lukeman3000
Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2020
- Messages
- 23
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- 13
Hi guys. First off, I'm in the process of educating myself on amps, dacs, and the like. It's a lot to take in. What I really want is to not necessarily become an expert in this field but to learn enough to make a good, informed buying decision.
I own a pair of DT-990 Pro 250ohm headphones. I know they're not super awesome but they seem pretty good for gaming and music (though I do have my eye on the 1990s...).
Anyways, when I first tried running my 990s directly from my desktop PC mobo's stereo output, they were satisfactory and I could almost get them as loud as I would've preferred. But, after asking around, it became evident that "just because it's loud enough" does not mean that you're getting a high quality experience. I'll admit I still don't understand the intricacies of this and why this is such.
But that said, I have decided that I want a headphone amp (and I guess a DAC as well cause I'll need one of those as far as I'm aware). In my haste I went ahead and ordered an Audioengine D1 for $169, which does give me more volume (still not quite enough in some cases), and it seems to have DRASTICALLY improved the sound. Switching back and forth between the D1 and my mobo's output is just.. insane. I had no idea what I was missing out on. When listening to live music performances it sounds like everything is more spaced out - I can identify the individual instruments much more easily and hear the details of them better. It actually feels almost like I'm there in the room when I close my eyes. I understand now at least to some degree what I was missing out on.
As I mentioned, though, the D1 is still too quiet in some cases and I just don't have any extra headroom. Furthermore, I've seen some people speak poorly of Audioengine, calling the D1 "junk". And yet, the reviews on Amazon and Crutchfield and the like are all very positive, some reviews seemingly coming from experts in the field. I can return the D1 to Amazon easily enough.
So I got to looking into other options like the Schiit Magni/Modi, but the more I looked into it, the more I found disparaging comments about these devices, and Schiit in general. Despite so many websites and users recommending the Magni/Modi stack otherwise. I think one such disparaging thread was somewhere on this very forum, and in a certain reddit comment a user tore Schiit apart talking about how they're just marketing without the engineering to back it up.
So what the hell is the truth? Here's what I'm looking for: a relatively non-ugly, preferably combination amp/dac unit for my DT-990 Pro 250ohm (bearing in mind I may upgrade to the 1990s later), and most importantly, a unit that has the respect of people who know what they're talking about. Preferably a unit that doesn't have a ****** pot or any glaring design issues that will take advantage of my 990s and allow them to shine as much as possible given my budget (probably $400 or less)
After some more searching I came across the JDS Labs Element II which would seem to tick all my boxes. I even found a thread on it here that seemed positive in general. I'm primarily a gamer and I like to listen to music on iTunes as well. Would this meet my needs, or are there some other units I should consider, or even a discrete unit combination?
I own a pair of DT-990 Pro 250ohm headphones. I know they're not super awesome but they seem pretty good for gaming and music (though I do have my eye on the 1990s...).
Anyways, when I first tried running my 990s directly from my desktop PC mobo's stereo output, they were satisfactory and I could almost get them as loud as I would've preferred. But, after asking around, it became evident that "just because it's loud enough" does not mean that you're getting a high quality experience. I'll admit I still don't understand the intricacies of this and why this is such.
But that said, I have decided that I want a headphone amp (and I guess a DAC as well cause I'll need one of those as far as I'm aware). In my haste I went ahead and ordered an Audioengine D1 for $169, which does give me more volume (still not quite enough in some cases), and it seems to have DRASTICALLY improved the sound. Switching back and forth between the D1 and my mobo's output is just.. insane. I had no idea what I was missing out on. When listening to live music performances it sounds like everything is more spaced out - I can identify the individual instruments much more easily and hear the details of them better. It actually feels almost like I'm there in the room when I close my eyes. I understand now at least to some degree what I was missing out on.
As I mentioned, though, the D1 is still too quiet in some cases and I just don't have any extra headroom. Furthermore, I've seen some people speak poorly of Audioengine, calling the D1 "junk". And yet, the reviews on Amazon and Crutchfield and the like are all very positive, some reviews seemingly coming from experts in the field. I can return the D1 to Amazon easily enough.
So I got to looking into other options like the Schiit Magni/Modi, but the more I looked into it, the more I found disparaging comments about these devices, and Schiit in general. Despite so many websites and users recommending the Magni/Modi stack otherwise. I think one such disparaging thread was somewhere on this very forum, and in a certain reddit comment a user tore Schiit apart talking about how they're just marketing without the engineering to back it up.
So what the hell is the truth? Here's what I'm looking for: a relatively non-ugly, preferably combination amp/dac unit for my DT-990 Pro 250ohm (bearing in mind I may upgrade to the 1990s later), and most importantly, a unit that has the respect of people who know what they're talking about. Preferably a unit that doesn't have a ****** pot or any glaring design issues that will take advantage of my 990s and allow them to shine as much as possible given my budget (probably $400 or less)
After some more searching I came across the JDS Labs Element II which would seem to tick all my boxes. I even found a thread on it here that seemed positive in general. I'm primarily a gamer and I like to listen to music on iTunes as well. Would this meet my needs, or are there some other units I should consider, or even a discrete unit combination?
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