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Which USB Dac or AMP for my PC 350's with xtrememusic

post #1 of 9
2/6/10 at 4:12pm
Thread Starter 
I've just purcharsed some Sennheiser PC-350's and am looking to get a relatively inexpensive headphone amp to drive them with.

As of now they are running through my desktops x-fi xtrememusic and while it doesn't sound bad, I have to almost max the volume out on everything whenever I went to listen to anything at decently loud levels. Also, when the levels get that loud, it feels like the soundcard is straining.

Basically, in order to get the levels of loudness I like, the audio starts to get mildy distorted. Based on my experience with my bass amp and my car system, I can tell that the weak link is the source, not the driver.

I'm on a pretty tight budget ($100-$200), and am considering either a nuforce icon uDac or a Little Dot I+. I'm considering the Little Dot I because I just love the tube sound. My bass amp is a tube amp and I also have a tube/hybrid amp for my car.

I know that the uDAC will bypass the sound card entirely, but I'm not sure if that's even necessary. All I really need is more clean power.

Any advice?!
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post #2 of 9
2/6/10 at 6:44pm
Did you mod the PC350s yet?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/mod...eadset-406187/

Be sure to check out the suggestions on the last page about drilling to the side instead of straight out of the back.

Makes a world of difference.

I tried my modded PC350s out of my uDac, and was pretty happy with the result - although it's annoying to then get the mic plugged in. I can't speak personally of the Little Dot I+, but I imagine you'll get more drive out of the LD than the uDac, but you don't get the benefit of the excellent DAC in the nuForce.

If you're happy with the x-Fi sound signature, and you are gaming and taking advantage of CMSS3D or EAX, I'd suggest going with the LD I+.
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post #3 of 9
2/6/10 at 6:54pm
Have you looked at the Maverick D1? That's my next purchase :P For $200 I don't think you can go wrong with that dac/amp. Hell, it even has a tube preamp.
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post #4 of 9
2/6/10 at 7:23pm
Thread Starter 
I haven't checked out the Maverick D1, I'll make sure to take a look at it.

Yes, I did do the "Hero Mod", and drilled 3 - 1/16" holes on the side. Noticed a very nice difference!

I don't really do much gaming, I use this headset mostly for VOIP phone calls (I work from home), and it was getting annoying switching out the voip headset for my hard-phone with my pc headphones whenever someone would call.

I decided to drop the dedicated hard phone (polycom ip650), use a softphone and use one headset for both VOIP and music.

I'm using CMSS3D right now mainly because it brings a better sound to me than without it on, however, I usually try to stay away from any DSP type equalization.
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post #5 of 9
2/6/10 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mysteek View Post
Have you looked at the Maverick D1? That's my next purchase :P For $200 I don't think you can go wrong with that dac/amp. Hell, it even has a tube preamp.
Do you know if that tube preamp is used at all when using the device as a DAC/Headphone amp?
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post #6 of 9
2/7/10 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
One other question...

Between the Little Dot I+ and the MKII, which would be a better match for my 350's....

...Also, Im thinking about getting some 600/650's in a few months, so I plan to use the same DAC/AMP with those as well.
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post #7 of 9
2/8/10 at 1:43pm
Thread Starter 
Just to update this thread.

I've ended up purchasing a DAC-EXTASY as I could get one at a pretty affordable price. One thing I noticed is that it doesn't have a built-in volume knob, but that shouldn't matter too much since I've decided to get a dedicated headphone amp as well.
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post #8 of 9
2/8/10 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pacmantravis View Post
Just to update this thread.

I've ended up purchasing a DAC-EXTASY as I could get one at a pretty affordable price. One thing I noticed is that it doesn't have a built-in volume knob, but that shouldn't matter too much since I've decided to get a dedicated headphone amp as well.
Generally, volume knob = amp. (Well, in the case of speakers, preamp, but that's another world.) A dedicated DAC will usually lack a volume knob, and a DAC/Amp combination will have one.
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post #9 of 9
2/8/10 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pacmantravis View Post
Do you know if that tube preamp is used at all when using the device as a DAC/Headphone amp?
No it isn't used when using the device as a DAC/Headphone amp unfortunately

I havent heard the DAC-EXTASY before but it looks nice!
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