HeaDphone Discussions. (Audiophile and Gaming)

[goblinm]

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my SteelSeries Arctis Pro with GameDac with some non-gaming headies and either a boom mic or a modmic.

At first I wanted to get the Audeze Mobius or the HyperX Cloud Orbit but figured I might also look into standalone solutions as I know gaming headsets don't always have the best sound. The mentioned headies seem to get good reviews on the sound quality though.

The headphones will be used for video consumption / music / gaming (I'm not a pro so immersion is more important to me than super accurate positioning).

Sound signature wise I'm not a basshead but the fact that the Planar drivers on the Mobius has good base is a pro. I like some thump to my music and games (not sure how much of that could be achieved with an EQ)

Budgets aren't super tight but lets say 10k for dac/amp/headies?

So far I've looked at the following dac/amp combos:
* Schiit Hel 2 - looks like a strong amp (no software or bass boost button so it doesn't look like I could make up for flatly tuned headies with this)
* Creative G6 - mixed reviews on this
* ifi zen dac amp combo - some say the sound is a bit 'dirty or grainy' which is a bit concerning

Headphones I've looked at so far are:
* Drop 58X - currently on what looks like a great special but worried about bass response (I know open back aren't known for bass but I think I already saw @iamgigglz complain about bass for these)
* Drop 6xx
* Hifiman Sundara
* Drop HE5xx
* Drop 38x - having a mic is nice but that colour scheme (would rather use a boom or modmic then

The 1more HiFi H1707 Triple Driver has a pretty fun sound signiture, awsome for games as it has brilliant bass. HiFi H1707 Triple Driver Hi-Res Certified 3.5mm Over-Ear Headphones - Silver - 1MORE

Cant go wrong with a 6xx, its also a winner but bass is not at same level as 1more. (need more amp for it though).
Havent tried the other 2.

For an amp, AudioGD R2R11 is awsome.
There is a local vendor as well, think it goes between 5 & 6 K

 

[Bearman]

If it was me, and money was not tight... 58x with ifi zen. Hah. But what do I know.

I have the Game One's (38x equivilant), and no regrets.

 

[Miz3r]

DT990s with Ifi Zen

I love my 990s

 

[ghost02]

The 1more HiFi H1707 Triple Driver has a pretty fun sound signiture, awsome for games as it has brilliant bass. HiFi H1707 Triple Driver Hi-Res Certified 3.5mm Over-Ear Headphones - Silver - 1MORE

Cant go wrong with a 6xx, its also a winner but bass is not at same level as 1more. (need more amp for it though).
Havent tried the other 2.

For an amp, AudioGD R2R11 is awsome.
There is a local vendor as well, think it goes between 5 & 6 K

Thanks, will check out that dac and the HIFI H1707, the HD6XX already high on the list
Will check out the amp too, haven't seen it mentioned

If it was me, and money was not tight... 58x with ifi zen. Hah. But what do I know.

I have the Game One's (38x equivilant), and no regrets.

The 58x are currently $40 off so very tempting

DT990s with Ifi Zen

I love my 990s

Are those the 80 or 250ohm?


Question regarding the dac/amp Ifi Zen v1 vs v2?

I also saw people talking about using the ifi ipowerx to give clean power to the zen, is that necessary?

 

[goblinm]

The 1more HiFi H1707 Triple Driver has a pretty fun sound signiture, awsome for games as it has brilliant bass. HiFi H1707 Triple Driver Hi-Res Certified 3.5mm Over-Ear Headphones - Silver - 1MORE

Cant go wrong with a 6xx, its also a winner but bass is not at same level as 1more. (need more amp for it though).
Havent tried the other 2.

For an amp, AudioGD R2R11 is awsome.
There is a local vendor as well, think it goes between 5 & 6 K

AudioGD.

AUDIO-GD | Lumous Audio

Audio-GD from Lumous Audio, South Africa

www.lumous-audio.co.za

tracked it down, 5k in SA

 

[Miz3r]

Thanks, will check out that dac and the HIFI H1707, the HD6XX already high on the list
Will check out the amp too, haven't seen it mentioned


The 58x are currently $40 off so very tempting


Are those the 80 or 250ohm?


Question regarding the dac/amp Ifi Zen v1 vs v2?

I also saw people talking about using the ifi ipowerx to give clean power to the zen, is that necessary?

250s

Got them locally for just over 4k

 

[goblinm]

Also hadnt heard of it before I bought it (its CHiFI), was peeps on this and AV forum who persuaded me.
Prior to it I had a JDS Lab O2 and the R2R 11 knocked that out of the ballpark.

Also have a IFI Nano that I used to lug with me to work, also good..
The R2R is just warmer with the sennies. Nice together like waffles and maple syrup.

 

[ghost02]

Also hadnt heard of it before I bought it (its CHiFI), was peeps on this and AV forum who persuaded me.
Prior to it I had a JDS Lab O2 and the R2R 11 knocked that out of the ballpark.

Also have a IFI Nano that I used to lug with me to work, also good..
The R2R is just warmer with the sennies. Nice together like waffles and maple syrup.

How would one EQ with these to make up for the bass on the 6xx for example?

I googled the R2R 11 and it looks like otherwise it has raving reviews.

 

[iamgigglz]

<snip>

IMO super-accurate positioning = better immersion. Also open-backs make me feel like I've been plonked down in the middle of the battlefield rather than the sounds of the battlefield being wrapped around my head...if that makes any sense.

Initially I was disappointed with the bass response of my Jubilees but I think that was because I was used to the V-shaped response of the cheap closed-back cans I was coming from. Honestly they're not bad at all and respond well to an EQ tweak, as long as you don't crank the volume too high.
I recently tried out my old pair of HD449s (closed-back), which have been described as having bass response that's "7/10 - sufficient for most genres of music", and they probably had half the bass of my Jubilees. Same dac/amp.
The Jubilees are very flat/neutral without sounding cold, but when you get into the very deep frequencies they roll off pretty quickly.

Also, the Jubilees are always in demand on Carb so if you're disappointed you could resell them with minimal loss.

Also also, here's the frequency response of the 6xx vs 58x. If you're worried about bass then the choice between those two is clear.

 

[goblinm]

it looks like otherwise it has raving reviews.

The Bass is not bad on the 6xx and does respond to equilisation, but its not prominant (it rules at midrange / vocals)
The one more I linked earlier has a boosted bass, betwee the 2 the 1more is more fun sounding but not as comfortable to wear for extended periods as the 6xx.
Depending on mood,I flip around between them.

If you only going to buy one, 6xx is the better option.Its warm and good for almost everything..
If you in the mood for oertch oercth music , 1more shines.
To be honest you wouldnt be unhappy with either, but if you only want to buy one, in my opinion 6xx would be the way to go.
You also wont struggle to resell if you dont like it.
They get gobbled up quickly on carb.

 

[Chevez]

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my SteelSeries Arctis Pro with GameDac with some non-gaming headies and either a boom mic or a modmic.

At first I wanted to get the Audeze Mobius or the HyperX Cloud Orbit but figured I might also look into standalone solutions as I know gaming headsets don't always have the best sound. The mentioned headies seem to get good reviews on the sound quality though.

The headphones will be used for video consumption / music / gaming (I'm not a pro so immersion is more important to me than super accurate positioning).

Sound signature wise I'm not a basshead but the fact that the Planar drivers on the Mobius has good base is a pro. I like some thump to my music and games (not sure how much of that could be achieved with an EQ)

Budgets aren't super tight but lets say 10k for dac/amp/headies?

So far I've looked at the following dac/amp combos:
* Schiit Hel 2 - looks like a strong amp (no software or bass boost button so it doesn't look like I could make up for flatly tuned headies with this)
* Creative G6 - mixed reviews on this
* ifi zen dac amp combo - some say the sound is a bit 'dirty or grainy' which is a bit concerning

Headphones I've looked at so far are:
* Drop 58X - currently on what looks like a great special but worried about bass response (I know open back aren't known for bass but I think I already saw @iamgigglz complain about bass for these)
* Drop 6xx
* Hifiman Sundara
* Drop HE5xx
* Drop 38x - having a mic is nice but that colour scheme (would rather use a boom or modmic then

If you were in Pta I'd have given you a listen.

I've got the 58X, with a modmic and Creative G6. I am happy with it. Honestly, I don't get the complaints about the bass. It sounds fantastic to my non-expert ears.

 

[johnjm]

Amazon has the Philips 9505 for $100 off. No brainer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[neilh]

NFB 11 or R2R if that's within budget range. Absolutely love mine

Also don't overlook Chi-FI/Audiophile IEMs. You can get awesome sound out of sub $150 IEMS if you can handle have something inside your ear

If you in JHB northern suburbs, welcome to meetup and try

 

[neilh]

So i've found a completely different slippery slope to head down....

(They are pretty...)

 

[naughty]

What IEMs are those ?

 

[blankster]

What IEMs are those ?

Moondrop Starfield

 

[neilh]

Yeah. Starfields. Apparently the Moondrop Aria's at $70 odd are pretty close to these

Gonna try burn them in over the course of this week, so far it seems they are better on a more neutral AMP/DAC combo. Trebles are painful on my Audio-GD

 

[naughty]

Yeah. Starfields. Apparently the Moondrop Aria's at $70 odd are pretty close to these

Gonna try burn them in over the course of this week, so far it seems they are better on a more neutral AMP/DAC combo. Trebles are painful on my Audio-GD

you could tame the treble with a bit of EQ - it depends on what you use as the source before the AudioGD in the chain and also if you really like bit perfect playback - i like to use a bit of EQ though - depending on the headphones being used

as an example i use UAPP on my DAP for playback instead of the Fiio standard app and these are the EQ settings i use in UAPP for my KZAS16

this definitely tames overbright treble as long as the drivers of your IEM can handle the additional bass (most will with no huge issues nut remember my IEMs use balanced armature bass drivers which is why they need a bit of a boost - dynamic drivers will not need this

the big drop at 8khz is to reduce sibilance - if your source is not sibilant then you don't need to drop it as much

Moondrop Starfield

nice gonna check out more info on these

just saw that Josh Valour seems to like them a lot paintjob on those is stunning

 

[neilh]

These are driver only. No balanced armatures

The Headphone Show, DMS and Zeos rate these and the Aria's pretty highly

 

[naughty]

you mean that they are dynamic driver only - that's fine - then you don't have to increase the bass - just drop the higher midrange and treble a bit then with EQ at the point where you feel they are too sharp/painful with the AudioGD DAC/AMP

 

[iamgigglz]

So I did a thing. Little Dot 2
I see now why reviewers can't quite explain "tube-ness". It's lovely and warm, rounded, soft & squishy but still accurate. Loving it.

 

[neilh]

Tooooobeeeey goodness

I need one in my life

Congrats. What's feeding it?

 

[iamgigglz]

Tooooobeeeey goodness

I need one in my life

Congrats. What's feeding it?

Thanks man
Feeding it with an Audioengine D1. Still use the D1 directly in CSGO and Teams meetings etc. I’m distinctly aware of the fact that tubes age and need to be replaced eventually.

 

[naughty]

So I did a thing. Little Dot 2
I see now why reviewers can't quite explain "tube-ness". It's lovely and warm, rounded, soft & squishy but still accurate. Loving it.

very nice picture of a very nice amp ...... congrats - hope that you enjoy it - wish i could afford something like this for my headphones

 

[L-Dog]

The Nothing Ear 1 look like decent earphones although they were hyped up massively, keen to try them

 

[DubDubZA]

Is there anyone you guys can recommend that can help me with a cable replacement on a set of Beyer Dynamic DT770's? My son managed to bend/break the 6.35mm connector (I have no idea how, but the damage is done). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[iamgigglz]

very nice picture of a very nice amp ...... congrats - hope that you enjoy it - wish i could afford something like this for my headphones

Thanks 👍
I bought it second hand on AVForums - wasn't crazy expensive.
It's making me want to upgrade my headphones now though so it could become crazy expensive...

 

[goldfritter]

Thanks man
Feeding it with an Audioengine D1. Still use the D1 directly in CSGO and Teams meetings etc. I’m distinctly aware of the fact that tubes age and need to be replaced eventually.

Hmm so are you bypassing the Little Dot for everything except music? That's an interesting strategy. Tubes should last many years even with daily use. And they're not super expensive to replace. But fair enough, I can understand trying to lengthen the life of stuff.

 

[naughty]

Thanks 👍
I bought it second hand on AVForums - wasn't crazy expensive.
It's making me want to upgrade my headphones now though so it could become crazy expensive...

what headphones are you looking at as a replacement?

 

[iamgigglz]

what headphones are you looking at as a replacement?

Lol, don't know but the cud is itching.
That said, the more I learn about the Jubilees the more I realise that I'm not going to get any better without spending R10k+