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Denon D2000 + Xonar Essence STX + FiiO E9 Best settings for dubstep.

post #1 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 

Hi there Community!

 

I am relatively new to the audiophile scene, but after doing some research I decided to start out with the Denon D2000's. They came in today and so far I am immensely impressed by the upgrade in quality they are from my Sennheiser PC 360's. I already have an Asus Xonar Essence STX in my computer. Tomorrow I will be getting in my FiiO E9 Amp. I just need a few tips on how I can get my basshead on to the fullest. Any tips on settings within the xonar would be helpful. I know that I have read that changing to 44.1 and leaving everything else stock exceot fir HF is supposed to be the best. However, when I activate the PCM, Dolby Headphone, 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter settings, the bass almost gave me an eargasm.  I know this might diminish sound quality for listening to some types of music, but what is gonna pump bass the best?

 

Thank you in advance, that is all!

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post #2 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:03pm

Wait, why are you getting an E9? It has basically the same amp section as the Essence STX, might even perform worse.

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post #3 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:06pm
Thread Starter 

Was gonna eventually swap to an external DAC, You think I should just hold off on the E9? I read countless threads stating that the Denon needed more amp than the STX could offer. 

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post #4 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:10pm

Who told you that? I need to give them a good smack. The D2000 is one of the most efficient full-sized headphones I know of, probably second only to the D7000 which is 2 dB louder.

 

Besides, the STX has the same voltage output as the E9, and that voltage output is enough to drive any headphone, even the Hifiman HE-6.

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post #5 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 

OK, then my question is what settings should I set in the STX to maximize the bass without losing too much quality. I have the 12db gain on atm, is that ok?

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post #6 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:17pm

Get better bass out of your songs, not your EQ.  In my experience, the Denons' bass didn't improve too much with EQ-- both hardware and software.  The bass got louder, but didn't offer much more impact.  Dolby headphone is going to severely impact your quality.

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post #7 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:19pm

Use the Low gain setting, you may improve the distortion. All it does is make things louder, and you shouldn't need that if you're taking care of your ears.

 

Set the audio to 2 Channel, Headphone output, 44.1 sampling rate, HF mode on, and adjust your bass using an equalizer in your audio player (you should EQ everything but the bass down, rather than the bass up). You can change these settings around when playing games or watching movies, just match the number of channels and the sampling rate to whatever you're playing, and enable Dolby Headphone. I avoid Virtual Speaker Shifter.

 

And if you ever do get an external DAC (the card's DAC is top-of-the-line though) get an amp with a low output impedance (preferably < 1 or 2 ohms). That might improve your sub-bass.

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post #8 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, so leave it as stock settings, what about the gain?

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post #9 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:28pm
Thread Starter 

Great input so far! Any other suggestions would definitely be welcome!

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post #10 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:42pm
The HE6 out off a soundcard? Lol. Insanity. The HE4 is easier to drive than the HE6 and the improvement going from the E9 to the Lyr (which gave it the juice it needed to power it's best) was pretty damn noticeable. Now I'm all for being skeptical about amping easy to drive headphones in general, but yeah, I'm not listening to this guy about the STX driving the HE6 anywhere near it's potential.
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post #11 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 

Perhaps not the HE6 but how well does it drive the Denon 2K's? Stay on topic with me here.

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post #12 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:48pm
I owned the D7000, and that thing could be driven well out of a static shock. I have no doubt you'll be able to enjoy the D2000 out off anything you connect it to.
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post #13 of 19
12/14/11 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy View Post

The HE6 out off a soundcard? Lol. Insanity. The HE4 is easier to drive than the HE6 and the improvement going from the E9 to the Lyr (which gave it the juice it needed to power it's best) was pretty damn noticeable. Now I'm all for being skeptical about amping easy to drive headphones in general, but yeah, I'm not listening to this guy about the STX driving the HE6 anywhere near it's potential.


I'll bite. Why wouldn't it drive the HE-6 anywhere near its full potential?

 

If Chris would rather not have his thread derailed, I'll take it to PMs.

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post #14 of 19
12/15/11 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, so I have conflicting information here. E9 or no E9?

 

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post #15 of 19
12/15/11 at 5:26pm

No E9. At best, it would be like running the STX's line out to another STX.

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