[DangerClose]

When comparing the 793 with the FiiO E17, which one would do the job better in your opinion?

And is there any DAC-Amplifier with optical-in that isn't sooo expensive but capable of driving the DT990 600 perfectly fine?
 

 
Which one's cheaper?  

  Specs say E17 is more powerful than the 793, but can't always trust specs.  I've only read reviews of the E17.  
 
Powerful DAC-amp with optical don't seem easy to come by.  You could use the 793 (or E17 I guess) as-is then later use it as a DAC with a separate, more powerful amp.
 
Just a thought: if it's possible to plug the dual-shock output into a line-in amp so the dual-shock is the DAC.

 

[Krustaf]

Just a thought: if it's possible to plug the dual-shock output into a line-in amp so the dual-shock is the DAC.

Yeah that's a really good question which I unfortunately can't answer yet.
 
I've done some more research and found out about these amp's:
 
- TEAC HA-P50 (200$)
- Audio GD NFB-15.1 (235$)
- Onkyo DAC-HA200 ( 270$)
- Pro-Ject Box Design Head Box DS (300$)
 
They all come with optical-in + a powerful enough amp so they should work with the PS4 & DT990 600 I think.
 
Did I perhaps miss something? Any thoughts on this?
 
 
With kind regards,
Krustaf

 

[DangerClose]

 
Did I perhaps miss something? Any thoughts on this?

 
Just depends on what you're trying to do and how much you want to spend on it.  All your problems should be solved by selling the 600-ohm and buying a 32-ohm.  Or buying an easier driven headphone for the dual-shock.  And then you don't have to move a single headphone around and plug it into the different devices. 
 
But maybe the audio quality of the dual-shock is bad and not enjoyable so a dac and/or amp would greatly improve your gaming enjoyment.  I know what an Essence sounds like. I don't know what the dual-shock output sounds like.  

 

[Krustaf]

Alright, a friend of mine would borrow me his Dt990 32 Ohm so I can check it out via the Dualshock, I'll report later on!

 

[Krustaf]

Alright, a friend of mine would borrow me his Dt990 32 Ohm so I can check it out via the Dualshock, I'll report later on!

As expected the 32 sound better than the 600 when directly connected to the Dualshock. However, they pale in comparison to the 600 when plugged into the Essence on my PC.
 
I think I'll stick with the 600 ohm and just buy a little bit more powerful dac-amp like the Audio GD NFB-15.1 to use them on my ps4.
 
Thank you very much for your input!
 
 
With kind regards,
Krustaf

 

[DangerClose]

  As expected the 32 sound better than the 600 when directly connected to the Dualshock. However, they pale in comparison to the 600 when plugged into the Essence on my PC.
 

 
Not many people have both a 32-ohm and 600-ohm DT990 at the same time.  Going a bit more in depth as to why the 32 pales in comparison would be good.  Either here or in the DT990 thread.  Some people say there's a slight difference, some say a pretty big difference.

 

[Krustaf]

   
Not many people have both a 32-ohm and 600-ohm DT990 at the same time.  Going a bit more in depth as to why the 32 pales in comparison would be good.  Either here or in the DT990 thread.  Some people say there's a slight difference, some say a pretty big difference.

Oh sure thing, so as I already mentioned before I'm quite the hi-fi noob. The DT990 were also my first "quality" headphones but the difference I heard from 32 ohm to 600 ohm via the Essence were bigger than I expected them to be.
 
The main difference would be the clear details in the background like hi-hat & samples (when listening to hiphop, illmatic for example). Also it's hard to describe but the 600 seem to be more "dynamic" in a sense that kicks and snares appear to be more forward to the face.
 
Feel free to ask specific questions regarding the ohm-difference which I may not thought of, I'll see if I can answer them ^^
 
 
With kind regards,
 
Krustaf

 

[rbtrrnss]

Quote:

 
That is powered by USB which I have often found brings a lot on noise and interference. It does allow you to get audio through USB though which is a bonus. The biggest problem with this by the look of it is that it is lacking a switch between the inputs. For me, that would put me off buying it. E.g, if I plugged my TV tuner box into the coaxial and my PC into the optical or USB input, there would be a bit problem. Whenever my TV tuner comes on to record something, I would have to listen to that at the same time at my computer audio. If you never have the 2 devices running at the same time going to the inputs, then it shouldn't be a problem.
 
In terms of sound quality, I don't know if there will be a difference and I don't think it is likely to be better. Going any cheaper that what I paid for the SMSL DAC probably won't make any improvement over the computer's built in sound card. The main reason I have it is so I can get digital audio from my blu-ray player through the coaxial as well as optical from my PC. Plus I get a nice dial and volume boost. It also improves the sound over the soundcard in my PC. Something good about this is that it has a good quality power supply. There is hardly hiss at all even if you turn the volume up to full when nothing is playing. I pretty much never turn it more than a 3rd the way round anyway. It is rather loud!
 
 
Edit - I've just found that that other DAC has a much less powerful amplifier. Only 53mW when driving 150ohm headphones. That isn't very powerful at all. When comparing the 2, the SMSL is 130mW at 32ohm and the other you gave a link to is only 95mW at 32ohm. The SMSL will be better at driving your headphones.

 
 

  Okay so no problem about software. What about the less known Sabaj D2 dac/amp for 10€ less?

 
If anyone of you is wondering what hardware is crammed into the Sabaj D2, here is a picture of the board. I bought it because of the low price and found this discussion afterwards. I have no complaints concerning the sound and volume it puts out, but I only tried some old AKG K530 and DT770 80Ohm on it.
http://i.imgur.com/MvtxGKG.jpg (It looks somehow very similar to the SMSL M3, right?)
There's really not much information about this DAC/Amp, so maybe this helps someone in the future.

 

[rendyG]

Can anybody here speak french? I found a interesting article on fr forum where one guy was modding the 793

 

[thuNDa]

  Can anybody here speak french? I found a interesting article on fr forum where one guy was modding the 793

I saw the pics, and i'm not impressed.
I bet the original caps for power supply of the IC's are already higher rated than it would have been needed for optimal function.
Then he swaps the 1uF film-caps to WIMA's, but also at 1uF.
 
Just for fun I will solder a film cap with higher capacitance to one channel there, and compare the bass response to the other untouched channel. 

 
 
EDIT: OK
 

Used a cap salvaged from an old computer-PSU.

So the left channel has now 1.47uF(the 0.47uF cap is in parallel with the original cap), and the right channel has the original 1uF.
 

 
This shows the response from the HP-out BTW.
The line-out has a more extended low frequency response.
 
Any mod should at first adress these 1uF film-caps, and replace(or solder in parallel) them with caps of a higher capacitance to extend the bass(not that it's horrible with 1uF, but still that's something which can objectively be improved).

 

[rendyG]

  I saw the pics, and i'm not impressed.
I bet the original caps for power supply of the IC's are already higher rated than it would have been needed for optimal function.
Then he swaps the 1uF film-caps to WIMA's, but also at 1uF.
 
Just for fun I will solder a film cap with higher capacitance to one channel there, and compare the bass response to the other untouched channel. 

 
 
EDIT: OK
 

Used a cap salvaged from an old computer-PSU.

So the left channel has now 1.47uF(the 0.47uF cap is in parallel with the original cap), and the right channel has the original 1uF.
 

 
This shows the response from the HP-out BTW.
The line-out has a more extended low frequency response.
 
Any mod should at first adress these 1uF film-caps, and replace(or solder in parallel) them with caps of a higher capacitance to extend the bass(not that it's horrible with 1uF, but still that's something which can objectively be improved).

GJ, good to see some "objective" proof
Maybe the fr guy didn´t change caps to better rated, but to better "quality" ones, which can have impact on sound.
As far as I know we cannot see the sonic changes in the graph, for example attack, decay, timing, texture...
I have no experience in this kind of modding, but still, I think the opamp change will make the biggest difference.
Thats why I wanted somebody to translate the findings on that fr forum, maybe it will help out a liitle

 

[Riversalt]

  I saw the pics, and i'm not impressed.
I bet the original caps for power supply of the IC's are already higher rated than it would have been needed for optimal function.
Then he swaps the 1uF film-caps to WIMA's, but also at 1uF.
 
Just for fun I will solder a film cap with higher capacitance to one channel there, and compare the bass response to the other untouched channel. 

 
 
EDIT: OK
 

Used a cap salvaged from an old computer-PSU.

So the left channel has now 1.47uF(the 0.47uF cap is in parallel with the original cap), and the right channel has the original 1uF.
 

 
This shows the response from the HP-out BTW.
The line-out has a more extended low frequency response.
 
Any mod should at first adress these 1uF film-caps, and replace(or solder in parallel) them with caps of a higher capacitance to extend the bass(not that it's horrible with 1uF, but still that's something which can objectively be improved).

What is the complete modification for more serious and definition?

 

[thuNDa]

  What is the complete modification for more serious and definition?

I would get WIMA MKS2-50 4.7uF caps, as a drop-in replacement for the original caps, and be done.
https://www.reichelt.de/MKS-2/MKS2-50-4-7-/3/index.html?ACTION=3&GROUPID=7169&ARTICLE=31930&OFFSET=16&SID=95WCWq1KwQATIAAF2FeY0d78eafa7c25e97f37d0412e4dda8fe7e&LANGUAGE=EN
 
They should fit without any screwing around(BTW, to open the enclosure, you need a Torx 8 screwdriver for the frontpanel - backpanel don't need to be removed).

 

[limcc]

Just bought one few days ago from Taobao for CNY338 or ~US$50. One of the seller(not the one I bought) claim to be using ELNA and Nichicon cap but mine wasn't using'any one them. might be the norm for Chinese made, change components any time they like.
 
I'm not a headphone person but my place doesn't allow me to blast speaker lately. I had bought some value headphones like CAL!, CAL!2, Vmoda M80 and HD598. they are all power by onboard realtek, sound OK but way lousier than my (very) old Audiolav 8000A and Denon DCD-S10 headphone out. I was looking to get some portable desktop headphone amp to improve the sound but wasn't gonna spend much. bought SMSL M2, not only it broke down after a few months of use, it sounded worst than the onboard realtek! from Asus ALC892 and ALC1150, not to mention my seperates. I thought an ext power amp might improve the sound, unfortunately, the SD-793II also sound worst than the ALC1150! The coaxial input is the worst, toslink is a tiny bit better, both have harsh treble and thin bass, in simple words, not pleasant to hear for more than 10 minutes.
 
I am puzzled, how could an ext amp sound worst than onboard? it is the op-amp? I would like to know if changing them would improve the sound.
 
Heres the pic if anyone interested.
 

 

[Alzi]

Hi, this is my first post here. I have a question. A reseller on amazon responded to my question about the headphone output jack impedance of the 793ii stating it is 20 ohm. That seems very high to me and im not sure this person is correct. Can anyone verify? If so then according to the 1/8 rule won't this be a bad choice for any headphone under 160 ohm?