as i good remember) and fostex TH900 (25ohm) then RME ADI 2 FS which is praised here a lot. I did blind tests etc and sound with RME was empty without life, it is hard to describe but after some time i was sure this device is not for me
i think my next step will be something like mjolnir 3 (full class A) with gungnir 2 DAC ( not yet released) and balanced.
for OP - i think it is best for you to test as many as you can. Because answer is not always clear.
How did you levelmatch in your blindtest?
How did you make sure that the test was truly blind and you didn’t have some way of knowing which was which?
I hear this type of reasoning from a lot of tube folks, but a) planars generally don’t care about output impedance meaning if there was a difference it would be down to distortion and b) a lot of tube gear is transparent nowadays and sound identical to solid state.
There are a lot of newcomers to this hobby who easily get swayed down the nonsensical audiophile rabbithole because of subjective anecdotal writings over the internet. ASR is the antedote to that sort of tomfoolery.
. Probably more useful than a piece of hardware you will likely have doubts about again 6 months after you bought it ... .
