[shawns]

Hey guys!
I just got the Ananda Stealth headphones as a gift from my brother, currently they are plugged into my Focusrite Solo audio interface and I'm just trying to find a way to improve not only the headphones but my overall setup.

I'm looking at the schiit stack (magni + modi) and it seems pretty good however, a lot of people are recommending things more expensive than that so I fear that I am not buying something matching the need for the headphones.

Any recommendations are welcomed.

 

[msing539]

My experience with the Modi was that it had no audible improvement in my setup at the time. Meaning I bypassed it from my PC straight into the Magni and it sounded the same for me, though ymmv.

What is it that you'd want to improve on the Ananda?

 

[shawns]

My experience with the Modi was that it had no audible improvement in my setup at the time. Meaning I bypassed it from my PC straight into the Magni and it sounded the same for me, though ymmv.

What is it that you'd want to improve on the Ananda?

I just want to give it a little more of an umph too it, I feel like the bass is kind of lacking and I also heard that planar headphones scale really well with an AMP and DAC, I also just want to dive a little deeper into the community and have an anchor of a dac and amp ready.

 

[msing539]

I just want to give it a little more of an umph too it, I feel like the bass is kind of lacking and I also heard that planar headphones scale really well with an AMP and DAC, I also just want to dive a little deeper into the community and have an anchor of a dac and amp ready.

I gotcha. If you just want a little more bass, you can try software EQ because it's free and it might get you where you want for now.

I'd personally skip over the Magni and Modi and invest in some more midrange gear. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this, of course. Some people keep them for years. For me, it was weeks.

 

[shawns]

I gotcha. If you just want a little more bass, you can try software EQ because it's free and it might get you where you want for now.

I'd personally skip over the Magni and Modi and invest in some more midrange gear. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this, of course. Some people keep them for years. For me, it was weeks.

Any recommendations? I can spend probably like $300 for both the amp and dac, I would just like something consistent that would work for the Ananda's and the HD600s.

 

[msing539]

If you want something clean and neutral, a used THX789 has plenty of power and is flexible in terms of outputs. I remember the upgrade from the Magni to the 789 being a night and day difference, and it'll power most headphones well. Used should be about $150 US now.

Sub $150 dacs I would really have to think about.

 

[dunring]

I'd get the JDS Atom+ amp and DAC for the ones you mentioned. Plenty of power and clean sound with that combo.
For Schiit the Magni Heresy Modi combo is a good pick as long as the location of the volume wheel is ok with you. The Heretic has it located further away which is much easier to adjust.
Never been a better time to have a $300 budget, lots of great stuff to pick from. The Topping d10b DAC and L50 amp is really good too, with extra voltage which helps with planars.

 

[shawns]

If you want something clean and neutral, a used THX789 has plenty of power and is flexible in terms of outputs. I remember the upgrade from the Magni to the 789 being a night and day difference, and it'll power most headphones well. Used should be about $150 US now.

Sub $150 dacs I would really have to think about.

Where is a good place to buy these things used? Reddit? Ebay? Just trying to find some good places to buy some stuff.

 

[msing539]

Where is a good place to buy these things used? Reddit? Ebay? Just trying to find some good places to buy some stuff.

Here in classifieds or Reddit r/Avexchange

 

[shawns]

Here in classifieds or Reddit r/Avexchange

Awesome man, thank you a lot for the help. I think I'll return the magni and try to get one of the better amps. I got one more question and then I'll get out of your hair.
Are Amp + DAC Combos good? Is there any compromise of having them together instead of separating them?
Again any info/recs are welcomed, you have really helped out a lot

 

[shawns]

I'd get the JDS Atom+ amp and DAC for the ones you mentioned. Plenty of power and clean sound with that combo.
For Schiit the Magni Heresy Modi combo is a good pick as long as the location of the volume wheel is ok with you. The Heretic has it located further away which is much easier to adjust.
Never been a better time to have a $300 budget, lots of great stuff to pick from. The Topping d10b DAC and L50 amp is really good too, with extra voltage which helps with planars.

Awesome, thank you for the recommendation. I think I might return the magni I have right now and I'll look into the recommendations you said.

 

[msing539]

Awesome man, thank you a lot for the help. I think I'll return the magni and try to get one of the better amps. I got one more question and then I'll get out of your hair.
Are Amp + DAC Combos good? Is there any compromise of having them together instead of separating them?
Again any info/recs are welcomed, you have really helped out a lot

No worries man. One compromise is flexibility. When they're all in one and you need to upgrade down the line, it becomes more costly. And I can change the sound of my setup by swapping a DAC, or if I need more power, I can swap the amp. Some AIO setups are engineered really well, and in some they make compromises to fit everything into one chassis.

 

[msing539]

Oh and a matching DAC for the THX789 is the Grace SDAC which also comes in balanced. The combo used is under $300 for sure if you look around. @dunring has great recommendations, we're just giving you some options.

 

[shawns]

Oh and a matching DAC for the THX789 is the Grace SDAC which also comes in balanced. The combo used is under $300 for sure if you look around. @dunring has great recommendations, we're just giving you some options.

What do you mean by, "it comes in balanced"? I've seen it around but I don't really get it. Does it also require a new kind of cable?

 

[msing539]

An unbalanced RCA has two wires in it, a signal and a ground.

A 3-pin balanced XLR cable has three wires in it, two signals and a ground. The two wires are transmitted with their signals inverted, but any noise picked up is not inverted. Once it reaches the DAC, any noise that is common to both wires is cancelled out. Ground loops are also less common with XLR and more common with RCA.

Balanced is mostly beneficial for long cable runs, but could have benefits in shorter runs, too, though it's debatable. But in other words, a balanced cable is less prone to picking up interference.

The other benefit is unbalanced RCA typically puts out about 2 volts, and balanced XLR is typically double, about 4 volts.

If you look at the back of most lower end dacs, you'll see unbalanced RCA out. The Grace SDAC Balanced has XLR out instead.