[Mad Lust Envy]

I'd actually return the E9K unopened and get the Asgard IF Amazon had it in stock. They have the Lyr and Valhalla, but not the one I WANT. :rolleyes:

The E9K will have to hold me over until I plunk down the cash for the Audio-GD SA-31, which I will get eventually as my endgame amp. I'll probably sell the E17/E9K together and get the ODAC to feed to the SA-31.

 

[VI3L]

Quote:

I'd actually return the E9K unopened and get the Asgard IF Amazon had it in stock. They have the Lyr and Valhalla, but not the one I WANT.

The E9K will have to hold me over until I plunk down the cash for the Audio-GD SA-31, which I will get eventually as my endgame amp. I'll probably sell the E17/E9K together and get the ODAC to feed to the SA-31.

Ya I was going to buy an Asgard until I saw they were out of stock
 
I have to order with Amazon because I have a credit card with them and It's my only income for audio stuff at the moment
 
Should I just buy the Matrix M-stage off Amazon or do they carry anything that pairs better with 600 ohm 990s?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Ya I was going to buy an Asgard until I saw they were out of stock

I have to order with Amazon because I have a credit card with them and It's my only income for audio stuff at the moment

Should I just buy the Matrix M-stage off Amazon or do they carry anything that pairs better with 600 ohm 990s?

You must be my long lost twin. I too have an Amazon Card, and it's my main source of funds when it comes to audio purchases (and electronics in general). XD

FWIR, the Matrix M Stage is almost always preferred over the Asgard, so I'd say for the price, that's what I'd go with. I'm just a shallow person and wanted the Asgard for looks, even if it may be slightly inferior to the M Stage. XD

 

[VI3L]

Quote:

You must be my long lost twin. I too have an Amazon Card, and it's my main source of funds when it comes to audio purchases (and electronics in general). XD
FWIR, the Matrix M Stage is almost always preferred over the Asgard, so I'd say for the price, that's what I'd go with. I'm just a shallow person and wanted the Asgard for looks, even if it may be slightly inferior to the M Stage. XD

LOL I thought you were my long lost twin when I read your gaming headphone review, I pretty much had the exact same impressions with the cans I tested.
 
I am gonna go ahead and buy the M stage and I'll see how it does vs my E9. Looks are nice and all... but I want the better sounding amp for sure XD.
 
Will the M stage improve on the 990s soundstage at all vs E9?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Only you can say. I'd rather compare myself instead of going in with expectation bias. Soundstage is one of those things that is very debateable, IMHO. It's hard to notice an increase or decrease in size unless it's a HUGE difference. I have A/B-ed the E9 vs the Lyr and NFB5, and the soundstage was hard to tell if it improved or not, but the sound characteristics did change a bit as both those amps have a bit more full bodiedness over the E9. Still, I really like the crisp clarity on the E9. It's a damn good amp for the price. Sadly I didn't have the 990s when I had those two amps. Well I had the 990/32 when I owned the NFB5, and it was definitely better than the E9 for those.

I'm gonna assume no it won't gain size, and if it does, it'll be slight and not much of an improvement. What the M Stage should do over the E9 is flesh out the sound just a smidge. The E9 is a pretty dry sounding amp, and I hear the M Stage is pretty smooth, which should work pretty well for the 990s.

 

[VI3L]

Ok thanks for the info dude.

 
I'll be able to hook up the M stage the same as E9 right?   Titanium HD -->rca 3.5 --> M stage

 

[MattTCG]

^^I just want to say welcome to head-fi Vl3L!!

 

[VI3L]

Quote:

^^I just want to say welcome to head-fi Vl3L!!

I thank you sir...
 
but my wallet doesn't!!!

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

I thank you sir...
 
but my wallet doesn't!!!

...you learn quickly.

 

[VI3L]

Quote:

...you learn quickly.

I think I am gonna get my 990s setup and stay the *%$# off this site! I've managed to spend over 1500 in less than a week!!! What?
 
As the waterboy's mom would say...HEAD-FI IS THE DEVIL!!!

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Ok thanks for the info dude.

I'll be able to hook up the M stage the same as E9 right?   Titanium HD -->rca 3.5 --> M stage

I believe the M Stage has an RCA input, so you'll need an RCA to RCA, not a RCA to 3.5mm.

 

[jupitreas]

Hi, as far as I know, based on the information in this post (about the DT250), this is not true. Higher impedance means Beyer is able to put fewer copper coils in the driver and thus the motor system is lighter and therefore more accurate and controlled. I admit that the difference is still pretty miniscule but the 600 Ohm version does sound better and is technically better.
 
As for the OP's conundrum: I used to have the 250 Ohm version of the DT990 and while they were not driven properly out of my integrated laptop soundcard, they were far from unlistenable. Using an amp did improve things somewhat but the general sound signature remained the same - there was just some more punch, more dynamics and perhaps more clarity (difficult to judge). In other words, I think you can invest in the 250 Ohm version without worrying about being able to drive it - you should be just fine and if you crave for a slight increase in quality, you could go for a FiiO E6, as mentioned already, or for some comparable little cheap amp that is capable of driving 250 Ohm headphones. 
Quote:

 
Heya,
 
No.
 
The impedance does not mean higher quality at all. It's just a rating for matching with amplifiers. The two headphones are the same otherwise. Get whatever you can properly power.
 
Long term, I would get a good headphone and then just get gear that matches it down the road.
 
Very best,

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The E6 is not capable of driving 250ohm. They'll be a waste of $30 and be a very slight improvement over not using an amp at all (at least in terms of driving a 250ohm can). I'd get at LEAST the E11 which is just $20 more.

Why spend something in the range of $300+ for a headphone if you're only going to half ass the equipment needed to drive them? That's the question. If it's that much of a problem, they should just get the 32ohm which really is 95% like the 250ohm and doesn't need as much to make them sound proper.

 

[stv014]

The OP has already decided to buy a Xonar STX, which, for most people, should be fine with either the 250 Ω or the 600 Ω version. For comparison, here is a table of approximately how much power various sources are capable of outputting into each driver impedance at 1 kHz at just below clipping level:
 

	32 Ω	250 Ω	600 Ω
Realtek onboard 1.2 Vrms/2 Ω	40 mW	5.7 mW	2.4 mW
Realtek onboard 1.2 Vrms/35 Ω	10 mW	4.4 mW	2.1 mW
Realtek onboard 1.2 Vrms/77 Ω	3.9 mW	3.4 mW	1.9 mW
Xonar line out 2 Vrms/100 Ω	7.4 mW	8.2 mW	4.9 mW
FiiO E6	72 mW	12 mW	5 mW
FiiO E11 high voltage mode	101 mW	30 mW	12 mW
Xonar STX/FiiO E9	850 mW	178 mW	78 mW

 
You need about 0.45 mW for 90 dB SPL peaks (generally not enough), 4.5 mW for 100 dB (enough for some people playing music with limited dynamic range, but not for others), 45 mW for 110 dB (enough for most, except those who listen to very quiet/dynamic music, use EQ heavily, or just like or already have hearing damage), and 100 mW is the maximum rated power the drivers can handle.
Note that the power into 32 Ω from some "unamplified" sources, 250 Ω from the FiiO E6, and 600 Ω from the FiiO E11 is comparable, and translates to a level that is marginal, but sufficient for many.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If volume was the only factor, people could just toss all their amps aside.

The Mixamp can power the 600ohm certainly to ear shattering levels (when voice chat isn't added in), and it has slightly less power than the Fiio E5/E6.

However, try comparing the quality of sound next to a real amp. It's quite a difference.

Using the E6 on a 250ohm Beyer is like putting standard fuel on sports car. Yes, it will reach high speeds, but will struggle when accelerating, etc. You're losing out on dynamics and refinement of sound.

These amps also don't take impedance spikes into either. You want some headroom from when headphones spike up to considerably higher impedance than their standard rating. For example, the HD650 is rated at 300ohm, but can spike up to 500+ ohms.

I'm not an expert, but I can clearly distinguish between an E5 powering my Beyers, vs the NFB5 powering them. Hell, I've gone as far as comparing the E5 to the Lyr with something as simple as the KSC75. If you suggest that they'd be comparable, well, lol. I have nothing else to say. And this is coming from a guy who didn't even really care for the Lyr.

Oh wait, you're THAT guy. never mind. Continue your mission to dismiss all amping or whatever you like to do.