Kaap
New Head-Fier
Hey,
I've owned a Sennheiser RS180 for about 8 years now. I absolutely love them and while I realize there are many better headphones out there, I'm just too attached to them being wireless. If they would break I'd probably buy the newer RS185/195.
Anyway, in the past I paired them with a Soundblaster Z, great combo. Last year I build a new PC based on the Asus Z270 Maximus which has the SupremeFX S1220 (Realtek ACL1220 clone). And it worked great. Since the W10 1803 update, I did a fresh install of Windows 10, Microsoft has wrecked the Realtek HD Audio manager and ever since the sound quality is just bad and the power behind the headphones feels much less powerfull. I've to up the volume twice as much as before I reinstalled Windows. SupremeFX had options to control the buildin headphone AMP.
And that's the point I decided I'm kinda done with soundcards that depend on software. In the past I had the same issue with the Audigy when Creative didn't provide drivers for Windows 7.
Now I won't pretend I'm a pure audiophile, but I do have somewhat sensitive ears and can hear fairly well, I'm easily annoyed when music is distorted, when certain tones are overdone. I like lively music, with pure clear sound, not overdone.
So that means going for a DAC. That also means diving into the audiophile domain, do research and man, there's a ton of DACs out there for just about any budget. I tried making a list of DACs from which I think would suit me, and I'm looking for that last advice to pinpoint.
Here's what I need/wish for:
- Budget €150,-
- Only drives Sennheiser RS180, no speakers. According to the Sennheiser website the impedance is 32OHM. The RS180 has RCA in as well as minijack.
- No additional inputs required. Mic is a Samsom Meteor via USB. My motherboard has Optical S/PDIF out.
- Prefer a hardware volume control.
My options I found so far:
- AudioEngine D1
- SMSL M3
- SMSL M6
- FiiO E10K
From these, the SMSL M6 is a little bit over budget, but doable. But as a non audiophile I just don't really know how to cut out more of these options and come to a decision. And I was hoping for some more advice from this forum.
Questions:
- The mentioned models are all DAC/AMP combos. But do I really need an AMP? Since my RS180 is wireless, the headphone must contain a certain DAC/AMP. However, I've noticed that these headphones do work better if enough volume input is given. Ever since my SupremeFX is broken, I cannot set the headphone amp control and the volume is about twice as low as before.
Kind regards, and sorry for the wall of text!
I've owned a Sennheiser RS180 for about 8 years now. I absolutely love them and while I realize there are many better headphones out there, I'm just too attached to them being wireless. If they would break I'd probably buy the newer RS185/195.
Anyway, in the past I paired them with a Soundblaster Z, great combo. Last year I build a new PC based on the Asus Z270 Maximus which has the SupremeFX S1220 (Realtek ACL1220 clone). And it worked great. Since the W10 1803 update, I did a fresh install of Windows 10, Microsoft has wrecked the Realtek HD Audio manager and ever since the sound quality is just bad and the power behind the headphones feels much less powerfull. I've to up the volume twice as much as before I reinstalled Windows. SupremeFX had options to control the buildin headphone AMP.
And that's the point I decided I'm kinda done with soundcards that depend on software. In the past I had the same issue with the Audigy when Creative didn't provide drivers for Windows 7.
Now I won't pretend I'm a pure audiophile, but I do have somewhat sensitive ears and can hear fairly well, I'm easily annoyed when music is distorted, when certain tones are overdone. I like lively music, with pure clear sound, not overdone.
So that means going for a DAC. That also means diving into the audiophile domain, do research and man, there's a ton of DACs out there for just about any budget. I tried making a list of DACs from which I think would suit me, and I'm looking for that last advice to pinpoint.
Here's what I need/wish for:
- Budget €150,-
- Only drives Sennheiser RS180, no speakers. According to the Sennheiser website the impedance is 32OHM. The RS180 has RCA in as well as minijack.
- No additional inputs required. Mic is a Samsom Meteor via USB. My motherboard has Optical S/PDIF out.
- Prefer a hardware volume control.
My options I found so far:
- AudioEngine D1
- SMSL M3
- SMSL M6
- FiiO E10K
From these, the SMSL M6 is a little bit over budget, but doable. But as a non audiophile I just don't really know how to cut out more of these options and come to a decision. And I was hoping for some more advice from this forum.
Questions:
- The mentioned models are all DAC/AMP combos. But do I really need an AMP? Since my RS180 is wireless, the headphone must contain a certain DAC/AMP. However, I've noticed that these headphones do work better if enough volume input is given. Ever since my SupremeFX is broken, I cannot set the headphone amp control and the volume is about twice as low as before.
Kind regards, and sorry for the wall of text!
Last edited:
