Audio [Need info] Budding audiophile/ short on budget / roadmap / advice needed.

[satadru_das]

Happy Halloween folks,

I am a budding audiophile / someone who wants to explore audiophilia and loves music.
Recently I have purchased a KZ - ZSN Pro X . I have a OnePlus 5T mobile and Acer Nitro 5 as laptop.
I understand a need for external DACs to level up. And probably as time and budget allows would go for it. And good headphones/ IEMs too.
My questions are :
1) With my pair of new IEMs and my daily driver devices as mentioned, can I get better sound at least with built-in DACs?
2) I would be changing my mobile phone also maybe in a year or two, when 5G would be more prominent, is there any good line-ups of phones which has good DACs and can meet Hi-Fi Audio experience?
3) Buying a second hand iPod / iPhone SE can meet good audio expectations in terms of standalone music devices ?
4) It would be really helpful, if anyone can suggest a roadmap to proceed in terms of choices I would need to make, and better budgeting ?

Note : I would be benefitted if above questions can be answered in terms of wired tech, as I am not so confident on Bluetooth/ wireless stuff + budget hardly will allow.

Thank you all in advance, stay safe!

 

[NoobphileXXL]

I think I can suggest you based on my 6 months old journey
1. No. the kzs you have are highly sensitive afaik. They may have a bit of noise floor from some audio sources. If you find any humming or hissing sound when connected to your laptop and no audio being played, then only buy a cheap dongle dac like apple dongle or samsung dongle. That should solve the prob.

2. Phones without headphone jack doesn’t come with inbuilt dac. Dac as I mentioned are in those dongles. there used to be a lineup. But Lg’s dead now and Sony doesn’t sell in India. Only phone with good dac in India available now is Asus rog 5 afaik.

3. Na. waste of money.

4. You should decide whether you want headphones or iems, your preferred sound signature, dynamic driver or planar, open back or closed back, single dd or tribid etc.

In my case I went from Sm e11c to md aria to blessing 2 dusk(haven’t got ’em yet), bought he400i, currently using with hidizs s9 pro. I sold off my zen can that I bought earlier to use with my hifiman as most people hyped up that planars can’t be driven by a dongle dac amp( yes apple dongle doesn’t have enough power, but things like sonata hd pro, hidizs s8, s9 etc can easily drive those), need extra juice, need synergy, he400i bright sound matches with warm tone of zen can yada yada.


All these are BULLCRAP according to my experience.

It’s just being fancy with your accessories and having additional features. But I liked simple setup more. You never learn until you make mistakes and I’ve learnt it hard way. I don’t have golden ears. Thanks to that I saved my bank account from further misery.
now I use aria with just apple dongle and he400i with s9 pro.

Most important part in your audio chain is headphones>amp>dac. So you should upgrade your headphones first and think about your peripherals later.

 

[satadru_das]

Thank you so much for your fast reply!

Also, my Windows 10 Laptop seems to be able to process FLAC files and the KZs play them well. I tried researching online a lot if my Realtek SST supports lossless, couldn't get a proper answer.
So, can I assume that my laptop is capable of processing them and can enjoy lossless music on my KZs?

And yes, my KZ - ZSN Pro X sometimes hurts on the high notes/ trebles but that too on bit high volume.

 

[NoobphileXXL]

Any modern laptop is able to play flacs. Only issues can be the noise floor that can affect sensitive iems and shitty implementation of dac. In your case it seems your laptop is good in both aspects. So you should not worry too much.

can enjoy lossless music on my KZs?

You definitely can. But I’m skeptical how much of a difference you will be able to notice. Many struggle to tell any tangible difference b/w 320 kbps mp3 and flacs including me. I can only differentiate b/w 128 kbps mp3 and 320 kbps or flac. If you have prowess for identifying lossless and lossy, good for you, enjoy higher fidelity!

Realtek SST supports lossless, couldn't get a proper answer.

Most basic dacs should at least support 16bit or cd quality. So again not to worry much unless you have noise floor problem.

KZ - ZSN Pro X sometimes hurts on the high notes

Kz follow v shaped signature with few treble peaks, has to be.

 

[satadru_das]

Any modern laptop is able to play flacs. Only issues can be the noise floor that can affect sensitive iems and shitty implementation of dac. In your case it seems your laptop is good in both aspects. So you should not worry too much.


You definitely can. But I’m skeptical how much of a difference you will be able to notice. Many struggle to tell any tangible difference b/w 320 kbps mp3 and flacs including me. I can only differentiate b/w 128 kbps mp3 and 320 kbps or flac. If you have prowess for identifying lossless and lossy, good for you, enjoy higher fidelity!

Most basic dacs should at least support 16bit or cd quality. So again not to worry much unless you have noise floor problem.

Kz follow v shaped signature with few treble peaks, has to be.

Cool then, appreciate your prompt answers!

Kz follow v shaped signature with few treble peaks, has to be.

Anyways to modify this a bit low ? Like I am using inbuilt EQ , if changing cables matters ?

 

[NoobphileXXL]

if changing cables matters ?

Absolutely not. Cable doesn’t influence sound. Most you see are snakeoils to lure gullible people.

Anyways to modify this a bit low ? Like I am using inbuilt EQ

Eq is always an option. Most recommended eq s/w I’ve seen is Equalizer APO for windows. I don’t know much about parametric eqing as I don’t use pc. There’s crap ton of guides on parametric eq. Best guide imo is from oratory1990. Only for your interest,

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/9o2f5n