this is so weird ... since my DAC (Modi) connected via USB ... if I listen to music and do browsing on PC, it doesn't play smoothly. Pretty much any tasking on PC that may slow it down is reflecting on sound. How is that possible>?
Do you have a USB2 port free? try that. Or if you have connect any USB hub to the USB3 port and then use the modi. This seems to be an issue with (some) DACs for quite some time. Even with the HDP via USB I had this issue, my Modi is connected via a powered USB3 hub and everything is fine (but on a Mac).
Do you have a USB2 port free? try that. Or if you have connect any USB hub to the USB3 port and then use the modi. This seems to be an issue with (some) DACs for quite some time. Even with the HDP via USB I had this issue, my Modi is connected via a powered USB3 hub and everything is fine (but on a Mac).
that's the question ... I am sure that a $1,000 woo amp is going to sound better than $129 Vali .... question is ...by how much? to keep in mind, not soooo trained ears as I've been in this hobby for less than a year and have not heard the best.
Please try to avoid the word 'better'! Instead I suggest that you find out what kind of sound you like best, and ask for more specifically: more bass, treble, balanced frequency spectrum, space, resolved details. Otherwise you will be send around from amp to amp only to find out that 'better' for xyz sounds worse for your ears.
Also, what could be 3 times better? If you buy really cheap amps or headphones, there is potential to improve sound so significantly, that is is easy to hear. This is the fun place and you seem to be right there. Enjoy as long as it lasts.
When you listen to high quality equipment, changes in sound signature will diminish until you may need to listen carefully with well known recordings, to recognize and name the differences between amps. This is the point, where you are discussing personal listening preferences. Again, the word 'better' doesn't apply. The word 'price' most likely applies though.
Now, what is a high quality equipment? I guess, this is where prices are outrageously high. But for some listeners it is audio stuff that produces smooth sound without artificially enhanced details, for others it is perfect resolution of all the details, for a third party it is a lot of bass or treble (because it sounds so sparkling) ... or close to live music?
So what is close to live music? A crappy and deafening pa system is live, but you don't want sound like that at home - I guess. A string quartet in a small hot humid hall sounds mellow, in a cold, dry, large hall it sounds crispy and clear... - uh, depending on where you sit...
Welcome to a world of confusion. If there were easy answers, would this forum have so many pages?
no its definetly not a joke,i had the vali (great bang for the buck) it sounded excellent with my grado 225i,your getting great value and quality. im buying the modi usb to pair with magni ,i think the sound will be tolerable now compared to just the computer,i woudnt even listen to just the magni and computer.the modi should do the trick.but id like to try the combo with the mad dogs but im saving my money right now.i find the magni is excellent sonically on my nad int. amp and nad cd player,but the vali was better, i dont think anything that schiit makes is a joke compared to other models out there. and thats no ********.
At some point I am not sure if it is a matter of trained ears or having more imagination of what you think you are hearing really. I have not tested such an expensive headphone amp but have tested expensive dacs for speakers and the law of diminish returns seems to hit this type of gear sooner than later in my opinion.
In any case, based on your own comment I doubt you will get anywhere near 3 times better sounding or a WOW factor for the money. I could be wrong of course.
When it comes to the audio world I always played it like this, speakers first, acoustic treatments a close second (of course does not apply to headphones unless you reshape your head/ears lol), then electronics then cables (mostly cables for Aesthetics purposes)
I wanted to try that Schit combo but I need some bass boost option some times sadly. :/
Regards
To prevent this from happening in the future, with heavier workloads, I'd suggest setting your media player, as well as your driver processes to "high" priority. using USB2 is enough most of the time, but during heavy usage it can still lag depending on your machine
I like reading about folks interchanging their audio equipment in and out. It is the combinations and how different pieces of equipment have synergy as our way to get to a specific sound. Trial and error, money spent.
Thus it is finding a sound you find interesting and musical. The more I'm into this hobby the longer I take to reserve judgment on a specific item. It's just taking the time to get used to a different sound signature.
If we listen to warm undetailed combinations it takes a while to get used to a thin detailed rig, even though after time we may get used to the thin sound and grow to love it.
It has been a history that some folks try new equipment and get an instant wow emotion only to find the sound less than tolerable after months of listening. As sometimes the sound signature color is what gets us going emotionally.
All purchases are emotion based weather we want to admit it or not.
Tube amps add color. Combining tubes with a solid state equipment seems to be what most do. The effect is one of tubes balancing out some types of detailed analytical solid state equipment.
Tubes can add body to a thin source. So going into this hobby we are faced with the question of if we should spent more to get to the system we may eventually get to in time. Truth is you can buy a lot of mid-FI stuff and spent the same as three pieces of high end gear. Still we are not going to know ourselves with out sonic experimentation in the end.
As it turns out listening is an acquired skill. You could be looking at the mountain side out of your home window for years on end. A neighbor comes by and shows you the small ancient Indian structures that you can almost not see on the same hillside. From that moment on your perception of the hillside is different due to experience and education.
There is also the question of one single element making a complete system perfect. What would that eliment be? A power cord, a detailed source, a new set of headphones introduced. The only way we know is by experimentation. That is why Head-FI meets are so important. At times you will see much trial and error in equipment matching at meets. At times they take what they think is the best equipment around the room and make an supper system.
My musical headphone sound signature has been steadily moving from V shaped to flat every year I do this. I look forward to loving the flat sound signature that I used to whole-heartedly dislike at my first Head-FI meets.
That is one good reason for not just selling old equipment to buy new stuff. You may find a good combo by trying rotating old equipment with an expensive new audio purchase. You may find you first system to be the one you like coming back to? Your listening taste or musical genre preferences could change over time.
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