What amp and sound card do you recommend for the AD1000X?

asoksevil said:

  What amp and sound card do you recommend for the AD1000X?

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An amp/dac like the E17 is good enough.

trae said:

   
An amp/dac like the E17 is good enough.

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Thanks for replying so fast!
 
What about the sound card? Not needed at all? How should I plug my cans? The rear jack port or the front one?
 
I'm using a PC so it doesn't have to be portable at all...

asoksevil said:

   
Thanks for replying so fast!
 
What about the sound card? Not needed at all? How should I plug my cans? The rear jack port or the front one?
 
I'm using a PC so it doesn't have to be portable at all...

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Not needed at all, unless you want some of the virtual surround sound stuff that's in some sound cards. 
 
USB->FiiO->Headphone Jack on FiiO. It bypasses the internal sound in the computer. 
 
I use a PC too.
 
The good thing about DAC/Amp combos like the FiiO E17 is that it's pretty much universal with whatever you plug it in to, which is non-existent with a sound card. Although my E17 isn't my main amp, I still use it for my PS3 (Toslink->headphone out), when I'm moving around and using other people's computers for music (use the USB on the FiiO), and as a portable amp (Ipod 5th line out->FiiO aux-in). Very versatile, and is an excellent buy. Since these headphones in their stock form don't need much power (or aren't made to have a lot of power going through them), the FiiO will be more than enough for it. 

gl0ry said:

  You gotta be kidding me...just got my ma900s!
 
These are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.  I will never view headphones the same way after buying these.  I prefer the sound signature over the ad900x.  They're less fatiguing and sound great for all genres.
 
Anyways, just felt like chiming in and thanking you for the suggestion on this badass headphone.

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Huh that's interesting. Any comments on space / soundstage (for another point of reference  )

gl0ry said:

  You gotta be kidding me...just got my ma900s!
 
These are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.  I will never view headphones the same way after buying these.  I prefer the sound signature over the ad900x.  They're less fatiguing and sound great for all genres.
 
Anyways, just felt like chiming in and thanking you for the suggestion on this badass headphone.

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Yay, I'm so glad there's another happy MA900 in our midst. If you have both, a detailed comparison from your perspective would be much appreciated

a_recording said:

   
Yay, I'm so glad there's another happy MA900 in our midst. If you have both, a detailed comparison from your perspective would be much appreciated

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elwappo99 said:

   
Huh that's interesting. Any comments on space / soundstage (for another point of reference 

)

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Well, first and foremost I don't consider myself an audiophile or audio expert so lets get that out of the way
 
The soundstage feels nice and wide.. I feel like with these headphones I have a better sense of where the sound is coming from.  
 
For whatever reason, the sound signature of the AD900x has always fatigued my ears.  If you look at some of my older posts, I had the AD700x at one point too and kind of preferred those over the AD900x.  I opted to stick with the AD900x because of user recommendations and the fact it had better bass response.  The sound is nice and explosive, but after a while I just felt like I wanted to take them off.
 
With the MDR-MA900 I can wear them for as long as I feel like.  The sound is nice and soothing.
 
Ultimately everyone has their own preferences.  I've never been too big on exciting sound, I've always preferred natural and mellow for audio so this seems like a perfect fit.
 
Ultimately the biggest issue I have with any of the headphones I tried before this one was that after some time I'd always have to readjust the headphone for fit because they bothered me.  The Sennheiser PC 360 (aka HD555) was the worst out of all of them.  The clamp force literally gave me jaw pain after a while where I had to take them off, they also warmed my ears up.  The AD900x was a lot better in this regard.  They felt extremely comfortable when I first got them, but after extended hours of use the 3d wings started to slide down my head causing me to readjust them.  
 
The MDR-MA900 so far has been great.  They're light and comfortable.  Little to no clamping force which is a plus for me.  They work well with or without glasses on.  It isn't without fault though.  I find for whatever reason, the frame has caught and snagged my hair out a couple of times.  I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but it's happened on more than one occasion so far.  Depending on how you handle them the headband adjustment can also be a bit temperamental (loose).  The drivers do press up slight against the ear which could take some getting used to, although if you wear them a bit more forward they don't press much.  This ultimately just becomes a build issue because if they used a bit more padding that could have been avoided.  
 
In the long run they're all just minor things that keep the headphones from feeling like premium. Lachlan has already covered most of the issues with the build quality, so I don't want to be too redundant.
 
 
I don't make a lot of videos, but I made one for you guys if you want to watch it.
 

^^ Awesome stuff gl0ry. Glad you found something you enjoyed. Watching your video now
 
Btw, to save you the trouble of a warning, you should embed your videos in your post rather than direct linking to the video.

trae said:

   
Not needed at all, unless you want some of the virtual surround sound stuff that's in some sound cards. 
 
USB->FiiO->Headphone Jack on FiiO. It bypasses the internal sound in the computer. 
 
I use a PC too.
 
The good thing about DAC/Amp combos like the FiiO E17 is that it's pretty much universal with whatever you plug it in to, which is non-existent with a sound card. Although my E17 isn't my main amp, I still use it for my PS3 (Toslink->headphone out), when I'm moving around and using other people's computers for music (use the USB on the FiiO), and as a portable amp (Ipod 5th line out->FiiO aux-in). Very versatile, and is an excellent buy. Since these headphones in their stock form don't need much power (or aren't made to have a lot of power going through them), the FiiO will be more than enough for it. 

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Price doesn't really matter to me as long as there's no "bottleneck". What do I mean by bottleneck? Both amp, cans match with each other.
 
Thanks for the tip!

a_recording said:

  ^^ Awesome stuff gl0ry. Glad you found something you enjoyed. Watching your video now
 
Btw, to save you the trouble of a warning, you should embed your videos in your post rather than direct linking to the video.

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Thanks! I didn't know if head-fi had a youtube embed.  I am not on here a ton unfortunately.  I post on Overclock.net a lot more.

asoksevil said:

   
Price doesn't really matter to me as long as there's no "bottleneck". What do I mean by bottleneck? Both amp, cans match with each other.
 
Thanks for the tip!

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Honestly, the only bottleneck you're going to get with headphones and amps is if the amp doesn't give the headphones enough voltage (power) to drive the headphones through the whole frequency range at a given dB intensity without clipping. 
 
Short rant:
 
There are two main reasons why people would need a powerful amp. The first one is because their headphones aren't sensitive, or they have a high impedance, or they aren't very efficient drivers (or all three). In that case, you would need a powerful amp to bring them to the desired volume level. The second reason is to equalize the lower frequencies to get the bass out. Producing loud sub-bass frequencies takes much more power to make than producing something like 10kHz. In order for that driver to be controlled correctly, you have to throw some juice at it so it won't start clipping and sounding distorted, which are signs that the amp isn't giving the headphones enough power. 
 
With the AD900x and MA900, you will never get a lot of bass out of them in their stock form, even when equalizing. Both headphones are pretty sensitive, have a low impedance, and use the power very efficiently, which makes it pretty much pointless in getting a powerful amp. That's why something like the E17 would be a great match. 

trae said:

  Honestly, the only bottleneck you're going to get with headphones and amps is if the amp doesn't give the headphones enough voltage (power) to drive the headphones through the whole frequency range at a given dB intensity without clipping. 
 
Short rant:
 
There are two main reasons why people would need a powerful amp. The first one is because their headphones aren't sensitive, or they have a high impedance, or they aren't very efficient drivers (or all three). In that case, you would need a powerful amp to bring them to the desired volume level. The second reason is to equalize the lower frequencies to get the bass out. Producing loud sub-bass frequencies takes much more power to make than producing something like 10kHz. In order for that driver to be controlled correctly, you have to throw some juice at it so it won't start clipping and sounding distorted, which are signs that the amp isn't giving the headphones enough power. 
 
With the AD900x and MA900, you will never get a lot of bass out of them in their stock form, even when equalizing. Both headphones are pretty sensitive, have a low impedance, and use the power very efficiently, which makes it pretty much pointless in getting a powerful amp. That's why something like the E17 would be a great match. 

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Just got my E17!
 
I'm plugged my AD-1000X in the headphones jack and from the Mini USB to USB on my computer. Is that the way to get the maximum performance? I've seen some videos about people using coaxial and SPDIF, which one works best? I don't have an SPDIF cable either, should I buy it?
 
I'm still setting it up, what levels of bass and treble do you recommend?

Try putting the treble on -2 or -4. It helps with lowering a peak that's around 4kHz, and the peaks in the 10kHz range. I'm sure the AD1000x will be very similar in the treble area that my AD2000MKIV is, and putting it on -2 on mine sounds good. I know that if you try to up the bass on it, you aren't going to get what you think you're getting. Since those headphones are pretty good at leaking sound, if you even put the bass on 10, you'll probably just hear the bass/the membrane moving around instead of feeling it, like you would if you had a better seal. 
 
As far as the connectivity on the E17, the usb portion will be fine. You will need a toslink cable if you want to receive audio from something like a ps3, some computers, or anything that outputs a toslink digital signal. Also, be careful with the headphone jack on the E17. Try not to get the cables in a situation where it's putting stress on the jack. You may mess it up, like I did with mine (when you wiggle the cable, the channels will start disconnecting/reconnecting). Also, make sure to use the hold switch as much as possible because the screen will burn after leaving it on long enough. That happened to my old E7, and it looks pretty messed up.  
 
Oh, and put the volume on 60, gain on 6dB, and control the volume from your computer. That way, you won't run into any clipping issues that happens when the computer sends too big a signal to the volume-lowered E17. 

trae said:

  Try putting the treble on -2 or -4. It helps with lowering a peak that's around 4kHz, and the peaks in the 10kHz range. I'm sure the AD1000x will be very similar in the treble area that my AD2000MKIV is, and putting it on -2 on mine sounds good. I know that if you try to up the bass on it, you aren't going to get what you think you're getting. Since those headphones are pretty good at leaking sound, if you even put the bass on 10, you'll probably just hear the bass/the membrane moving around instead of feeling it, like you would if you had a better seal. 
 
As far as the connectivity on the E17, the usb portion will be fine. You will need a toslink cable if you want to receive audio from something like a ps3, some computers, or anything that outputs a toslink digital signal. Also, be careful with the headphone jack on the E17. Try not to get the cables in a situation where it's putting stress on the jack. You may mess it up, like I did with mine (when you wiggle the cable, the channels will start disconnecting/reconnecting). Also, make sure to use the hold switch as much as possible because the screen will burn after leaving it on long enough. That happened to my old E7, and it looks pretty messed up.  
 
Oh, and put the volume on 60, gain on 6dB, and control the volume from your computer. That way, you won't run into any clipping issues that happens when the computer sends too big a signal to the volume-lowered E17. 

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Someone in this thread said that the AD1000x were closer to the AD2000 than the AD1000, so I bet it's gotta be what you are saying.
 
At this moment I set it up at -4 treble and +4 bass (+10 is just way too much for me, don't particularly like heavy bass music). I do feel the lack of bass of ATH, definitely different compared to my previous headphones. 
 
Thanks for all your tips, E17 is lying on my desk and no symptoms of forced positions or stressful situations. I try to keep it at hold most of the time since I won't really touch it to change anything.

asoksevil said:

   
Someone in this thread said that the AD1000x were closer to the AD2000 than the AD1000, so I bet it's gotta be what you are saying.
 
At this moment I set it up at -4 treble and +4 bass (+10 is just way too much for me, don't particularly like heavy bass music). I do feel the lack of bass of ATH, definitely different compared to my previous headphones. 
 
Thanks for all your tips, E17 is lying on my desk and no symptoms of forced positions or stressful situations. I try to keep it at hold most of the time since I won't really touch it to change anything.

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Yeah, like you said, I was sure someone said that the ad1000 and the ad2000 sounded similar, since they're based on the same driver design. That, and I had to put my headphones in a position to where they sounded somewhat like a base ad2000 to confirm the e17 treble settings (removing my balanced eq setup, taking out the bass, and mentally downgrading the transparency of the headphones).
 
I'm surprised that the +10 was too much. I guess the thicker earpads on the ad x series makes a difference than the thinner earpads that were originally on my ad900s (before I modified them to the ad2000mkiv). 
 
I'm glad I could help. I think the E17 comes with a screen protector and some rubber feet, if you want to use them (or maybe you're using them right now  ). Have fun!