Hi everyone, I am new here.
I am a bit of a newbie with headphones. I make music, and for a long time in the past I mostly used monitors. Recently I switched over to using headphones and bought a pair of AKG 702 on the recommendation of their flat sound. I do most of the composing and tracking of music with a much more basic pair of wireless Sennheiser headphones and then switch across to the mixing stage with the AKG headphones. I often need them quite loud during this part of the process, and at the moment I don't have a headphone amp. I did notice right away that the really small and light audio interface I have is nowhere near powerful enough to drive them, so what I have been doing is driving them through my Mackie mixing desk. This is an ok compromise for when I am at home, although if I travel light I can't take the mixer as it's way too big. I have a small form factor laptop which I might upgrade this year if I get the chance, thinking about an ipad as well because there are so many great music making apps on there.
What I am really curious about is the usb DAC dongles I have seen lately. I am largely ignorant on these and how well they will drive studio quality headphones? Most recommendations for headphone amps are much larger. I may purchase one of those further down the line, but in terms of dongle usb DAC does anyone know of a relatively inexpensive that can provide plenty of power to my headphones? What I am looking for is an uncoloured transparent sound with good frequency response. I got a recommendation for Meizu Hifi pro usb-c would that work ok? Are there any others in a similar price bracket or cheaper that will be adequate for my needs? I also got a recommendation for the apple usb-c to 3.5 adaptor but from a quick glance I see that they don't provide enough umph at higher volumes and roll off a bit too much on the low frequencies. I would need the bass and low end to be well represented but not emphasised.
Thanks for reading.
I am a bit of a newbie with headphones. I make music, and for a long time in the past I mostly used monitors. Recently I switched over to using headphones and bought a pair of AKG 702 on the recommendation of their flat sound. I do most of the composing and tracking of music with a much more basic pair of wireless Sennheiser headphones and then switch across to the mixing stage with the AKG headphones. I often need them quite loud during this part of the process, and at the moment I don't have a headphone amp. I did notice right away that the really small and light audio interface I have is nowhere near powerful enough to drive them, so what I have been doing is driving them through my Mackie mixing desk. This is an ok compromise for when I am at home, although if I travel light I can't take the mixer as it's way too big. I have a small form factor laptop which I might upgrade this year if I get the chance, thinking about an ipad as well because there are so many great music making apps on there.
What I am really curious about is the usb DAC dongles I have seen lately. I am largely ignorant on these and how well they will drive studio quality headphones? Most recommendations for headphone amps are much larger. I may purchase one of those further down the line, but in terms of dongle usb DAC does anyone know of a relatively inexpensive that can provide plenty of power to my headphones? What I am looking for is an uncoloured transparent sound with good frequency response. I got a recommendation for Meizu Hifi pro usb-c would that work ok? Are there any others in a similar price bracket or cheaper that will be adequate for my needs? I also got a recommendation for the apple usb-c to 3.5 adaptor but from a quick glance I see that they don't provide enough umph at higher volumes and roll off a bit too much on the low frequencies. I would need the bass and low end to be well represented but not emphasised.
Thanks for reading.
