dac/amp suggestions.. need for desktop as well as portable

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edge111hussain said:
Looks like the essence st is a good bet for now.

@-Titana---purely going by your word as you own the stx as well as the dt880's. Googled a bit too and everyone has a similar say...
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I no longer use the Beyer for listening to music so I tried these today once agin to make sure.And yes, the Xonar STX does do its job pretty adequately.

Guys just to trouble you a tad bit more. Just incase i still want a portable amp/dac to run with the S9 along with my 485's and 555's then whats the best bet i got?

Just a few pointers----

the 485, which i love for its sheer bass and versatility, sounds horrible straight out of the s9 or onboard sound. The xifi used to run it well and it sounds awesome on my marantz and yamaha amps.

The amp/dac needs to be capable of running without usb, either usb charged or battery.
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If I understand correctly, you need something to properly drive your HD485 from your cowon S9.

In that case there is no need of a DAC & you only need a portable amp.

My recommendation is the Mini 3 from amb labs. Its a DIY design but you can easily find someone to build it for you.
 
Brendon, thats too much of a setup man. Seperate dac amd amp/... Would seriously prefer a Dac/amp together. BTW, will let you know when im coming that side, pm me ur personal no.

The essence ST is not available anywhere.. Its not been since a month or so now. Will check with some TE dealers too but @ lammy its not in stock or with distributors.

Will do a bit of r&d on the things suggested and get back incase the essence does not come back in stock soon.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

@titana

485/555 is what i have now. Will soon be getting the ath-50 or denon 2000 pretty soon and get rid of the 485 or 555 followed by high end headsets in the near future. Whatever i buy needs to be a bit future proof.
 
^^^

I know him, have bought stuff from him before. Though the ST is slightly over-priced with him.

Yea a discount + an ebay coupon would surely make the deal a sweet one...

@ Faheem -- get me a big big Discount PLS :)
 
^ Hahaha.. I am not sure but will try and see if I can get you a discount . More than discount a good 15/20% off ebay coupon would be helpful :P
 
Ok shoot, asus cards no where available at the right price... The last st sold thru dealers i know @ lammy was for 8.6k.. See why am i cribbing about the 9k+ price on ebay..

Anyways i did my research for dac/amp.

In portables, nothing seems to be good enough to drive the hd-650. Beyer still seems to be manageable.
As far as ibasso goes, there is a clear shootout between the d2+ and d4. Wrote to some of the gear owners, their view is get the d4 cause the d2+ again wont be able to drive the hd-650 not the beyers. Others sugegsted to skip the hd-650 idea if i aint gonna spend on a good amp.
Wrote a mail to ibasso, they sugegsted d4 or db1 + pb1. Wrote back with bf1983 suggestion of pb1 + dac destroyer. Got a reply saying that it wont be adequate to run the hd-650 or akg's topline. damn...
A lot of members that i had written to suggested that i go couple of steps above d4 for the hd650 to really shine... But all their recommendations were 500$ above.. which really considering customs + shipping will take me 700$ +... haha, no way dude am i spending that much for gear that i have not even heard 1ce.

The things is that, i know that the essence ST will do the job well, but i really wanted something to run with the S9. Infact considering all the hassle here, a denon d-2000 with a udac seems like a good idea now :)

@Faheem -- do the d2000's require amping???

BTW Asus is coming with a new audio card now in line with the Essence st and stx ----Xonar Xense http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=3p64s7U7eGxcfAdw
 
Hussain.........i just read thru the entire post and it seems that your choice of headphones is simply wrong bro!!!!
I mean no offense or anything bro, and i don't mean that the headphones are bad or anything(No headphone is bad according to me TBH)..... It just down right doesn't meet your requirement.
Now i know that your prolly influenced since the HD650 and the Beyers 600ohms are both top notch hps but think twice as per your need. I mean they're open back and you want em for portability??
There is no portable setup that would drive these babies and do them justice whn compared to a full size desktop rig. They require a lotta power to drive them WELL!!!! I doubt even the ST would be able to drive them to the fullest. ST's as far as i know are good for transport and good as a dac, Amping is a whole different story altogether. You will have to get a Amp later for the Beyers / HD650 if you wanna drive them to their true potential.
Like titana said, he only got to know the true potential after using the right Amp.
Also for portable use, open back hps!!!!........really did you think about that???

Again if your hell bent on your choice of hps for portability then get a RSA Predator Dac/Amp. Will set you back a sweet 475$ but that will not leave you longing for more where as portability is concerned ;)

For a desktop rig, get a Audio-gd Compass / Sparrow / Fun. They're excellent for such high end cans.

If you want a cheaper option, check out Audinst MX-1

The guys at headfonia have tested this with a hd800 and say that it can drive it to insane volumes when on high gain mode.

Headfonia Review

It even better than the uDac you were contemplating on, there is a review of that as well on headfonia.

uDac is good for low impedance and high-medium sensitivity cans and all IEMs.

I know ppl will have their difference with what i'm saying, and they're welcome to disagree, thats what the forum is about. ;)
 
^^ I have to agree with Benny. :)

If you want to get some uber headphones but wish that you can drive them out of a portable player, then try the Grados. The Grado RS1/RS2 can be driven rather easily from a portable source as they dont require amplification. If you want a Grado thats not too expensive then ignore the 325 and get the Grado 225 for $200 instead.
 
I completely agree with what you guys are saying. Thats why i did mention, that the d2000 seems like the best option at the moment.

D thing is, that i dont mind spending a bit more but, for whatever i managed to research, the amps which seem to drive them well are all 600$ + and anything below that is not an out right winner with mixed reviews. Also spending that much for gear i haven't even hear or seen, seems a bit difficult for me to gulp in..

The grados is something that i had not considered, will check them out..

Thanks guys for your views and posts... much appreciated
 
Anytime bro.... Also take a look at the A900 by AudioTechnica.

Depending on your musical preferences you can choose from a wide range of HP's that you can easily drive thru a decent dac+amp which is prolly under 200$.
Take for example the Audinst Mx1 or the Tubemagic D1 can easily drive most HP's Well. I stress on the word well bcoz it is often ignored.

The d2000 is better when it comes to highs and soundstaging.
The A900 is better than the D2000 when it comes to Bass and Midrange.
Grado's like the 225s are excellent in sound staging 1stly since they're open backs and 2ndly, they're Grados :P
Where the Grados lack is comfort and thats where the D2000 and the A900 beat the shyte outta it whereas comfort is concerned.
I agree wid Brendon that the Grado's are a beast which you would love to tame. I can't sell mine cuz my gf gifted em to me so basically i'm stuck wid it for life(lol) but still they offer sumthing which no other hp does. Give a grado to a guitarist to audition and he'll be instantly converted into an audiophile :D

All 3 are fairly easier to drive.

There are plenty of options.
Whats your genre of music?
I'm sure lotta cats here wud be more than happy to advice a pair of HPs which have a good synergy wid your genre. :)
 
Well im one of the weirdos that likes most genres leaving out jazz and classical.. I even listen to 70's and 80's. Also i listen to everything on one go.. aka Random mode on the S9 :)

By everything i literally mean everything from rock to hip-hop to bollywood to country and so on...

In iem,s i have the s9, cx 500 and a ie7 is on its way from the uk.. So i guess there im pretty sorted. I did give the ie6 and ie8 a thought but i wanted something balanced, hence the ie7.

Coming to headphones, i do prefer em over iem;s honestly. Whilst traveling i carry the iem's. When i said portable for the s9, i meant literally connecting the amp to the s9 and roaming around the house or balcony. I like my music on the GO :)

Now i like my hd 485 for movies, the bass there really does the job for me. They are connected to my avr's/ I hate the sound of the 485 on my s9 or pc. Hate listening to music on them for the mids are just too harsh. I specifically bought them for movies and dont regret the buy 1 bit.

555's ;literally have dust on em right now. Just not using them since i got the s9's. The thing is that they are somewhere in between. No kickass bass nor enough clarity.

My ears are kinda sensitive, bad sounds really bad to me and i pick it up instantly.

I play the S9 on mach3bass mode which is enhanced bass not not out right thumping like an XBASS.

Vocals or instruments which have a really high sound is a big no for me, like on the pl-30, hurts my ears. I guess thats the treble and too much treble is a no go. But i like its existence (485 lacks treble i guess and hence don't like music on them)

I would definitely prefer fun sounding headsets rather than laidback. (aka Dr beats over my cus shure 840, dont kill me here:) )

Reason for typing the above was to give ya a bit of an idea/clarity of what i like and don't...

Ill go back to searching forums but from the above what sounds like the right headset? AD 900, d-2000, grados. Remember the amp might or might not be there. Incase i cant find a right portable, i sure cant hold a big amp and roam around the house :)

Too many questions, too much confusion, sorry for being such a pain ///////
 
Errr.. this thread is about buying a new dac/amp or a new pair of cans :S ?

See as most guys have already pointed out , no portable DAC + Amp will drive HD 650s, DT 880 etc to their best .You will need a good desktop DAC + amp like Audio GD,Maverick etc to get the best out of them.Maybe a Arrow 12HE (~250$)be able to drive high end cans but not as good as the more expensive Protector ,P51 Mustang etc which will be way out of your budget . I feel the best way to enjoy headphones like 650s,AKG 702s ,DT880 etc is to fire it up from a desktop amp and listen to them relaxing on your chair or lying on the bed :).

Best cans for portable listening in and around house would be A900, D2000 etc.And even these are pretty close to the the higher end cans in terms of detailing etc.Infact I love the D2000s bass ,treble as well as soundstage.The 702s are more neutral and analytical types ans slightly more detailed. The 650s are more laidback and smooth. D2000 have an amazing bass as well as treble and are fun to listen to ;).
 
if u dont wanna get a amp, look into the ultrasone hfi-780, used to own them myself they r def a fun sounding phone,,, forward sounding and probably has the most bass out of the lot mentioned here (not boomy like beats). they r very easy to drive.. though a amp does bring out more detail.... used to drive em with a ibasso d2+boa .. its a really good combo for the price :)
 
Prolly even look at the Senn HD25-1 II, they're one of the best portable cans. Costs arnd 199$, closed backs, not 2 hard to drive, recabling will improve the overall sound a lot but sorry if they're too cheap for your budget :P
 
Its still very much an amp thread and i still hope to get one soon but, as the discussion went on, i quickly realized that my choice of headsets and amps are not matching up..

Also via head-fi have realized that not every can goes well with every amp.

Its right now almost a what came first thought in my mind, chicken or d egg :) and kinda figured that i rather get the can first and accordingly get a suitable amp if needed.

Titana is right in the sense that if i have to listen to music on the desktop, i might as well get the ST rather than getting an amp im not sure about.

Im thinking a900/D2000 (post audition will choose 1) + Essence ST + cheap portable amp (200$ or under)

Guess its sorted for now...
 
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