Thinking about buying new headphones, what kind of setup should i run ?

[madDog]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum, and also don't know that much about hifi in general. First thing i would like to ask is, if it's better to go with a combo unit, or buy an amp and dac seperately ? I know for convience sake it's easier to just have one unit and also cleaner looking. I was thinking about buying the dt880 600 ohm headphones, they get recommended alot over in the Zeos discord... A good choice for both music and gaming, and also pretty cheap and very good for the price (around 170€). Seems to be very good in the seperation and imaging department, at least that's what people say. I do play a lot of fps games, so that's why this is important for me.
If anyone can recommend a better alternative for me, for around the same amount of money, i would gladly look into it. I

What i don't know is, what amp/dac combo would be good for running 600 ohm headphones. ? I read a glowing review on topping dx3 pro, but later found out about all the issues with 'clicking', so i dont know about that. I also read about jds labs atom, but i don't know what to pair that with. Maybe jds ol dac ? I do know that i don't want to spend more then 250 eur on an amp+dac combined.

I know the boss here doesn't like to recommend stuff, but still, i atleast have to know if i'm looking in the right direction

 

[flipflop]

Any reason you want the 600 ohm DT 880? The more sensitive 32 and 250 ohms versions are usually cheaper.

 

[madDog]

It's actually cheaper then the 250ohm version for me and i hear also slightly better in some regards, so i don't see why not.

 

[flipflop]

With the 32 ohms version, you wouldn't need to spend extra money on an external amp.

 

[madDog]

Yeah i agree with that, but if i were to buy something different in the future, that was also power hungry, i would need to buy an amp anway. So i'm just arming myself for what might come.

 

[flipflop]

Fair enough.
Both JDS Labs Atom and Monoprice Liquid Spark seem to be unavailable in Europe. You might have to go with an outdated amp like the O2 if you don't want to spend a lot of money on shipping + duties.

 

[madDog]

Well atom+ol dac would cost me around 240$ with shipping to eu + add tax, so around 237eur.. I think that is still a good deal. Unless there is something better out there, that i don't know about, and also cheaper...

 

[madDog]

any other alternatives guys ?

 

[solderdude]

* whispers * modi3 and magni3

You must be lucky when drawing the build quality card though.
The Magni3 works well with high impedance headphones... a little less on low impedance headphones.
Also no protection when the output stage fails... DC coupled... it only has slow-on/quick-off muting.

 

[madDog]

* whispers * modi3 and magni3

You must be lucky when drawing the build quality card though.
The Magni3 works well with high impedance headphones... a little less on low impedance headphones.
Also no protection when the output stage fails... DC coupled... it only has slow-on/quick-off muting.

Modi and magni are out of stock also for eu. Unless you know another place that sells them.

 

[flipflop]

I would go with whatever is cheapest between Atom + OL DAC and Atom + Topping D10.

 

[madDog]

The cheapest solution would probably be to just go with dx3 pro, as far as i can see, but i'm worried about those clicking issues. Does somone know if those have been resolved already ? Hope someone else sees this thread and provides some alternative solutions. God sometimes i wish i lived in the USA, so i could at least get stuff like this for a normal price...

 

[flipflop]

The newest firmware fixes constant clicking. Now it just clicks whenever the sample rate changes and that can never be fixed.
If you want to go the combo unit route, I'll recommend FiiO E10K or the O2 + SDAC combo from Massdrop.

 

[madDog]

Hey what about the monoprice headphone amplifier ? Heard that could drive my 600 ohm dt880's just fine. Its also about 90eur for me, and it ships from germany, so no additional expanses.

 

[flipflop]

It's a good deal for €90. Where did you find it that cheap?

 

[madDog]

Hopefully we are thinkking about the same amp ? This would be a good way to go right ?
https://www.amazon.de/Monoprice-111...&pf_rd_p=aad00ea1-ab8c-5ed8-85d5-d0fa37fbf544

 

[flipflop]

I'm afraid not. This is the amp I had in mind: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...of-monoprice-liquid-spark-headphone-amp.5224/

 

[madDog]

I thought you were gonna say that. What you linked is only an amp right, you would still need a seperate dac ? What about what i linked ? Do you think it would be good enough to power 600ohm headphones sufficiently ? Someone recommended it in the Zeos discord. I'm very limited here in eu by what i can get, its either not in stock, doesnt even ship here, or if does you get hit by tax+duties which is not nice at all....

 

[flipflop]

What you linked is only an amp right, you would still need a seperate dac ?

Right.

What about what i linked ? Do you think it would be good enough to power 600ohm headphones sufficiently ?

I can't tell without measurements and I can't recommend a product without a documented performance.

 

[madDog]

Hey guys, what if i wanted something that can also power my speakers at the same time ? Zeos really recommends the topping mx3 as the all in one solution and i also wanted to get an opinion in here. Lets say i instead go for the 250ohm version of dt880's and pair them up with something like mackie mr624's. Is the mx3 powerfull enough to drive both the headphones and the speakers sufficiently and also produce good sound ?