Need advice on purchasing parts for headphone setup, new to this

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stephen0983

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Feb 3, 2010
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After reading reviews, I am planning to get a pair of Sennheiser 600s. I listen mainly to classical, and these seem to be the best I can get in my budget. Also, I've owned other Sennheiser headphones and am comfortable with that brand.

I'm wondering about the other parts of the setup. I don't know much about amps or DACs, or if there's just a sound card that will do everything. My PC does have a Xonar DS sound card in it, if that's any good.
Really, on top of the headphones I can spend another $175, or more if it is well worth it. I'd like to be able to have a decent setup on my PC.

A second question of less importance: Is it possible for a portable solution to be as good? I see line-out cables for iPods and kind of wonder.

Notes about PC: It is quiet, uses a Corsair H80 cooler (though i7 is at stock), and has adjustable fan speeds for the case fans. The sound card link is here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013
TIA

Edit: Budget increased to $350
 
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you need to run an amp with those headphones.

the xonar DS is a good sound card. you dont need to spend more money on DAC.

i would go with the objective O2 and if you want to at a later date you can get a seperate DAC as well to upgrade from your Xonar DS.

you can also get an AMP/DAC combo to completley replace your DS, or something like a Xonar ST/STX sound card which have a good HP amp inside them and great DAC as well.

portable solutions can be quite good out of the line out cable of the iPod. but you need to spend big bucks to match a home solution. getting digital out of most players is not common, and really good DAPs are expensive.
 
I'm running a pair of Sennheiser HD650 with a Fiio E17. I haven't had experience with many amplifiers, but I can tell the difference between my laptop's DAC and the Fiio E17. The HD650s, at 300 Ohm impedance, are on the high side for the E17. A portable solution that can also be used at the desk is Fiio E17 + E9. The Fiio E17 docks in the E9, and it's good for on-the-go listening. That being said, I wouldn't take a pair of open cans like the Sennheiser HD600 out on the town.

Other interesting amplifiers for you to look at:
http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php (The gold standard by which all portable headphone amplifiers are compared)
http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php?crn=224&rn=442&action=show_detail (Vacuum tubes, not portable)
 
Procyon12 said:
you need to run an amp with those headphones.

the xonar DS is a good sound card. you dont need to spend more money on DAC.

i would go with the objective O2 and if you want to at a later date you can get a seperate DAC as well to upgrade from your Xonar DS.

you can also get an AMP/DAC combo to completley replace your DS, or something like a Xonar ST/STX sound card which have a good HP amp inside them and great DAC as well.

portable solutions can be quite good out of the line out cable of the iPod. but you need to spend big bucks to match a home solution. getting digital out of most players is not common, and really good DAPs are expensive.
Click to expand...
Yeah let's just drop the portable part of the whole thing, that was just a side question..
If my budget were double for this (350$), how would your recommendation change? I would rather spend more now rather than worry about upgrading later on.
Also, it seems like the DAC is not as important as the amp. I.e. My $50 sound card isn't going to hold back a decent amp, is that right?
Thanks for the help
 
stephen0983 said:
Yeah let's just drop the portable part of the whole thing, that was just a side question..
If my budget were double for this (350$), how would your recommendation change? I would rather spend more now rather than worry about upgrading later on.
Also, it seems like the DAC is not as important as the amp. I.e. My $50 sound card isn't going to hold back a decent amp, is that right?
Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

the DAC is important, i just posted what i felt would suit you best at the $175 budget. i might look at the matrix mini-i for that price. (DAC and AMP) but you'll get better answers over at head-fi.org with a budget that large.
 
Ok thanks guys. I decided to go with the 02 plus the DAC combo they offer. Was like $308 with shipping
edit: changed mind afterwards, see next post
 
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i realize the op has apparently already got stuff

I currently have a FiiO E07K /E9 combo

it is mostly good...however the build quality on my E9 leaves something to be desired (horrible volume pot) and last night the plastic shaft for the 1/4" headphone jack broke in half :rolleyes: I managed to piece it back together and glue it back together

seems to be working for now..but I'm not really sure how long it is going to hold together

I may have to see if i can find a replacement part and have a go a removing the old headphone jack and soldering a new one in..but I haven't even looked to see the feasibility of locating a suitable replacement part yet.


if i was starting over today .... (i doubt I'm ever going to use the E07K on the go) ...I would have almost certainly got the Schiit Modi/Magni for $200 instead.

i have no idea how the E9 broke the way it did I'm always super gentle with the dumb thing ..partly cause the build quality always seemed pretty iffy...but the headphone jack just totally broke in-half... sigh...
 
stephen0983 said:
Ended up getting a TubeMagic D2 DAC and the Objective 2 amp. Was a little over $400
Click to expand...

might as well do a side by side comparison of:

Xonar DS > O2 > HD600
vs
TubeMagic D2 > O2 > HD600

and see if you can hear an audible difference. accurate comparisons are difficult to do but it would still be interesting. for what it's worth i love my O2 and HD650 combo.
 
Porter_ said:
might as well do a side by side comparison of:

Xonar DS > O2 > HD600
vs
TubeMagic D2 > O2 > HD600

and see if you can hear an audible difference. accurate comparisons are difficult to do but it would still be interesting. for what it's worth i love my O2 and HD650 combo.
Click to expand...



when it isn't breaking for no apparent reason my fiio E07K / E9 > Xonar DG (or DG /E9)
 
Porter_ said:
might as well do a side by side comparison of:

Xonar DS > O2 > HD600
vs
TubeMagic D2 > O2 > HD600

and see if you can hear an audible difference. accurate comparisons are difficult to do but it would still be interesting. for what it's worth i love my O2 and HD650 combo.
Click to expand...

sure, will do. it will be a few days before the gear arrives. also note I got a cable upgrade for the HD-600s.

the DAC was a bit more than I wanted to get, but having four inputs for the device will be sweet, I think

also am doing a significant change (wouldn't use the word upgrade) to the PC. From the sig, going to Seasonic Fanless 400W, Radeon 7750 Fanless, an ultra quiet Zalman cooler (radiator on H80 is noisy), and changing the 27" to a U2412M, due to a high frequency pitch on and off on the 27" . sigh, I really like the monitor, but that's what you get with an A- panel I guess. And yeah since the resolution is stepped down so much, I figure the 7750 will still play games on high, which is good enough, since I don't game that much nowadays anyway.
 
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