Well worth it, IMO. I only use the remote with mine; I'd say there are no settings that can't be accessed without it. Also, it's a top notch remote; it controls the motorized volume pot very well.

Funny, that's the exact unit I bought for my son on his birthday two years ago. It's well built and he's had no issues with it. Should be a good fit.

I would look at the DX3 PRO+ instead of the DX3 PRO. It should give around 800mw which is more than enough in my experience and several times more than your current amp can deliver. My 2C sounds great from my Pathos Aurium which, ironically, is providing around 800mw based on the manufacturer...

The 2C can take up to 5W RMS according to the Audeze specs.

With the recommended power level at >250mW, you shouldn't have to spend too much to get an upgrade. If you're listening from the 6.3mm SE out, it looks like you're getting at least 100mW (which is at or above the minimum power requirement). If you're happy with the DAC section of the unit, you...

My headband was starting to 'flake away' so I went with the Dekoni 'Choice Suede Replacement Headband for Beyerdynamic Headphones'. It fits nicely over the stock headband and has a plush feel to it.

The best pairing for me is with my Pathos Aurium (with Sbooster power supply). Sounds much better than my Aune X7S (balanced) and my Marantz HD-DAC1 (single-ended).

Low gain all the way; specs for that amp say 6W RMS per channel @32 Ohms for the single-ended out.

Same here, the clicking is happening inside the unit when it locks into a new signal (USB only). I should also say that this has never been an issue for me and I've had the unit for several years.

Around one year in with my Atticus. Loving it with a Norne Drausk Lite cable and the Pathos Aurium headphone amp with SBooster power supply (surprisingly big upgrade).

I own a Nighthawk and it sounds best to me on my AUNE X7s with a balanced cable (this amp has high output impedance but still plays well with the NH). A good but affordable desktop combo, IMO, would be the AUNE X8 Magic DAC plus the AUNE X7s Amp. I own the upgraded XP3 power supply for X7s as well.

I like the looks of the Cayin iDAC-6MK2 (https://en.cayin.cn/products_info?itemid=121). It's very hard to find a DAC at this price point that supports features like I²S and AES/EBU inputs. Would be a great DAC to build a desktop system around, IMO.

Which SMSL amp are you considering?

Just passed the one year mark with my 2C's and I have nothing but good things to say about them. IMO, no need for EQ as I'm not sure what I'd be trying to fix.

Also remember that an under-powered headphone tends to sound bright, thin and lacking in bass. So any planar connected straight to a Macbook cannot be expected to sound very good.

I suspect that problem is that you're running the Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain. Given that it puts out more than enough power for the 2C (power stated as 1.25 W into 30 Ohms), I see no reason to use anything other than low gain (lower gain = lower signal to noise ratio, lower distortion). For...

I'm sorry to hear that you're not enjoying your 2C's so far. I've had mine for a year and they've been great; no top-end glare or sibilance at all...A very smooth listen to me from my Marantz HD-DAC1. What sources are connected to your Benchmark DAC3? And are you listening on low gain?

Nice looking cable. I'm considering one of these for my Audexe LCD2C. What's the upcharge to go to 16-core? And is that splitter a custom option? I don't see either of these options on their web site.

For comparison here's the HD-DAC1 gain setting's that I prefer: AQ Nighthawk (Low) LCD 2 Classic (Low) HE-400i (Medium) DT 990 Pro 250 ohm (Medium) The HE-400i is way more power hungry than some people think due to the low sensitivity. Volume needs to be cranked on low gain, IMO.

It's very possible that the TV could limit bit depth and sample rate of the output based on its supported formats. When connected to my Panasonic TV over HDMI, Windows shows the highest supported format as 16 bit 48 kHz. But you'll likely have to connect to your panel to find this out...it's...

Another option would be to go with an HDMI Audio Extractor that outputs to Optical. Something like https://www.kanexpro.com/item/?id=HAECOAX3 would fit the bill. I have an earlier version of this Audio Extractor and it works great. I run HDMI from my PC to the Extractor and run the Optical out...

Sorry, I tested USB versus Optical on my unit and now I see what you mean. On USB, it clicks every time play stops and restarts but, on Optical, it only clicks when it locks in on a different sample rate.

Not sure how this would help. The unit clicks whenever it locks into a new signal, regardless of the input type. Also keep in mind that this DAC is optimized for USB through the use of the Marantz ASIO driver. All this said, the clicking is a complete non-issue for me.

Arctic Cables AC Neotech (http://arcticcables.com/Catalog.asp?Page=NewShowProd.asp&PRodID=1457493). A great sounding cable that's super lightweight and has zero microphonics. I own Nighthawks and only use a balanced AC Neotech cable with them.

I'm running an Aune X7S from the variable out on my HD-DAC1 and absolutely love it (variable out so that I can still use the remote). I picked up the X7S from MassDrop for 180 USD to run some of my headphones with balanced cables. Like the HD-DAC1, the X7S has a warm sound signature and...