[matrix1420]

Hello Community,
Currently im using a "Gaming" Headset HyperX Cloud Alpha on my Computer with the Mainboard ROG MAXIMUS XI GENE with the SupremeFX S1220A CODEC and im searching for a Upgrade to my Setup.
Im very Interessted in the DT 990 Black Special Edition 250 Ohm Headphones and i have no Idea which DAC/AMP i should get to get the best result.

What im Expecting :

Better Sound Quality for Music/Movies compare to the HyperX Cloud Alpha
Get the same Quality ( Or better ) for FPS Shooter Gaming ( for example to hear the Footsteps good enogh )
************

i read alot of comments about the FiiO E10K Olympus 2 and the fiio k3 but after reading all the comments on different Sites i just got more confused.

People saying the both Fiio DAC´s are great/best choice for the price range ....working good with the 250 ohm Beyerdynamic ...the bass boost option is very nice.

But other People saying they are not Powerfull enough and the Beyerdynamics sounds to quietly.
my budget for the DAC/AMP is 150€

Would be very grateful for any kind of help

PS : Sorry for my English Skills ;(

 

[ProtegeManiac]

i read alot of comments about the FiiO E10K Olympus 2 and the fiio k3 but after reading all the comments on different Sites i just got more confused.

People saying the both Fiio DAC´s are great/best choice for the price range ....working good with the 250 ohm Beyerdynamic ...the bass boost option is very nice.

But other People saying they are not Powerfull enough and the Beyerdynamics sounds to quietly.
my budget for the DAC/AMP is 150€

Would be very grateful for any kind of help

PS : Sorry for my English Skills ;(

E10K and K3 are powered by USB and as such the output on these kinds of DAC-HPamps tend to really trail off more severely than most other decent amps powered from the wall or even by a higher voltage battery.

As for those who think it sounds fine...it can sound fine if they don't crank it up and have no ambient noise to deal with, and probably using bass boost to compensate for the low end, making that range audible at lower output levels without the midrange and treble getting louder with it.

But if you're willing to intentionally change the signal going into the headphone then why use an imprecise analogue circuit with only two options (enable or disable) instead of a more precise equalizer? Bass boost options can be too wide and too much, and can result in imprecise bass. Just that for most if you're starting off with a headphone with relatively sharp top end boosting all the lows keeps you from cranking it up and boosting the boosted treble. But then back to software EQ - you can boost the low end a little bit (and not risk clipping or bad, unintentional distortion) while also trimming the treble spike/s.

What im Expecting :

Better Sound Quality for Music/Movies compare to the HyperX Cloud Alpha
Get the same Quality ( Or better ) for FPS Shooter Gaming ( for example to hear the Footsteps good enogh )

You lose any gaming-related audio processing your motherboard has on its audio circuit if you go with the USB-powered DAC-HPamp, except for:

1. If the DSP isn't a separate hardware chip but just licensed software that runs with that motherboard off the CPU...then maybe it still works

2. Using only the audio options in the game itself, like how CS:GO doesn't need virtual surround since it has native headphone audio.

Regarding DSPs though...most people claim footsteps are either overdone or don't improve anything, and I'm not even sure at this point where Asus' Scout Mode or whatever it is they have falls, because people just hate these. The thing is the reason why it sounds like one of either is because DSP programmers choose to do one of two things:

a. Maintain realism, which means that a bunch of guys running around a building with wood or metal floors (much less on concrete outside or on the dock floor) will NOT sound any louder than gunfire in real life. Go into a gun range, have one friend fire guns on the range and have the other stomp around in another room, and you'll see what I mean. The game itself will need to be something like 3D FPS Ninja Gaiden vs "a bunch of dudes that are in no way Ninjas all wearing boots and lots of ammo" for footsteps to be easily audible. You don't even just have their guns, there's your gun right up against your game avatar's face, which means it will be loud enough so you can realistically shoot and hear a 100dB++ gun report near your head so as not to hear a not Ninja coming from behind you.

b. Screw realism, in which case it makes it all sound like Jurassic Park with the water glasses and all that.

Another thing to note is what your expectations are. These DSP tricks just help a pro player squeeze out every advantage. It won't catapult an average player near the $1,000,000 championship. When the pros say it helps, it's pros vs pros needing every advantage in such a way that if only one had it, he increases his likelihood of winning, and the best way to look at it is "not have a lower chance of winning." It's not going to put the average joe at the same level of the pros on its own.

It's like how the most minute setting you dial in on a Formula 1 car after Friday practice and Saturday qualifier, assuming the weather stays the same on race day, can impact whether McLaren or Ferrari or whoever takes pole position. It doesn't miraculously put 15yrs ago Petronas at #5 unless the BMW and Honda drivers messed up.

Currently im using a "Gaming" Headset HyperX Cloud Alpha on my Computer with the Mainboard ROG MAXIMUS XI GENE with the SupremeFX S1220A CODEC and im searching for a Upgrade to my Setup.
Im very Interessted in the DT 990 Black Special Edition 250 Ohm Headphones and i have no Idea which DAC/AMP i should get to get the best result.

On top of the DSP, not relying on 5V USB can mean higher power output on the motherboard, with less drastic drop off from 32ohm to 250ohm load output.

On top of which you can use either the EQ on the motherboard's on-board audio suite instead of hardware bass boost.

Really the only advantage of the E10K and K3 is guaranteed low output impedance and you don't need a desktop computer (ie you can use it on a laptop). The K3 has higher output at balanced drive, but still, not that much more.

 

[matrix1420]

E10K and K3 are powered by USB and as such the output on these kinds of DAC-HPamps tend to really trail off more severely than most other decent amps powered from the wall or even by a higher voltage battery.

As for those who think it sounds fine...it can sound fine if they don't crank it up and have no ambient noise to deal with, and probably using bass boost to compensate for the low end, making that range audible at lower output levels without the midrange and treble getting louder with it.

But if you're willing to intentionally change the signal going into the headphone then why use an imprecise analogue circuit with only two options (enable or disable) instead of a more precise equalizer? Bass boost options can be too wide and too much, and can result in imprecise bass. Just that for most if you're starting off with a headphone with relatively sharp top end boosting all the lows keeps you from cranking it up and boosting the boosted treble. But then back to software EQ - you can boost the low end a little bit (and not risk clipping or bad, unintentional distortion) while also trimming the treble spike/s.





You lose any gaming-related audio processing your motherboard has on its audio circuit if you go with the USB-powered DAC-HPamp, except for:

1. If the DSP isn't a separate hardware chip but just licensed software that runs with that motherboard off the CPU...then maybe it still works

2. Using only the audio options in the game itself, like how CS:GO doesn't need virtual surround since it has native headphone audio.

Regarding DSPs though...most people claim footsteps are either overdone or don't improve anything, and I'm not even sure at this point where Asus' Scout Mode or whatever it is they have falls, because people just hate these. The thing is the reason why it sounds like one of either is because DSP programmers choose to do one of two things:

a. Maintain realism, which means that a bunch of guys running around a building with wood or metal floors (much less on concrete outside or on the dock floor) will NOT sound any louder than gunfire in real life. Go into a gun range, have one friend fire guns on the range and have the other stomp around in another room, and you'll see what I mean. The game itself will need to be something like 3D FPS Ninja Gaiden vs "a bunch of dudes that are in no way Ninjas all wearing boots and lots of ammo" for footsteps to be easily audible. You don't even just have their guns, there's your gun right up against your game avatar's face, which means it will be loud enough so you can realistically shoot and hear a 100dB++ gun report near your head so as not to hear a not Ninja coming from behind you.

b. Screw realism, in which case it makes it all sound like Jurassic Park with the water glasses and all that.

Another thing to note is what your expectations are. These DSP tricks just help a pro player squeeze out every advantage. It won't catapult an average player near the $1,000,000 championship. When the pros say it helps, it's pros vs pros needing every advantage in such a way that if only one had it, he increases his likelihood of winning, and the best way to look at it is "not have a lower chance of winning." It's not going to put the average joe at the same level of the pros on its own.

It's like how the most minute setting you dial in on a Formula 1 car after Friday practice and Saturday qualifier, assuming the weather stays the same on race day, can impact whether McLaren or Ferrari or whoever takes pole position. It doesn't miraculously put 15yrs ago Petronas at #5 unless the BMW and Honda drivers messed up.




On top of the DSP, not relying on 5V USB can mean higher power output on the motherboard, with less drastic drop off from 32ohm to 250ohm load output.

On top of which you can use either the EQ on the motherboard's on-board audio suite instead of hardware bass boost.

Really the only advantage of the E10K and K3 is guaranteed low output impedance and you don't need a desktop computer (ie you can use it on a laptop). The K3 has higher output at balanced drive, but still, not that much more.

Thank u very mutch for the Good Advice, im not searching for a "Advance" that let me hear any foot steps simliar to cheating.
I Playing FPS Games since 1999 ( CS Beta , Quake and co ) i was playing often with Pro Players before they was Pro ..and after they reach the Level so i think its not so bad idea for me to get equipment that "Pro" players would get.

Anyway my Point on the Upgrade was to have in Gaming same quality (and not to downgrade the Quality )
My HyperX Cloud Alpha is in my opition great for Gaming so my new Headphones combo shouldnt be not a Downgrade for Gaming.
Additionally the new Headphones should be a Upgrade for Music listening.

My Mainboard is allready a "High-End" Mainboard MAXIMUS XI GENE, but somehow its allready strugle with the 65 Ohm headphones and its very Quietly on Max Volume.

So when i would be go for a Upgrade and i want to get the DT 990 , which DAC/AMP for under 150€ would be the best solution for me ?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Check out the 32-Ohm Soundmagic HP200 headphones, they are like an improved DT990.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thank u very mutch for the Good Advice, im not searching for a "Advance" that let me hear any foot steps simliar to cheating.

Do you mean "advantage" as in "upper hand?"

"Advance" is like why you'd hear concerted marching, because the Phalanx or Legions are moving forward.

I Playing FPS Games since 1999 ( CS Beta , Quake and co ) i was playing often with Pro Players before they was Pro ..and after they reach the Level so i think its not so bad idea for me to get equipment that "Pro" players would get.

Bottom line is, don't expect that it will make such a drastic change in your gameplay if winning is the objective.

In my case it makes a drastic improvement only in immersion. I don't expect to hear all footsteps especially when I'm firing a rifle that would, in-game and be rendered as such in real world audio, be right next to my head.

The problem has been that a lot of people rail against it being useless or ridiculously unnatural when if it maintained any semblance of being unnatural, well, you won't hear footsteps behind you while firing a gun, unless the footsteps are like Godzilla.

Anyway my Point on the Upgrade was to have in Gaming same quality (and not to downgrade the Quality )
My HyperX Cloud Alpha is in my opition great for Gaming so my new Headphones combo shouldnt be not a Downgrade for Gaming.
Additionally the new Headphones should be a Upgrade for Music listening.

Practically any hi-fi headphone will objectively be an upgrade for music, but that's not to say it will be so for subjective preferences since a flat response headphone can sound boring to most people and then Beyers have treble spikes that some hate.

As for gaming, as long as the DSP is working and you're not going from, say, Sennheiser's gaming headphones with wider imaging and get an HD6xx series which is an older design with less expansive imaging - it can't be a downgrade.

My Mainboard is allready a "High-End" Mainboard MAXIMUS XI GENE, but somehow its allready strugle with the 65 Ohm headphones and its very Quietly on Max Volume.

Which is why I told you to go through every feature on the on-board sound circuit's suite and look for Gain Settings, which will likely be called something else because G4m3R marketing demands calling things something that doesn't hint at what it is but only its marketable perception of awesomeness, or disabling automatic "impedance" detection since what it probably does is adjust gain based on impedance, which is not how it works since sensitivity is also a part of the equation.

So when i would be go for a Upgrade and i want to get the DT 990 , which DAC/AMP for under 150€ would be the best solution for me ?

Nothing at MSRP if you want to make sure it's really absolutely better than your motherboard.

 

[lasta]

Hi, I'm not familiar with MAXIMUS XI GENE, but general consensus is that DAC's are all pretty much transparent nowadays. Maybe you could save some money and just get a dedicated amp to power those 990's. This way, you also get to keep all the audio post processing your game implements.