[SierraMadre]

I don't think anyone should be getting the 650 any time soon, unless there's no way to get the 6XX, which is so much cheaper and is the same thing. Unless people are collectors and NEED the 650 branding, of course.

But yeah, I do wonder if Fege being over there would net him a price that isn't as high as it would be for the US.

Just looked at the Drop price for the 6XX, didn’t realise it was only $195. Superb value.
100-200 really is the sweetspot for price/performance value and scaling right now. So
many great options across that price range, PC 37X, SHP9500, K612 at the 100 mark, 58X Jubilee and Fidelio X2 at the 130 - 160:mark and K7XX and 6XX at the 200.

 

[Eyadish]

I am planning to pick up the Drop x Panda for it multi-use area (that includes the boommic perk too)

I would like your opinion too on the best way to plug it into my PC. I've looked at a few different options, but I have no clue what is best.

• Simple USB C cable to use the internals. Would then require some kind of other usb microphone that would be in the way, so I wouldn't prefer it this way.
• Schiit Hel. Quite simple why.
• Some kind of DAC/Amp stack (Looked at Schiit modi and magni, but other options might be better), and figure out a way to get good mic quality (maybe just plug it into the motherboard)
• The craziest option, a amp and then use the Focusrite Scarlett solo 3rd gen as a DAC aswell as mic input, with a XLR to 3.5 mm adapter.
• Just use the Scarlett as a dac/amp?

I wouldn't have an issue spending a little money on it ($200-$300), but I am thinking that maybe I am just would get stuff I really don't need.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I am planning to pick up the Drop x Panda for it multi-use area (that includes the boommic perk too)

I would like your opinion too on the best way to plug it into my PC. I've looked at a few different options, but I have no clue what is best.

• Simple USB C cable to use the internals. Would then require some kind of other usb microphone that would be in the way, so I wouldn't prefer it this way.
• Schiit Hel. Quite simple why.
• Some kind of DAC/Amp stack (Looked at Schiit modi and magni, but other options might be better), and figure out a way to get good mic quality (maybe just plug it into the motherboard)
• The craziest option, a amp and then use the Focusrite Scarlett solo 3rd gen as a DAC aswell as mic input, with a XLR to 3.5 mm adapter.
• Just use the Scarlett as a dac/amp?

I wouldn't have an issue spending a little money on it ($200-$300), but I am thinking that maybe I am just would get stuff I really don't need.

You really should revolve use of it around Bluetooth and the USB (a newer addition to its versatility). After all, it has some pretty high quality internals for those purposes. If you really wanna use a dac and amp, I'd get something else that would make more sense for that.

Yes, the Aux input is really excellent and works well, but seriously, don't get it if that's your main use.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I am planning to pick up the Drop x Panda for it multi-use area (that includes the boommic perk too)

I would like your opinion too on the best way to plug it into my PC. I've looked at a few different options, but I have no clue what is best.

• Simple USB C cable to use the internals. Would then require some kind of other usb microphone that would be in the way, so I wouldn't prefer it this way.
• Schiit Hel. Quite simple why.
• Some kind of DAC/Amp stack (Looked at Schiit modi and magni, but other options might be better), and figure out a way to get good mic quality (maybe just plug it into the motherboard)
• The craziest option, a amp and then use the Focusrite Scarlett solo 3rd gen as a DAC as well as mic input, with a XLR to 3.5 mm adapter.
• Just use the Scarlett as a dac/amp?

I wouldn't have an issue spending a little money on it ($200-$300), but I am thinking that maybe I am just would get stuff I really don't need.

I would assume the USB is for charging only and does not carry and audio signal.
So it's either the 3.5mm jack for analog or wireless, for audio, for the Panda.
Maybe get the Xduoo XD-05 or Topping DX3 Pro, I believe the newer version support Bluetooth
(as well as both offering analog audio (3.5mm) connection.
Plug the mic into the on-board audio.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I would assume the USB is for charging only and does not carry and audio signal.
So it's either the 3.5mm jack for analog or wireless, for audio, for the Panda.
Maybe get the Xduoo XD-05 or Topping DX3 Pro, I believe the newer version support Bluetooth
(as well as both offering analog audio (3.5mm) connection.
Plug the mic into the on-board audio.

Nah, they're adding usb functionality on it. It was already working on the review unit, though not perfectly. They updated starting it's coming.

 

[SierraMadre]

Recommendations Sought, Warm Solid State Amp or dac/amp for HD800S​

Looking for a euphonic, warm sounding solid state amp or dac/amp with good synergy for rendition of expansive soundstage and decent holography, preferably under 300 (but could exceed if particularly ideal), BUT one that will tame the treble and glare and give the bass more body and presence without having to resort to EQ.

Context:

I currently use the Massdrop THX AAA fed from the G6 lineout for my console/TV setup with custom EQ profile. I would prefer to reserve the Soundblaster profile on the G6 lineout for my desktop speakers as having to plug the G6 into PC just to change the profile assigned to the line-out is a hassle. I already have a nice little budget tube hybrid (Loxjie P20) that I use for my desktop setup that makes the HD800S sound smooth enough for me not to need EQ (and I already plan on getting a true tube amp in due course - probably the Eddie Current ZDT Jr or the Feliks Audio Echo) but in the meantime, I would like an amp or dac/amp for the TV end that provides me with a plug and play, palatable, non-fatiguing presentation with the HD800S’s for console gaming and Blurays.

Asgard 3?

I have have seen several posts here on Headfi suggesting that the new Schiit Asgard 3 has good synergy with HD800 and plenty more describing it generally as warm, full / lush and generally euphonic sounding.
On the other hand, I have also seen a few other posts from users on various forums claiming that the Asgard 3 is more neutral and thinner / brighter than the Asgard 2 which worries me because I haven’t seen many describe the Asgard 2 in this way except in “warm at least as far as Schiit stuff goes”-terms, let alone euphonic. “Warm by Schiit standards“ or the warmish side of neutral is not really what I’m looking for, I want warm in general. If I want neutrality I already have the THX amp and other cans with signatures that are better suited for my ears with that amp. Obviously there will always be contrasting opinions as to what is warm/lush/euphonic but I would appreciate some recommendations.

Other recommendations I have come across are ifi-black DSD and IFI-micro I-Can Special Edition, Matrix M-stage HPA 3B and the Gimore Lite Mk2 but these are all considerably more expensive than the Asgard 3.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AppleheadMay]

In the Schiit lineup I'd be looking more at two of their tube offerings: Lyr 3 like I have for all kinds of cans, Valhalla 2 for HD800(S)/820/650/600.
They'll be more in the line of "warm, as far as Schiit goes" but don't expect anywhere near euphonic from what I have already heard from Schiit.

An amp I had that answers to most of your requests could be the HD-DAC1 from Marantz, I had one for quite a while and used it with the 800S.
SS, typical Marantz mid-forward sound but warmer than what I usually heard from them, full and warm bass but a bit muddy (not tight and controlled controlled like with the Luxman amps I have/had), no nasty treble anymore. As far as I can remember it won't do anything extra for your soundstage though but I wasn't all that into VSS and using it with movies at the time.
Used prices: https://www.hifishark.com/model/marantz-hd-dac-1

Else the smaller Woo amps maybe? But that's tubes again.

 

[HieroX]

Ignore the post where I recommended X3 for SXFI back when I first got it. I have just edited it now in case anyone else comes across it.

At the time of that original posting, I had only cursorily tested SXFI on it, assuming that it would generally be as good as SXFI on the SXFI AMP which I already owned and had plenty of experience with.

Having since tested it more, the X3 has problems with SXFI which correspond to the subject of a number of complaints from other users on reddit and the net.

If you want a SXFI dac/amp, stick with the SXFI Amp for now.

Hi SierraMadre,

We agreed on this point in the SXFi thread.
I just went to Creative HQ in Singapore with both my SXFi amp and X3 to show them the differences in SXFi implementation.

Just a recap on the differences between X3 and SXFI amp:

The SXFi function on the X3 is vastly inferior as compared to the SXFi amp. This is regardless of gen1 or gen2 profiles. I bought the SXFi amp when it first launched in Nov 2018. I came to like the SXFi sound, and that's the main reason why I bought the X3 for my desktop PC. However, the SXFi on the X3 is currently very distorted, especially on the busy parts of the track. The mids and lows are severely affected, so any tracks that have a lot of bassy instruments will feel congested, and the mids will be absent.

Before I had a meeting with the engineers there, I went to test out one of the X3s they had in the showroom. They had the same issue, so it's not because my unit is defective.

During the meeting, I supplied the engineers with audio tracks that emphasized the differences between the X3 and SXFi amp.
The good news is that they are already aware of the problem; I merely supplied the tracks and personal experience to confirm their findings. They are currently developing a firmware update to fix this problem and also told me that it is very likely a DSP issue, as I could hear the immediate improvements to the SXFi quality when they hooked up my X3 to their workstation and changed some settings.

Anyone holding on to the X3 should hear improvements in the SXFi effect when the update comes out.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Nah, they're adding usb functionality on it. It was already working on the review unit, though not perfectly. They updated starting it's coming.

I had tried to find a manual for the Panda, no luck.
So the USB connection carries a digital audio signal.
Making it very easily for the Panda to work with a PC

 

[SierraMadre]

In the Schiit lineup I'd be looking more at two of their tube offerings: Lyr 3 like I have for all kinds of cans, Valhalla 2 for HD800(S)/820/650/600.
They'll be more in the line of "warm, as far as Schiit goes" but don't expect anywhere near euphonic from what I have already heard from Schiit.

An amp I had that answers to most of your requests could be the HD-DAC1 from Marantz, I had one for quite a while and used it with the 800S.
SS, typical Marantz mid-forward sound but warmer than what I usually heard from them, full and warm bass but a bit muddy (not tight and controlled controlled like with the Luxman amps I have/had), no nasty treble anymore. As far as I can remember it won't do anything extra for your soundstage though but I wasn't all that into VSS and using it with movies at the time.
Used prices: https://www.hifishark.com/model/marantz-hd-dac-1

Else the smaller Woo amps maybe? But that's tubes again.

Thanks for the recommendations!
I had come across the HD DAC1 in my trawling but at close to £600 it was rather a bit too above my budget to justify given that the SS option is partly an interim until I get a true tube amp. In any case, I know now to keep it in mind if I decide to widen my considered price range or can overcome my aversion to secondhand equipment that costs over £200.

Re soundstage, I wasn’t really looking for improvements, rather trying to avoid amps with more ’initimate’ presentations. More than happy with the HD800S staging as is, just didn’t want anything that would detract from it.

Other things I considered were:

the mini-dsp HA which offers parametric EQ profiles and came strongly recommended for the HD800 by the fast-becoming-legendary-on-audio-forums Oratory1990 who is behind most of the best recommended compensation profiles on Auto-EQ and Hesuv but as far as I can tell, it’s battery-charge only and can’t charge and play at the same time.
https://www.minidsp.com/products/plate-amplifiers/ha-dsp-headphone-amp

and,

Franz/Solderdude of DIYAudioHeaven fame’s Project Kameleon headphone specific in-line analogue compensation filter marketed commercially by Project Garage 1217. Also considered his/their highly rated tube and hybrid tube amps too.

http://www.garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_018.htm

Much to think about!

Hi SierraMadre,

We agreed on this point in the SXFi thread.
I just went to Creative HQ in Singapore with both my SXFi amp and X3 to show them the differences in SXFi implementation.

Just a recap on the differences between X3 and SXFI amp:

The SXFi function on the X3 is vastly inferior as compared to the SXFi amp. This is regardless of gen1 or gen2 profiles. I bought the SXFi amp when it first launched in Nov 2018. I came to like the SXFi sound, and that's the main reason why I bought the X3 for my desktop PC. However, the SXFi on the X3 is currently very distorted, especially on the busy parts of the track. The mids and lows are severely affected, so any tracks that have a lot of bassy instruments will feel congested, and the mids will be absent.

Before I had a meeting with the engineers there, I went to test out one of the X3s they had in the showroom. They had the same issue, so it's not because my unit is defective.

During the meeting, I supplied the engineers with audio tracks that emphasized the differences between the X3 and SXFi amp.
The good news is that they are already aware of the problem; I merely supplied the tracks and personal experience to confirm their findings. They are currently developing a firmware update to fix this problem and also told me that it is very likely a DSP issue, as I could hear the immediate improvements to the SXFi quality when they hooked up my X3 to their workstation and changed some settings.

Anyone holding on to the X3 should hear improvements in the SXFi effect when the update comes out.

Outstanding stuff!
Thanks for the heads up!

Have you notified that doubting-Thomas on the other thread? You know, Mr.-“SXFI on the X3 is amazing and yours is either broken or you don’t know how to set it up properly or you‘re just a whiner who can’t appreciate greatness.”

- I am paraphrasing and over-dramatising slightly of course, but that was the general gist of their attitude to the mere notion that their beloved X3 might not be rendering SXFI properly like the SXFI AMP

 

[HieroX]

Outstanding stuff!
Thanks for the heads up!

Have you notified that doubting-Thomas on the other thread? You know, Mr.-“SXFI on the X3 is amazing and yours is either broken or you don’t know how to set it up properly or you‘re just a whiner who can’t appreciate greatness.”

- I am paraphrasing and over-dramatising slightly of course, but that was the general gist of their attitude to the mere notion that their beloved X3 might not be rendering SXFI properly like the SXFI AMP

Haha well.. I see no need to.
If his X3 is amazing, it's either he's lucky(new batch of X3s), or he is not able to tell the difference.

If it's the latter, he won't be able to notice the improvements in the new update anyway.

I also tend not to partake in any discussions that are meaningless. =D

 

[HieroX]

hey guys, I have been using the He4xx since January with Creative X3.
On the X3, it's stated that low gain is for headphones below 150 ohms, while high gain is for headphones above 150ohms.
Will it damage the He4xx if I use high gain?

 

[PurpleAngel]

hey guys, I have been using the He4xx since January with Creative X3.
On the X3, it's stated that low gain is for headphones below 150-Ohms, while high gain is for headphones above 150-Ohms.
Will it damage the He4xx if I use high gain?

Nope, it takes the same amount of voltage/current, for a given loudness, whether the amp is set for low gain or high gain.
Chances are you would hurt your eardrums, before damaging the headphones.

 

[HieroX]

Nope, it takes the same amount of voltage/current, for a given loudness, whether the amp is set for low gain or high gain.
Chances are you would hurt your eardrums, before damaging the headphones.

Ahh I see. So as long as sound levels are in the healthy levels(Not jet engine loud) on high gain, both me and the He4xx will be fine? Thanks!

 

[Vader2k]

Creative is having a 30% off March Madness sale, and it includes the X7, G6 and SXFI products:

https://us.creative.com/sale/
Coupon Code: MARCH30