[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, since neither are have optical dacs, you don't need to buy a dac/amp. The cheapest dac/amp with an optical input is the E17, FWIS. For now, you can just get an E11, which is actually a little more powerful than the E17, but has no dac.

Bear in mind, you will be double amping from the U3. All you're doing is amping the amped signal with a better output impedance, which will stabilize the X1's frequency response.

Honestly, I'd just get the U3 and x1 for now (though it may sound a little thin at first), then buying a used E17 later. We're talking like a $20 difference from something like the E11 anyways.

The E10 only works as a usb dac FIRST, so you can't connect the U3 to it.

The E7K IMHO just isn't worth it, when the E17 is just a little more and has all the features plus more power.

 

[retiredat21]

Thank you for the response! How much performance gain our se talking about here if i decided to stretch my budget to buy the e17?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

You're getting the optical input which is the most important aspect, as you can st the U3 to output an optical signal, so you won't be using the U3 for anything other than Dolby headphone processing, and using the E17's internal dac and amp. The E17's amp is considerably stronger than the E7s, and the X1, while efficient can still benefit from more and more power. Performance gain is subjective. You can't put a number on it. I haven't tested the E7K, but the power specs don't convince me it'd be anything truly proper for the X1.

I honestly don't understand why the E7K was made after the E17, as it's only a bit cheaper and lacks the spdif input and is weaker. They should've focused on something else.

 

[Chubtoad]

I'll take a look at those koss, but what about the CAL!? I know you liked them when you had them a long time ago. I see they are on sale now for $73.99 and the CAL! 2 is 129.99 although I don't know anything about them.

How come the Koss KSC35 is discontinued if it was better than the KSC75? Was it just to get people to buy sportapro and the KSC75 and have to make their own? Lol

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The Koss KSC35 isn't discontinued. Koss sells it directly from their website.

No idea why they stopped selling it outside of their site though.

The CAL is great. Tyll at Innerfidelity stated that the CAL2 is inferior to the original CAL, which I expected, as it no longer uses Fostex's bio-cellulose drivers.

The CAL is and will always be an impressive headphone to my ears, but I prefer the low profile, openness, and comfort of the Koss clip ons. In fact, i feel I may have scored the KSC35's comfort too low.

 

[Nokami]

Heyja,
 
will the AD700 or Sony MDRMA900 be an Upgrade vs my HD598? Or it is not worth?
 
*for Gaming
 
Thanks

 

[conquerator2]

Heads-up for the K612 Pros, amazing, amazing headphones [even when driven off a DAP, unamped IMO, though they will surely improve further when my amp arrive].
For the same price as the MA900, IMO they beat it in everything but air quantity and sheer soundstage size [though the imaging is superior], bass is subjective [K612 a bit tighter, MA900 a bit boomier, but still very tight].
Overall, very impressed, they are different to the MA900 somewhat [though still similar in essence].
I'll post more when the amp is here [M-Stage] but as said, even now, they are essentially what I hoped for [and you still have the opportunity to get the K701/2 pads for them to gain a bit more air/soundstage at the expense of a bit of bass, I am planning to get them later]

 

[retiredat21]

Looks like im gonna be going with the e17 then. More questions.. do i need to buy anything else aside from the u3 and the e17 to have it working with the laptop? This is actually my first time doing this and my first time buying a dac and amp so i really have no idea.. thank you!

 

[exSpire]

Hey
 
Not sure if this is the right place for my question.

Would there be a difference in games (FPS) with this situation?
from Soundcard > Headphones; moving to USB DAC > Amp > Headphones
 
I read here and there suggestions to go with SPDIF from soundcard into DAC but in another place I read that there won't be any difference.
I mean there would obviously be the difference in quality from a crappy onboard soundcard to a decent DAC. What I mean is, in terms of sound cues about players positions, would there be any difference?
 
Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Chubtoad]

The Koss KSC35 isn't discontinued. Koss sells it directly from their website.

No idea why they stopped selling it outside of their site though.

The CAL is great. Tyll at Innerfidelity stated that the CAL2 is inferior to the original CAL, which I expected, as it no longer uses Fostex's bio-cellulose drivers.

The CAL is and will always be an impressive headphone to my ears, but I prefer the low profile, openness, and comfort of the Koss clip ons. In fact, i feel I may have scored the KSC35's comfort too low.

It's actually cheaper for me to buy the ksc35 directly vs buying the other 2 individually. They look like a solid solution for on the go. Truth be told though, I use my handhelds at home more than I take them with me so I don't really mind larger headphones. It's also why I most likely will just bite on the fidelio x1 and complete my home setup.

From the sounds of it they could just plug in directly and sound just fine without any amping. Or if needed just pick up something cheap like the e11 or e12 although e12 probably not necessary. The only thing that holds me back is that I already have the Annie so I just don't know how much of a difference there would really be, like is the bass that much more for that fun and immersion factor? That's really the big thing for me is the bass factor. If it's enough of a difference then that's probably what I would end up doing and grabbing a pair of koss for the times I need them.

I just recently had to renew my phone contract so I upgraded to a Samsung galaxy note 3 (pretty beastly phone) so I assume the Koss would work well with that as well.

*edit* obviously I'd be able to use the X1's on my console/pc and not just entirely for my handhelds so theres always that too.

 

[1llest]

Has anybody used an Amp with the Astro mixamp? my setup is Astro mixamp > M-Stage and with PC360 and X1

The problem is, I lose pinpoint accuracy when using an amp after the mixamp. Surround is still there but I cant tell where the sound is coming from.

Anybody have the same experience? It sucks that I can't use my amp with the mixamp.

 

[AxelCloris]

Has anybody used an Amp with the Astro mixamp? my setup is Astro mixamp > M-Stage and with PC360 and X1

The problem is, I lose pinpoint accuracy when using an amp after the mixamp. Surround is still there but I cant tell where the sound is coming from.

Anybody have the same experience? It sucks that I can't use my amp with the mixamp.

 
I've used an amp after the mixamp, and I know many others here have as well. I can't say I've come across this issue as the amps that I used never altered the positional queues. That said, I've never used the M-Stage with the mixamp. Chicolom has used that combination and may be able to weigh in more.
 
As for your setup, do you have a second amp you can use, even a portable one, to see if you can recreate the issue using a different configuration? Troubleshooting works best changing one link in the chain at a time.

 

[1llest]

I've used an amp after the mixamp, and I know many others here have as well. I can't say I've come across this issue as the amps that I used never altered the positional queues. That said, I've never used the M-Stage with the mixamp. Chicolom has used that combination and may be able to weigh in more.

As for your setup, do you have a second amp you can use, even a portable one, to see if you can recreate the issue using a different configuration? Troubleshooting works best changing one link in the chain at a time.

What amp have you used with the Mixamp?

Im trying to get my hands on a Fiio E17 at the moment and will test it with the mixamp. It just sucks that my M-Stage alters the positional queue. It makes the sound appear closer than they should be which throws me off and hard to tell where the sound is coming from anything that is nearby. Very weird.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The E17 is not powerful enough to gain any significant volume over the Mixamp. Power requirements for extra volume scales up exponentially as more decibels are needed. For that, you need no less than something like an E12. More would be better.

 

[1llest]

The E17 is not powerful enough to gain any significant volume over the Mixamp. Power requirements for extra volume scales up exponentially as more decibels are needed. For that, you need no less than something like an E12. More would be better.

Thanks MLE. What would be a step up after the E12? Just looking at options