Down the rabbit hole again | Sundara ordered

[listen14]

Hello there, new member here. Here’s some information about what got my to join the forum, and some of my plans for my head-fi future


I just bought me a PS5, and decided to treat myself and get the Audeze Penrose. Unfortunately, I had a lot of crackling/connections issues via PS5, so I am returning them. But before returning them I was able to test them for both gaming and music... The Penrose sounded very good for music, and suddenly I found myself listening to old songs again for hours straight. Boom, I was on my way down the rabbit hole (again)

I used to have a decent stereo/home theater system, but now I live in an apartment, so big speakers will not be a viable solution for me. Enter new headphones. My current gear is the following: BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro 80ohm, Sony MDR-1000X (XM1 if you will), Dell XPS 13/iPhone XR for source. I use the Sony’s for traveling and on-the-go listening and the Beyers at home.

I listen to a lot of music, but mostly hip-hop, pop, rap and some EDM. I want smooth and clear vocals (ie: LanaDelRey, Lorde, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash) and some punchy bass for my hip-hop tunes. I also noticed that the separation (??) was on another level with the Audeze Penrose compared to what I was used to. I liked that.


My plan is to get Sennheiser PC38x for gaming/PS5 (or maybe save money and just use my DT770) and splurge a little bit for new headphones for music/movies. I will only use them at home, and it does not matter if the leak sound. I currently do not have a headphone amp or dac, so starting from scratch here.



Considering

BeyerDynamic DT1990 Pro (too analytical?)
Hifiman Sundara (Planars, but worried about build quality)
Audeze LCD-1 (Planars, but worried about not enough bass?)
Sennheiser HD660s (not enough bass?)
Denon AH-D5200 (good bass but closed)
+ amp/dac

or

Audeze LCD-2 + save money a couple of months for amp/dac


I kind of want to try planars after listening to the Penrose, but I assume the Beyers/Senns will also be a considerable upgrade for me. If I get the LCD-2 (the ones I really want) I may to afford an amp at the beginning.

Any thoughts?

 

[Monsterzero]

I just bought me a PS5, and decided to treat myself and get the Audeze Penrose. Unfortunately, I had a lot of crackling/connections issues via PS5, so I am returning them.

Did you test the Penrose on a different source, and if so did the crackling persist? If not then I would think that the Penrose isnt the problem.

Whats your budget for new headphones and amp/DAC?

 

[listen14]

Did you test the Penrose on a different source, and if so did the crackling persist? If not then I would think that the Penrose isnt the problem.

Whats your budget for new headphones and amp/DAC?

I tested the Penrose with my laptop, with much better results. I tried to mess around with USB extension cable and testing different ports on the PS5. Front USB + extension cable gave me the best results, but for now the Penrose + PS5 combo did not do it for me. I think and hope that Audeze can fix this through future firmware updates. But for now, I'll stick to a wired connection with my PS.

My budget would be around 800-1000 USD in total. I live in Europe, so prices do sometimes differ from US - but this should give a good indication.

 

[Monsterzero]

Unfortunately im one of these persons who is still trying to get a PS5, and I refuse to pay scalper prices, so I really dont know how a headphone and/or DAC/amp will connect to the console. Its my understanding that Sony did away with a couple connections?

As far as a wired alternative with big bass for gaming, have you considered the Fidelio X2/3 ? I have the original X1 for single-person gaming and it does a great job. For FPSers I use an AKG K701, but I doubt you would enjoy the neutral tuning of it.

For music you might look into a Sennheiser HD6xx from Drop (do yall get Drop?) and then use the leftover funds for an amp and DAC.

 

[listen14]

I feel you, I was fortunate to get one right before christmas. Sony removed the optical out, and they do not support UAC2 dacs at the moment, only UAC1. The controller has a little bit more power than PS4, enough for my DT770 Pro anyway. The controller has a built in mic for multiplayer also, if that is your jam. JDS labs does have some DACs where you can flash the firmware back to UAC1. I have read about some people doing this with success on the PS5. If not the Creative Soundblaster G6 should work based on my research.

I've kind of settled on keeping my DT770 Pro for the PS5, and going for a new pair of headphones + amp/dac for mostly music and maybe some movies. How should I distribute my budget on headphones and amp/dac? 50/50?

Thanks for the suggestion, I can order from drop. Price would be +25% after taxes though.

 

[Whazzzup]

Turn around and climb out

 

[listen14]

Turn around and climb out

But I like the bass down here

 

[Whazzzup]

Get a new pad and you’re done

 

[Monsterzero]

I've kind of settled on keeping my DT770 Pro for the PS5, and going for a new pair of headphones + amp/dac for mostly music and maybe some movies. How should I distribute my budget on headphones and amp/dac? 50/50?

Get the HD6xx, a Modi MB (sounds much better than the normal Modi) and a La Figaro 339, which also is an occasional Drop product, or if youre handy with soldering iron, get a Bottlehead Crack.

The HD6xx loves tubes.

 

[listen14]

Since Drop would have to be ordered overseas, I would prefer to order something from local dealers in my country. That way I have better (easier) return policys and warrantys.

I was very impressed with the SQ on the Audezy Penrose, and I wanted to try a planar. Therefore I just pulled the trigger on a HifiMan Sundara. I plan to pair it with a Fiio K5 Pro. Open for suggestions, but this is in stock at my local dealer, seems to be a ok match for the Sundera and has plenty of power.

 

[wilk0076]

I've got a FiiO Q5 (original version) driving my Denon AH-D7000's. I got my PS5 and was disappointed that I couldn't connect it to the Q5. The PS5 wouldn't recognize the DAC via USB, which I guess is because of the UAC1 compatibility?

Anyway, I was settling with plugging the Q5 into the controller via the analog 3.5 out on the dualsense. Which always bugged me because I wasn't utilizing the DAC as anything other than just a headphone amp and I knew I wasn't getting the best sound.

So, yesterday I got a Creative BT-W3 bluetooth 5.0 transmitter. Plugged it into the PS5 and paired it with my Q5. It connected on the aptX codec and now I'm able to get sweet digital audio to the Q5 and it sounds great through the D7000s. The BT-W3 even comes with a little mic that you can plug into the dualsense for multiplayer.

tl;dr: PS5 -> Creative BT-W3 -> FiiO Q5 -> Denon AHD-7000 -> happy ears