[TiestoFan]

I have a pair of ath-m50x headphones and no other studio/audio accessories.

I just got promoted and fell into a huge bonus. I want to use it to upgrade my audio setup.

So I want to buy some new headphones (I will research which one later) but I also want to buy ... Whatever it is that makes music better. I keep seeing magni mentioned on this forum and I'm assuming that's a receiver or amp or both. I also want to buy Yamaha hs8 speakers for my computer and I'm assuming you plug those into the magni as well? Honestly not sure.

The purpose of this post is for you to explain what is the purpose of all this equipment and which ones are essential. I see people on this forum with stacks and towers of equipment and I'm kinda curious what all that is. Thanks.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Hi Tiesto,

As someone who was in the same boat, I totally understand your confusion but luckily I had someone to lead me through it all, ELI5.

Here is a really informative article that does it simply but helps you also start to understand the technicalities of our crazy world:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/what-is-a-headphone-amp/

If you have any interest in in-ear monitors, please do let me know privately!

 

[TiestoFan]

Thanks for the reply!

 

[pbui44]

So I just saw the above posts and just wanted to best supplement what has already been said with what the OP wants. In regards to the speaker setup, just get an Edifier S350DB 2.1 setup with Optical Outputs and simple USB-in-to-Optical-Out DSD DAC with 3.0m braided Coaxial cable:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077Y6PHKQ/ref=psdcmw_172471_t1_B07YZSBQ4Y

https://www.amazon.com/Decoder-AK4490-Coaxial-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B07D4CVDYJ

https://www.hideflifestyle.com/coll...ire-s-link-digital-audio-cable-3-0-meters-rca

All of the above is what you need for a computer/small-room setup that plays DSD files, which are usually classical music at this time. The total setup is $500 and you can still use your ATH-M50x with the sound card. There are headphones/IEMs that will outperform this setup...but will cost at least 4x as much for the total setup. As a result, your speaker curiosity is satisfied and you know what you want in an entire headphone setup. BTW, a review of the Edifier S350 DB with front/back/sides pictures can be found here to give you a good idea of what you will get:

https://techaeris.com/2018/10/14/ed...nding-bookshelf-speakers-with-sound-to-spare/

Hope this helps.

 

[pbui44]

Just to follow up on my speaker setup post now and headphone setup later:

Let’s say six months after you settled into your job promotion and you want to move the speaker setup into your living room for your new HTPC and you want a new headphone setup for your computer/small room. One setup that would work very well is a Loxjie P20 tune amp, SMSL SU-8 XLR DAC, and Sennheiser HD660S with XLR cable, which you can get here:

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-660-Audiophile-Headphone/dp/B076HP574T

https://www.amazon.com/NewFantasia-Balanced-Compatible-Sennheiser-Headphones/dp/B07Z4M1BM9

https://www.amazon.com/LOXJIE-Balance-Amplifier-Headphone-Power/dp/B07H5JLD2Q

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D...crb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

or you may want something else...which is six months down the road. This is what I was thinking and hope this “six month plan” works for you.

 

[TiestoFan]

Just to follow up on my speaker setup post now and headphone setup later:

Let’s say six months after you settled into your job promotion and you want to move the speaker setup into your living room for your new HTPC and you want a new headphone setup for your computer/small room. One setup that would work very well is a Loxjie P20 tune amp, SMSL SU-8 XLR DAC, and Sennheiser HD660S with XLR cable, which you can get here:

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-660-Audiophile-Headphone/dp/B076HP574T

https://www.amazon.com/NewFantasia-Balanced-Compatible-Sennheiser-Headphones/dp/B07Z4M1BM9

https://www.amazon.com/LOXJIE-Balance-Amplifier-Headphone-Power/dp/B07H5JLD2Q

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D...crb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

or you may want something else...which is six months down the road. This is what I was thinking and hope this “six month plan” works for you.

Excellent posts. I will need to look up everything you said in depth.

Thank you so much for that insight

 

[pbui44]

Excellent posts. I will need to look up everything you said in depth.

Thank you so much for that insight

You’re welcome. Just post about anything else you may need. Also, I found a much cheaper clone of the HaaFee DSD DAC/Amp and forgot about reasonably-priced BlueJeansCable company for almost all of your cabling needs:

https://h5.aliexpress.com/item/32791416270.html?spm=a2g0n.seo-amp-detail.moreToLove.32791416270

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/indexmob.htm

 

[TiestoFan]

You’re welcome. Just post about anything else you may need. Also, I found a much cheaper clone of the HaaFee DSD DAC/Amp and forgot about reasonably-priced BlueJeansCable company for almost all of your cabling needs:

https://h5.aliexpress.com/item/32791416270.html?spm=a2g0n.seo-amp-detail.moreToLove.32791416270

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/indexmob.htm

Just so I have it clear can you walk me through what connects to what if I have I computer setup.....

Having trouble understanding the loop. What does my computer connect to? The Amp/DAC and the headphones plug into that? Where do the computer speakers fit into all this?

 

[Johnny Golden]

If you message me privately I will be happy to do a very thorough run through of a setup specifically based on your needs. I am a cable builder in Australia and also specialise in creating personalised audio setups so have a great amount of professional experience in this and as I won't be worried about filling up pages and pages on a forum will be able to guide your further as to each individual component and your budget.

 

[pbui44]

Just so I have it clear can you walk me through what connects to what if I have I computer setup.....

Having trouble understanding the loop. What does my computer connect to? The Amp/DAC and the headphones plug into that? Where do the computer speakers fit into all this?

So let’s say you just wanted the HD660S and the Douk Audio DSD DAC/amp. You connect the Douk Audio DSD DAC’s USB-A end to the USB-B-connection on your computer with a USB-A-to-B (probably) cable. Then, you take the 3.5mm (smartphone audio sized) cable from your HD660S and very carefully connect each 2-pin wire to the respective side of the HD660S. After that, you connect the 3.5mm plug part of the HD660S cable to the Douk Audio DSD DAC/amp’s “phones” socket.

Now if you want to also get the Edifier S350DB speaker system, then you get either a digital Coaxial cable (what used to be an composite, or yellow, video cable will also work perfectly) or RCA (composite, or white/black/blue left and red right, audio cables) and connect the Douk Audio DSD DAC/Amps “Coax” or “RCA” sockets to the respective socket(s) on the S350DB subwoofer. The left speaker’s VGA cable, which is apparently 6’ from an Amazon reviewer, and right speaker’s S-Video-like cable, which is apparently 10’ from an Amazon reviewer, also connect to the subwoofer.

Hope this detail clears things up.

 

[ScornDefeat]

Excellent posts. I will need to look up everything you said in depth.

Thank you so much for that insight

There are various approaches here; for your specific use case, you require a solution that can output through both headphones and desktop speakers (monitors).

Option #1, which is likely the option you're currently utilizing, is to plug the headphones directly into the 3.5mm out on your motherboard or case, and the Yamaha HS8 directly, as well, through 1/4" TRS to 3.5mm adapter. After that, you would need an output application to play the music, such as iTunes, Roon, Tidal app, etc. and you are set. The DAC is performed by the motherboard internal soundcard, the internal amp powers the cans, and the powered monitors receive output from the internal sound card and are self-amplified.

For 99% of people, the above is sufficient and will provide a listening experience that is enjoyable with limited audible differences than other types of set ups.

As you have come into more funds and have the desire to upgrade, you have two other options for your use case; these options are way more fun to put together, even if audible differences are typically quite nuanced.

2) An entirely Integrated solution (all-in-one DAC, preamp, headphone amp and speaker output); as you are familiar with Schiit brand, I would direct you to their Asgard line for 200 bucks. This provides a DAC/headphone amp in one box, as well as pre-out which could feed your Yamaha powered monitors via a RCA to TRS adapter/wire. Very simple, cheap, and can provide you with an audible upgrade.

3) Separate components (this can be completely separate DAC, preamp, head amp, etc. or it can be separated DAC and preamp/head-amp; all depends on how much fun and funds you want to have and have); sticking with Schiit, this would be getting a Modi DAC feeding a Magni head amp/preamp out to power monitors, or you can even break it out further. The source here, ultimately, is still your PC feeding the DAC via an output (USB is my preferred).

I used the cheapest Schiit components above as an example, but this can all tremendously scale. However, basic process is the same.

Hope this helps.

 

[TiestoFan]

Excellent posts and a tremendous amount of useful information. This cleared things up nicely. Several of you mentioned budgets and yes I fell into a nice sum so willing to spend it as long as there are audible differences. I'm not enough of an audiophile to want to spend money on things that I know are better but can't appreciate in actuality. I'm like that with my computer, buying CPUs, graphics cards, motherboards ram etc etc all at quality and performance levels I'll never use lol. I don't need to do that with audio too.

 

[ScornDefeat]

Excellent posts and a tremendous amount of useful information. This cleared things up nicely. Several of you mentioned budgets and yes I fell into a nice sum so willing to spend it as long as there are audible differences. I'm not enough of an audiophile to want to spend money on things that I know are better but can't appreciate in actuality. I'm like that with my computer, buying CPUs, graphics cards, motherboards ram etc etc all at quality and performance levels I'll never use lol. I don't need to do that with audio too.

Happy to have assisted.

The first item would be what your ultimate output devices will be; you have decided on Yamaha powered monitors, which headphones you want will play a big part in how audible differences will be apparent from increasing your source/amplification situation.

Every component in the chain makes a difference; however, the most readily audible differences in the chain are going to be heard at the final output stage, be it the loudspeakers or headphones. The Yamaha powered monitors will see no material improvement (for most users) from scaling your entire set-up up from the internal PC output to much of anything else; however, the headphones certainly can. Depending on the specifications of the headphones, the PC sound card could struggle with them.

Do you have any feedback on a new set of headphones you're interested in?

 

[TiestoFan]

Happy to have assisted.

The first item would be what your ultimate output devices will be; you have decided on Yamaha powered monitors, which headphones you want will play a big part in how audible differences will be apparent from increasing your source/amplification situation.

Every component in the chain makes a difference; however, the most readily audible differences in the chain are going to be heard at the final output stage, be it the loudspeakers or headphones. The Yamaha powered monitors will see no material improvement (for most users) from scaling your entire set-up up from the internal PC output to much of anything else; however, the headphones certainly can. Depending on the specifications of the headphones, the PC sound card could struggle with them.

Do you have any feedback on a new set of headphones you're interested in?

Well the only headphones I've owned are ath-m50s and Logitech UE-6000.

I'm considering something like the HD 6xx as it seems it would utlize the upgrade in the equipment. The other contender is Fidelo X2/3.

 

[ScornDefeat]

Well the only headphones I've owned are ath-m50s and Logitech UE-6000.

I'm considering something like the HD 6xx as it seems it would utlize the upgrade in the equipment. The other contender is Fidelo X2/3.

Unless you listen at very high volume (over roughly 95db regularly), it is my experience that phones like the ATH-M50 and UE series benefit little from a source upgrade from motherboard/internal PC audio to separate components. For these phones, most motherboard audio solutions are more than capable of driving them and resolving enough detail.

I feel that moving away from the internal pc audio solution could have a material impact on the HD6xx. From my personal experience with those phones, they are fairly responsive to source changes. Additionally, the specifications behind the HD6xx dictate that you'd typically want a little more power to cleanly drive them (mind you, many motherboard audio solutions can provide ample power even for 300 ohm loads).

A pair of HD6xx and a Schiit Asgard would run you $400 or so, new. The Asgard into the HD6xx would like provide an audible upgrade over the internal solution and would be able to pre-out (via RCA to TRS) to powered monitors. This would be a great route for a beginning exploration into improving your set-up for your use case.