Search for perfectionism: Upgrade audio gear chain

[lutzeslife]

Hello community,

i fall in the rabbit hole of finding the perfect audio setup for me and my hearing expierences. Currently i use the following chain and i think a lot about how i can find some more details in audio listening


Hearing experience

I love to heare music as it is with all the pro and cons in mixing. I know that the typical music listner will get more bass and so on but for me the music should come as it is. No boosting, hearing errors in mixing and so on.

Current audio chain

Tidal (Hifi Plus) >> Tidal Connect >> NAD CS 1 >> optical >> Topping DX 5 >> Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro / DT 770 Pro

I am a headphone only user so in my research i ignore test about preamp sections and so on. For me is hard to answer the qestion of which way i should prefer:

Ways of upgrading

Upgrade to another combo (V1) or separate all th functions (streaming, dac, headphone amp) to different machines (v2). As a hint i know the there is much more potential of switch to better headphones which is (magnostatic planar) currently another search. I prefer currently Audeze or Hifiman to check for there sounding.

V1 (combo)

As i would be choose the v1 way (combo) the Topping DX5 is not the baddest idea but also upgrading to

• Topping DX 7
• Aune S9c

could also a way to handle it.

V2 (separation)

On the other hand it would be maybe a good choce to separate the functions to get more potential using of the gear itself. The DAC part of the DX 5 seeams to be not bad so on this part i could also use

• DX5 + Aune S17Pro (which seems to be a secret tip)

or seperate it with switching

• Topping A70 + D70
• Topping D70 + Aune S17 Pro

In other comunities there are often teh way t sy go to the traditional suppliers like NAD, TA, Cambridge Audio but with the experience with the Topping i believe that the lower price equipment is nowdays so good that i should also test it.

With the streaming client (NAD) i am satisfied and i think about to extend the part of chain with an cd chain to use the old discs but for the question the DAC and Headphone part is important.
I know that there a lot of options behind the named ones but maybe some of you have a opinion about the named ones or tips and tricks which i also looking for.

(My location is germany, so there are not so much reseller of all hyped gear so maybe tips i must import which i would to avoid)

Best regards
Daniel

 

[ZolaIII]

Get better headphones instead.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

Nothing you would change in your electronics would result in you with better sound.. NOTHING. It bears shouting it.


You would waste your money by going toward the gears you mentioned or their equivalent. ... but may find ways to convince yourself you are hearing better (different) sound. Placebo.
The best is to EQ, if you are not doing it yet. Almost mandatory.
Stay here, on ASR, learn. In particular learn how to EQ , can be free if you use a PC ... You will enjoy more music while spending less.

Peace.

 

[Dunring]

I'd prioritize headphones upgrading first, then noise floor for details. I use a Topping e50 and A30 Pro for a daily driver and no penalty for optical helps on a noisy system. Headphones should be the biggest improvement though.

 

[lutzeslife]

Thanks for answering.

@FrantzM using EQ over the PC is not a option. I don`t want adding a PC in my gear chain.

Yes it seems to be i`ve start with testing headphones. I ordered a Hifiman Sundara to look in the world of planar headphones and i will come back here to discuss again

 

[ZolaIII]

@lutzeslife uffff. What do you want to achieve (type of headphones, sound...) and how loud you usually listen to?
Start reading hire:

DIY-Audio-Heaven

Enjoy music through headphones on a low budget

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

 

[DVDdoug]

I don`t want adding a PC in my gear chain.

Why not? EQ can be corrective, or it can be "creative" to your taste.

Most of the differences between headphones (and speakers) is frequency response and you can tweak that with EQ. You can sometimes run into "limitations" if you boost the bass because you can drive the amplifier or headphones into distortion (Speakers are even more limited that way and you're never going to get "realistic" bass you can feel in your body from a small woofer.)

But it's a good place to start, and with a PC it can be free!

Yes it seems to be i`ve start with testing headphones. I ordered a Hifiman Sundara to look in the world of planar headphones and i will come back here to discuss again

I assume you saw the review here at ASR? It was "recommended", but with EQ.

There is no "perfect" or "best" headphone and personal preference is a big factor. There is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and your favorite probably wouldn't be the most expensive, especially if you didn't know the price.

 

[lutzeslife]

@ZolaIII I´ve startet listning with the DT-770 (closed) and switch to DT-880 (semi-open) because the DT-770 headphone pressure was to high over hours of listning (beside my daily work) So in comparison (with also the friends DT-990 (open) version) i like the clarity of the DT-880 but in some cases it feels that there is a missing room between me and the musicians.

With closed one i would say i am a more louder listner with the semi-open ones louder as normal speaking but not so loud as i could can.

Thank you for the webpage i will look into

 

[lutzeslife]

@DVDdoug I am absolute with you. But i love the easiness of sit down send via Tidl connect my title to the gear and start listning. PC booting, updates making and so on are natural barriers to start listning.

 

[lutzeslife]

For starting if a planar headphone could be the next step i decide to start with an beginner model.

 

[ZolaIII]

@lutzeslife well @solderdude does it down to small details (regarding fit, clamping force, seel, different pads and moods) which you wont find anywhere else. It's very hard to recommend someone headphones as its influenced with all those factors (actually even more of them). So relax and read carefully and if you have questions feel free to ask hire (and elsewhere). Have fun and happy hunting.
Edit: regarding missing room add some wet reverberation.

 

[lutzeslife]

Okay if i read the test it could be the the Hifiman brings not really an effort

 

[AdamG]

The best is to EQ, if you are not doing it yet. Almost mandatory.

This 1000% will result in a better listing experience with the current kit you have. Being able to dial in the preference curve you like is getting new headphones but better.

If you just want to experiment with EQ and how it will change your experience you could try a Qudelix 5K portable Amp/Dac that is pretty inexpensive at around $100USD. I know it’s a portable device but it can help you decide if a desktop EQ solution is worth the cost. You will probably want to keep the Qudelix anyway. Just a hunch from personal experience.

Qudelix-5K Bluetooth DAC & Headphone Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Qudelix-5K USB DAC and balanced headphone amplifier with Bluetooth receiver. I purchased this myself but a member kindly donated one third of the cost. The Qudelix 5K costs US $110 on Amazon including shipping. The Qudelix comes in a nice...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[ZolaIII]

From closed back's Danon AH-D5200 are one of my favorites (especially as they are very easy to drive and not amplifier self impedance dependent so they sound pretty good no matter in what you plug them in, still amplifier with high SINAD on low level loads [50 mV] is more than recommend) and for mid loud listening levels (mid 70 dB average SPL), from open good old Sennheiser HD600 are fine tho you won't get low bass with open ones. Semi open back are rare sort. Beyerdynamic one's you have already aren't great regarding highs (very hard to find really).
I don't have high opinion regarding mentioned Hifiman one's especially if you don't want to EQ. Again preferences differ.

 

[lutzeslife]

i could try to use my old FiiO E10k Olympus 2
for first eq experiences.

 

[lutzeslife]

Oh i see that the REM ADI 2 has an intigrated eq a little bit expensive but....

 

[kemmler3D]

1) Try EQ as soon as you can. Look up Oratory or Amir's reviews (or any of the other online) for suggested settings for your headphones. Experiment a bit also. Try listening to pink noise to test and smooth out your personal FR. This makes the biggest difference in SQ by far, other than buying new headphones.

2) Get better headphones - I am personally really happy with my Audeze LCD-XCs, but as others have said, headphones are very personal and it's hard to know until you try them. Ideally, go to a shop with many headphones to try.

3) Don't worry about DAC / Amp unless you get a headphone that is hard to drive. In that case you may get more bass output with a stronger amp. I have a JDS Atom connected to my DX5. I don't think it makes any/much difference, but I have it so I might as well use it.

 

[solderdude]

@ZolaIII I´ve startet listning with the DT-770 (closed) and switch to DT-880 (semi-open) because the DT-770 headphone pressure was to high over hours of listning (beside my daily work) So in comparison (with also the friends DT-990 (open) version) i like the clarity of the DT-880 but in some cases it feels that there is a missing room between me and the musicians.

With closed one i would say i am a more louder listner with the semi-open ones louder as normal speaking but not so loud as i could can.

Thank you for the webpage i will look into

The DT880 is not semi-open it is an open headphone, just like the DT990.
I have no idea why Beyerdynamic calls the DT880 semi-open and the DT990 open.
They use the same pads so have the same front volume leakage and they are both open on the rear side. They also react similar to seal breakage.
When you mount DT770 pads on it (and thus closing the front volume) the sound is wrong.

Another strange thing is the pads them selves (on the packaging) says suited for DT770, DT880 and DT990 but the DT770 has different pads. DT880 and DT990 have the same pads.

The plot below shows the difference between 770 and 880/990 pads.

 

[Sal1950]

Nothing you would change in your electronics would result in you with better sound.. NOTHING. It bears shouting it

This "EQ" 1000% will result in a better listing experience with the current kit you have. Being able to dial in the preference curve you like is getting new headphones but better.

Here's your best answers.
Only in different headphones can you make a significant improvement, maybe.
Possibly some headphone might require a little more power and then a amp change might help.
Adding a PC and the ability to EQ will open a world of options to you.
Don't chase the white rabbit of upgrades down a bottomless pit of "different but not any better"
Enjoy

 

[lutzeslife]

I`ve tried today the APO equalizer for windows. And one thing which is understandable but a problem is the Tidal exlusive mode to support the full mqa decoding. This could not work here, I will check if the MQA Decoder in may NAD CS1 works i could use this and as example the EQ in the RME instead the Software eq on windows.

But first of all i will try more if i can adjust the settings to find a better sound in comparison to the normal one. I start with the oratory1990 apo equalizer settig from autoeq.app but is hard to find goot examples of audio to adjust it. I will inform myself more to understand how a good way of finding setting could be