re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

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i couldn't find it on the fiio website and assumed it was older model, but i completely overlooked the desktop amp section

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No it isn't, the numbering isn't sequential to item/device refresh.

The e10 is the cheapest pure desktop amp/dac on the market. That I know of anyway. You will be able to find cheaper amp/dacs but they might not be as good, look at the specs.

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MaroonDawg / N0Z

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Are you in the market for a DAC?

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I'm probably going with the DT770s and the e7... trying to keep it under ~$250

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Gotcha.

Want the portable solution? All my stuff is purely desktop/studio use because I wear earbuds in public. Like I mentioned earlier I do want a pair of cans for traveling. I love Beyerdynamics so i'll probably pick up the DT 770 32 OHM soon.

EDT:
I was going to recommend a Schiit Audio DAC/AMP stack close to mine. Would run you $198 before shipping, so isn't too far out your budget. Seems like you are going the portable route though.

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The reason I listed the e10 over the e7 was because he stays in a pure desktop environment.

We can probably find him a cheaper and just as capable set of cans, but stayed on the Beyerdynamic theme. Let me find a few more options.

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To clarify, I'm willing to spend up to $250-$300, but bang for buck is of utmost importance, not premium for the sake of premium. I want the right equipment and an extremely compelling reason that particular equipment will enhance audio. I'm just worried/fairly certain that my ears would not even come to close to discerning the difference between $150 and $300 headphones, no matter what kind of amp or sound card it was paired with.

I am leary of the DT770 based on the guide that Blue linked:
"Competitive: 6/10 (Decent. Positional accuracy is among very best, but the bloated bass makes it hard to pick up details, so it hurts it quite a bit.)"

The bass would pretty much mask any ability for my ears to pick up high frequencies, see my edit on the previous page about my partial deafness.

The "competitive" element of that guide seems to be the most applicable to me, which is why I even asked about what would be so bad about the plastic 990s.

According to that guide:

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Comparisons of the 32 vs 250 (Premium and Pro) vs 600 ohm:

The 32ohm is a lot easier to drive in terms of volume, though they scale quite a bit with amping, to the point that I thought they were just shy of the 600ohm. The 32ohm I feel is recommended for those who just want an amazing headphone to pair up with something like the Mixamp and possibly a portable amp.

As for differences between the higher ohm DT990, the 32ohm is slightly less refined, and the soundstage is slightly smaller in stereo mode. It also has a dryness to the sound compared to the 250 ohm Premium. One that wouldn't change my thoughts on it. The 600ohm is slightly better overall to the 32ohm, but to make it better than the 32ohm, you need a pretty good amp to bring out that potential. For most of us, the differences don't justify the hassle. Don't overlook the 32ohm, especially if you're not getting an ideal amp for 600ohm headphones. The 32ohm gets you 95% of the way there, with the benefit of being able to sound very good unamped, and better driven than the 600ohm on all but really good gear. You will still want an amp to bring out their sound quality, like the other Beyers on this guide.

The 250ohm Premium is also just like the 320hm and 600ohm, but it has a darker tone, fuller bass, and less mids than the 32ohm and 600ohm. The differences again, are very negligible, especially if you don't have all 3 to compare. The 250ohm is also more refined than the 32ohm, with a bigger soundstage, and the sound as a whole has more body/weight, but again, the mids aren't as forward as the 32ohm or 600ohm. The difference yet again, are slight. The 250ohm is harder to drive than the 32ohm in terms of VOLUME, and only on certain sources will a portable amp be enough. To be safe, you'll want a desktop amp for the 250ohm.

The Pro 250ohm model sounds just like the Premium 250ohm model, but it has a bit more clamp so the bass is raised slightly, and soundstage is slightly lessened, (though still very similar to the Premium 250ohm, and still bigger than the 32ohm DT990). Because the Pro model is the cheapest, if you're looking to save some money and don't mind the retro look and stronger clamp, the DT990 Pro 250ohm gets you 99.9% the same sound as the Premium 250ohm.

The 600ohm is the most refined, and shares more in common with the 32ohm than the 250ohm, but just barely. The bass is tighter with very slightly less impact than the 250ohm. Like the 32ohm, the mids are ever so slightly more forward than the 250ohm. The soundstage is like the 250ohm, which is to say, slightly larger than the 32ohm. The 600ohm deserves some real good amping to make it worthwhile over the 32/250ohm variants. If you don't plan on getting something in the realm of $250+ for a bonafied desktop amp, get the 250ohm instead, though recent comparisons using the E09K have shown me that the 600ohm is still the better can (literally by a micro hair).

Now, when using a Dolby Headphone device (also using an amp to help drive the Beyers), I found them all to sound almost too similar. virtual surround positioning, soundstage, and tone where all incredibly similar. Made the differences even harder to discern than when listening to music, etc, without the Mixamp.

Because they're all so similar, I won't be giving them different scores. They're all within a hair of each other for fun, competitive, and obviously comfort.


Fun: 9/10 (Stellar)

Competitive: 8/10 (Great)

Comfort: 8.5/10 (8/10 for the 990 Pros due to stronger clamp)

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I was also intrigued by these: LINK

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Fun: 7/10 (Pretty Good. More warmth, fullness, and bass than the OLD K701. Still slightly lacking a little in bass most of the time, but engaging in other areas.)

Competitive: 9.5/10 (Amazing. The Q701 is basically about 98% as good as the K701 for competitive use. The reason it gets a lower score is because it's not as competitive oriented as the K701, though ultimately, I would suggest the Q701 anyways, as it's more enjoyable all around and still god-mode inducing.)

Comfort: 7/10 (Good, The bumps may be an issue for some people, though I say they have to let their heads adjust to the feeling.)

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. I'm just worried/fairly certain that my ears would not even come to close to discerning the difference between $150 and $300 headphones, no matter what kind of amp or sound card it was paired with.

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I believe that price range offers headsets which sound roughly the same to me. My Audio Technicas and Beyerdynamics you barely can tell the difference between if it wasn't for the bass of the ATs.

An average DAC/AMP like I listed will no doubt improve the quality of your audio by cleaning up the noise. You don't even realize the noise is there until you have the hardware to clean it up. Just cleaning up your signal should help you out at the very less.

Honestly, I find the bass to be perfect on my 770s.

I would have bought the k701 if I didn't buy the 770s

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Honestly, I find the bass to be perfect on my 770s.

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Do you like bass, though? I don't.

I created a thread but got not real action. Would someone help me build an inexpensive htpc?

Budget < $500

I want to hook it up to my TV (currently hooking up my laptop through hdmi) so that I can watch Watchespn and other things from the internet. I have a smart tv, but it is a 2010 model and doesn't have some of the newer apps. It needs to have wifi until I can run network cable to hard wire it.

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To clarify, I'm willing to spend up to $250-$300, but bang for buck is of utmost importance, not premium for the sake of premium. I want the right equipment and an extremely compelling reason that particular equipment will enhance audio. I'm just worried/fairly certain that my ears would not even come to close to discerning the difference between $150 and $300 headphones, no matter what kind of amp or sound card it was paired with.

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your budget is $300 for just the headphones or including an amp and DAC ?

THere are many $300 headphones that are superior to $150 headphones, but most of the time it comes down to taste.

Headphones are like different flavors. You just have to find the one that suits you.

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I created a thread but got not real action. Would someone help me build an inexpensive htpc?

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So straight video with no game play?

Do you need storage to store video or will this be straightly a streaming device?