[enigmo]

Hi, new member here, in January I bought a Sennheiser Momentum 2 and a cheap notebook ($200). The notebook headphone output has hiss, sometimes fails, but it has actually excellent sound with the Momentum. Lot of dynamic bass, overall very pleasant sound.

Now, I wanted to get rid of the hiss a little bit and needed some other computer anyway, bought a Mac mini and now have some problem. With Momentum 2 plugged into the mac, bass is "shy", low in volume, "feels" not dynamic. I get a lot of highs, hear many details, no hiss at all. But it's unpleasant sound for me personally.

What could I try? DAC with EQ, DAC like dragonfly, or buy a different headphone?

I'm not sure if I could have accustomed my ears and brain to "too bassy" equipment in the last 6 months. My guess is that the mac mini is no good match for the Momentum 2. The Momentum sounds good with some Transcend mp3 player too, so I'm a bit unhappy with the mac sound.

Anyways, Hello : ), and thanks for reading

 

[buke9]

I have a old MacBook Pro and I have really never liked listening to headphones out of it but don’t remember it being bass light but it has been a while since I tried it as I would rather use dacs and amps personally and I’m sure the Mini is different than a MBP but any way. If it is low in volume then I would suggest a amp at the least.

 

[enigmo]

I have a old MacBook Pro and I have really never liked listening to headphones out of it but don’t remember it being bass light but it has been a while since I tried it as I would rather use dacs and amps personally and I’m sure the Mini is different than a MBP but any way. If it is low in volume then I would suggest a amp at the least.

It's only the bass that is low in volume. The overall sound is very loud, and I need to put the volume slider to something like 10%.

I wonder if there could be a headphone that is like made for the DAC built into the in the Mac. Beats maybe? The overly strong bass that some of these have could be the perfect match, or Fidelio or so. But would any bass-headphone be the right thing if the mac has - *cough* - no good sound?

If anyone would know a "fluffy" "bassy" DAC that has non-agressive and dark sound, that would be the one. If not, I'll just order a Dragonfly and see.

 

[buke9]

Ok first off the term Dac is used to say a amp too often but a dac is a “digital to analog converter “ and will need a amp to amplify the analog output to be used by the headphone in this case so what you would want is a amp/dac like the Dragonfly Red. Well you said the headphone sounded fine from another device so I would think others would not do too good out of your Mac since that seems to be the problem if the M2’s sound ok out of a MP3 player so maybe a device like the Dragonfly Red would be helpful and can run many other headphones. I have a Dragonfly Red and the HD-1’s which for all intents and purpose is a Momentum wireless. I think they sound much better wired but for travel the ANC is nice. So I just grabbed the Dragonfly Red and plugged it in to my iPhone with the HD-1’s and no problem with bass with some Griz . I think they can definitely do bass so must be your source.

 

[boomhaur]

Dragonfly Red will work, I personally ended up with an Audioengine d3 that was refurbished for $45 I love using with my sennheiser hd58x. For Mac mini and laptop use a usb dac/amp stick is pretty much just one big dongle for all practical purposes and should make your audio setup quite easy and painless.

And a new external dac should help with the hiss, and amp will help providing enough juice so you get the full bass. All in one solution pretty much.

I’ve had similar issues before and a new dac/amp solved this over the integrated audio solution.

 

[enigmo]

I have ordered a D3 now, too. Headfi users seem to say it is dark or warm, so it can't be worse than the Mac. I've just side by side compared the Mac to the noname Trekstor laptop. The Trekstor wins easily, but has some noise floor. It's not the first time I hear that together with wider bass (like more stereo) and pleasantly warm tone, but I have no idea why that is. My dads Denon amp does just the same with the HD650, I ignore the noise and get great music somehow.