Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 563

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Originally Posted by ac3320 

That's the only place I could find for the 1/8 thingy :/ I think it IS just an assumption, but that's okay. Some things in life are more empirical than objectively based.

OT:  You are in SoCal, whereabouts?  I am in Diamond Bar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amandarae 

OT:  You are in SoCal, whereabouts?  I am in Diamond Bar.

Yeah I'm in the IE too :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac3320 

Yeah I'm in the IE too :)

Cool!

The 650's are terrific with the Decware CSP2+.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agaranda 

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzy1969 

The Objective 2 was designed with low output impedance i think its something like .5 ohms.

[/quote
Anybody have tried S3+ O2+HD650?
S3 DLJ4+Siyah1.7rc1

I sometimes use the J3 with the O2 and the HD650 's and I quite like it, but my experience with amps is fairly limited due to the lack of places to audition stuff where I am.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avengernoonzz 

Thanks a lot guys. Also I was referring to this.
So if I have a Toslink connection which I do. Does that eliminate me from having to get a Bifrost or? I'm just slightly confused by "Then you wouldn't need either".

If you have Toslink, then you can go straight to the stock Bifrost (or any DAC) without a USB module.  Toslink carries digital audio signal, as does Coax.  DACs like Bifrost convert that digital signal to standard analog audio to pump into an amp. Soundcards can either output digital audio or also contain a DAC to convert to analog.....though a soundcard by nature is in a noisy environment, so typically the analog output is questionable.  But there are certainly plenty of pro audio soundcards meant for recording/production that are highly respectable.

For consumer level, I'd say using a soundcard for the S/PDIF (Toslink/Coax) output to an external DAC is the best route.  USB can be kind of...nasty.  Folks with laptops don't get that option most of the time, thus USB exists.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzy1969 

I think the Bifrost has optical input as standard the USB option is a extra . I havn't seen one to confirm this but someone on here should confirm this as its a popular DAC for the HD650's.

Correct.  Toslink (optical) and digital coax inputs are standard.  USB is an extra $100 module that Schiit gladly tells everyone is inferior to the stock digital inputs by nature.  If you need USB (laptop) get the USB add-on.  If you can get S/PDIF (coax or optical) out of the sound card, just get the stock Bifrost. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agaranda 

Anybody tried HD650 with ODAC+O2?
S3 DLJ4+Siyah1.7rc1 Earsonics SM3

Its problematic unless you don't use high gain. If you use high gain, the O2 can have bass distortion w/ the ODAC. I contacted JDS Labs. They said the designer knows about this and they said that it can be solved by getting a higher powered wall wart. You don't experience this if you listen with low gain. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

Very true. I'm sure it's a very good soundcard, but it's still a soundcard. Not only that, but the STX is like 2.5 times the cost of the USB add-on for the Bifrost, so the USB option would be much cheaper in the long run. Are you sure your computer doesn't have an optical Toslink output? Then you wouldn't need either.
The only reason to consider an STX would be if you are a gamer or watch a lot of movies and the virtual 7.1 surround appeals to you. But I'm not sure of the best way to take advantage of that, especially with headphones.

The USB would carry the same interference as the soundcard (maybe not as much but it sill exists) as far as I know, since they're both electrically connected to the computer, so the electrical noise is still transferred. Optical and coax though I believe are purely 100% digital. Optical/toslink uses light so that's a total separation, and I'm honestly not sure about coax. I was told by MorbidToaster a while age to use coax instead of optical because the whole light thing was still flawed. Anything to add, Morbid?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtaylor991 

The USB would carry the same interference as the soundcard (maybe not as much but it sill exists) as far as I know, since they're both electrically connected to the computer, so the electrical noise is still transferred. Optical and coax though I believe are purely 100% digital. Optical/toslink uses light so that's a total separation, and I'm honestly not sure about coax. I was told by MorbidToaster a while age to use coax instead of optical because the whole light thing was still flawed. Anything to add, Morbid?

Noise should'nt be a issue to usb its a digital 0=0 5v=1 binary data stream, the main problem with usb is timing/jitter its also a problem for cheap onboard optical outputs which has to be corrected at the DAC end. Theirs a lot of electromagnetic RF/noise flying about in a PC the other problem is all the components share the same power supply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

Very true. I'm sure it's a very good soundcard, but it's still a soundcard. Not only that, but the STX is like 2.5 times the cost of the USB add-on for the Bifrost, so the USB option would be much cheaper in the long run. Are you sure your computer doesn't have an optical Toslink output? Then you wouldn't need either.
The only reason to consider an STX would be if you are a gamer or watch a lot of movies and the virtual 7.1 surround appeals to you. But I'm not sure of the best way to take advantage of that, especially with headphones.

I already own the STX. The BiFrost is a DAC and the Valhalla an Amp right? 

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Originally Posted by networkn 

I already own the STX. The BiFrost is a DAC and the Valhalla an Amp right? 

Bifrost is the DAC & Valhalla is the AMP, your correct. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtaylor991 


That electronic interference still comes over too. It's also just a binary stream for the soundcard so it too wouldn't be affected by electrical noise by your logic. It's not about the 0s and 1s changing (I don't think that's physically possible from just electrical noise) but the interference creates unwanted noise in the audio.

If the EMI is strong enough, it can spoil the 0's and 1's (which are little more than voltage levels.) If so, it interferes with all USB communication through that port and possibly every other port. If not, the EMI shouldn't affect the output of a well-designed DAC at the other end. (It's may still be possible but it's an extreme case.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtaylor991 

USB still has an electrical connection between the computer and the DAC while pure digital doesn't. USB has that wire that carries electricity too so it's not 100% digital.

 

Instead of "pure digital", don't you mean "optical"? A good optical interface provides electrical isolation. Plus, technically, all data transfer, optical or electrical, is analog at its root. What we call "digital" is an interpretation -- those 0's and 1's -- of the analog signal.