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Desktop amp for my comp

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 

Hello,

 

I am still a bit of a noob to all of this. I am not looking for "the holy grail" response to my situation, I am just looking for a few suggestions to point me in the right direction.

 

First off, my current headphones are HFI-780's and AD-700's. I am thinking about upgrading in the future... 600ohm phones aren't out of the question. At this point I am really not sure.

 

My amp/DAC is an ibasso D-10 via optical from my motherboard (gigabyte ud-5).

 

My main gripes with my current set up are the following...

 

1) The amp provides pretty good volume on most recordings, but on older recordings it falls a bit short while trying to crank it up.

 

2) I like the ultrasones sound signature overall, though with owning a pair of ad-700's I can see what they lack as far as soundstage is concerned and I would like to improve upon that.

 

3) The AD-700's have a huge soundstage, but with my set-up suffer from dynamic compression severely and sound very weak in their ability to produce bass.

 

I know I have a multitude of "things" goin on that are probably makin a few of you cringe. The biggest thing I want to improve upon is the amp's lack of volume with the HFI's. Widening their soundstage would be nice, but I think it might take more than an amp to do that... it might take a new pair of phones.

 

Flexibility to sound well with a multitude of phones and ample room on the volume knob for power hungry phones is a must.

 

amp+DAC (optical or USB)

 

$1000 budget.

 

Thanks.

 

post #2 of 5

Strange, the iBasso D-10 has some decent parts.

 

Set the windows volume to 100% everywhere.  There is a gain switch on the D10, set it to high if you don't think it's too low, but make sure windows volume is always 100%.

 

With a budget like that, you can certainly improve things.  I generally recommend older DACs, at around $500 you can grab a great one, for the amp, look at used DIY.


Edited by FallenAngel - 8/19/10 at 9:10pm
post #3 of 5
Thread Starter 

I was thinking for an amp maybe a WA6, but I dunno. The idea of swapping tubes to create synergy makes more sense to me than blowing a stack of cash on something which only sounds good with one pair of phones.

 

I like the d10 overall, though it does restrict what I can get in the future. That is coupled with the ability to drive the hfi-780's. They barely drive them enough on older recordings. I checked and double checked my settings, all are at max.

 

If i go with a 600ohm pair of beyer's (like i have been thinkin about) my d10 will not cut it.

 

basically, I do not want an amp dictating what I can and can not use with it and sound decent.

 

dunno if that's completely possible though.

post #4 of 5

I'm having quite a difficult time believing that the D10 does not have enough gain for something as easy to drive as the HFI-780.  10db Gain is 3.2x, it should be enough for HFI-780.  I guess it's on the low side for harder to drive amps.

 

I also highly recommend spending a lot more on a DAC than on the amp and advise not to fall into the popular "tubes are magical" approach to amps.

post #5 of 5
Thread Starter 

On around 75% of the recordings I listen to they suffice, but on some stuff, like late 80's metal, the recordings are at a lower level and require more of a boost from the amp. On those, it is barely "adequate" for myself when I feel the need to turn up the volume. For most, the volume probably would be enough, I tend to listen to stuff louder than what I should though.

 

I don't love tubes, tbh I have no experience with them. I am fond of the flexibility to swap tubes to help cater to my taste and act as a crutch (in some cases) for my phones.

 

 

 

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