[modulor]

Quote:

yeah I want a muteable version really, I would just need something to temporarily use while waiting for stock.
 
I don't really know the differences between there versions, theres v2.0 and 3.0 and I guess there working on 4.0
 
would there be another alternative I could look at or any suggestions?

I have the latest version of the ModMic and it's pretty fantastic, but they have 2 new variations coming up soon, one with in-line mute switch which I will be acquiring once it's available.

 

[DocNinja]

Sorry for the extremely late reply. School and two jobs stole a couple weeks from me, heh. To answer your first question, I'm more interested in PC and music at the moment. I'm moving to a new place with roommates and I want to make my PC my media center. I plan on having two monitors, a headphone set up, and playing my 360 on my monitors. Eventually I'd like to add some mid-range speakers but I'd prefer headphones for now.
 
The sound card and desktop amp sounds like the way to go. Any suggestions on a good sound card/amp combo? I'm sure I can budget $300 for those parts alone.
Here's my build list if it could inflence anything.
 
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Akuma/saved/1oPa
 
Thanks for helping
 
 
Quote:

Like, Evshrug alluded to, it's a matter of priorities... What are you most concerned with: PC gaming, console gaming, or music? Snobbery aside, the E17 isn't any better of a DAC than a decent sound card, better amp possibly (better than most cards, not better than an STX's/Creative Zx's amp tho). You seem to be in a similar situation as Ziharay a couple of dozen posts up...

The E17 is a nice portable DAC/amp, but it doesn't sound like that's a big concern for you... (correct me if I'm wrong) Depending on your budget, and if you care equally about PC/console gaming, I think you might be etter off getting a cheap ($50-60) sound card plus a much better desk amp ($100) for just a couple more bucks than the E17 alone. It covers all the bases and sets you up for a while (possibly for good, or a good long while), that is assuming you don't mind hanging in with the AX720 base for now.

Take a look at the E09k or Magni, they're not any harder to move between your PC and console unless they aren't in the same house (heck you can get an extra wall wart for the Magni for like $10). As for a sound card, a Xonar DGX will get you DH and paired with an external amp it'll sound as good as any complete solution south of $300.

The point is you end up with pieces that work well with each other, if you want an expensive DAC later for music playback on the PC you can get one, pair it with your amp, and switch between it and the DGX (for gaming). Or even get one with optical input and feed it the DGX's output. If you wanna upgrade the AX720 base later for a DSS or a Mixamp you can just drop it in and pair it with your amp... Not that you couldn't do that with the E17, but you'd end up paying for an inferior amp and a DAC you might not use much in the long run.

If PC gaming isn't a priority, well, I wrote a lot of nonsense you can ignore...

Altho I'd still go for something like the E09/Magni, tho maybe you would want to get a DSS or something like that before getting a DAC for the PC for music duties (E07 maybe, don't need to shoot higher if you have the E09).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm willing to bet anything that the K712 = mass production Annie.

A 3db boost in bass over the standard K702 is basically exactly what the Annie did.

The Annie was undoubtedly a limited prototype of the K712, IMHO. Chicolom even stated this was a likely possibility. He mentioned this ages ago.

www.razordogaudio.com: "Now thru April 15th, use coupon code RAZORDOG65TH and get these for $375 or $125 off!"


THAT is what you guys need to jump at!

 

[Chubtoad]

Quote:

I'm willing to bet anything that the K712 = mass production Annie.

A 3db boost in bass over the standard K702 is basically exactly what the Annie did.

The Annie was undoubtedly a limited prototype of the K712, IMHO. Chicolom even stated this was a likely possibility. He mentioned this ages ago.

www.razordogaudio.com: "Now thru April 15th, use coupon code RAZORDOG65TH and get these for $375 or $125 off!"


THAT is what you guys need to jump at!

i already did!

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

I'm willing to bet anything that the K712 = mass production Annie.

A 3db boost in bass over the standard K702 is basically exactly what the Annie did.

The Annie was undoubtedly a limited prototype of the K712, IMHO. Chicolom even stated this was a likely possibility. He mentioned this ages ago.

www.razordogaudio.com: "Now thru April 15th, use coupon code RAZORDOG65TH and get these for $375 or $125 off!"


THAT is what you guys need to jump at!

 
I'm already using the standard K702 on my gaming rig, but I figured "what the hell" and bought the Annie with that deal. I'm thinking I may still keep the K702 on my gaming rig and throw the Annie on my home music rig. I'm really hoping I didn't make a bad decision with the imminent release of the K712.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm 99.9% certain that the K712 Pro = K702 Anniversary in a new color, and mass produced. The Annie was a limited test run, and made way for this. Same headband, highly certain to be memory foam pads by the 'additional 3db bass boost' comment on the product description, and AKGs tendency to repaint the same headphone over and over. If they were gonna make a brand new headphone, it would have been done by now.

 

[Impulse]

yeah I want a muteable version really, I would just need something to temporarily use while waiting for stock.

I don't really know the differences between there versions, theres v2.0 and 3.0 and I guess there working on 4.0

would there be another alternative I could look at or any suggestions?

2.0 was just their first shift in parts supplier, 3.0 was gonna be a noise canceling mic instead of an omni directional one but apparently they've had the most QC issues with that one... 4.0 is seemingly gonna be another supply chain shift from 2.0/3.0. All that being said, my 1.0 still picks up far less background noise than my Zalman clip on (also omni), I don't know if it's due to the boom mount or just the general sensitivity/quality of the capsule... It also sounds much more natural than the Zalman (to the person listening to me).

The Zalman isn't terrible tho, if you just want a cheap clip on with a looong cord to tide you over it's a viable and easily available option (if Amazon's still stocking them). It's pretty hit or miss too tho, some people's Zalman clip on performs very different from other's. YMMV, the Modmics were more consistent but I guess that's part of why they've struggled with
QC... Who would've thought cheap mics were as hard to get right as headphones?

Sorry for the extremely late reply. School and two jobs stole a couple weeks from me, heh. To answer your first question, I'm more interested in PC and music at the moment. I'm moving to a new place with roommates and I want to make my PC my media center. I plan on having two monitors, a headphone set up, and playing my 360 on my monitors. Eventually I'd like to add some mid-range speakers but I'd prefer headphones for now.
 
The sound card and desktop amp sounds like the way to go. Any suggestions on a good sound card/amp combo? I'm sure I can budget $300 for those parts alone.
Here's my build list if it could inflence anything.
 
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Akuma/saved/1oPa
 
Thanks for helping

I alluded to the two most recommended budget desk amps in the previous post, Fiio E09k and Schiit Magni. You could also look at the O2 by JDS Labs, Schiit Asgard 2, or Lake People G103S (last two are around $250 instead of $100-150). Magni's probably the best one for the price and the easiest to pair with a variety of headphones (whether low or high impedance), E09 has pre amp and line outputs, O2's pricier and has all the jacks on the front which is kinda meh...

As for a sound card, ASUS Xonar DGX for like $50 or Creative Titanium HD if you can get it for $100-ish... The Xonar does Dolby Headphone just like your DSS so if you're already used to that it may be the safe choice, Creative's card uses CMSS-3D which is comparable. The Xonar has a half decent headphone amp on board that you won't use, the Creative card is probably a little cleaner sounding. ASUS has a Ti HD competitor but it's usually closer to $175 and not worth the extra expense unless you intend to use it's amp (it's pretty good) and forsake the desk amp. What headphones are you pairing this with?

From what I've read, the new headphone surround virtualization on Creative's newer Z series isn't quite at the level of DH or CMSS-3D... If you intend to dig out some older PC games, CMSS-3D can actually be the superior choice, but for the vast majority of modem games it's gonna work roughly the same as DH.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Btw, I only recommend those amps because of their price.

This is a thread with gamers in mind first. And this thread pulls in a lot of newcomers not looking to break their bank by attaching a $250+ amp to help aid the Mixamp for gaming use.

I could put up $250+ amps on the guide, but it seems silly. I'm sure those who have delved in this hobby long enough have their own, more expensive amps which they use in place of what I recommend here. Like me using the Lyr and Compass 2 in place of the entry desktop amps.

I'm sure once you guys are serious about your setups, you can go through the forums and search for better desktop amps... like the ever popular Asgard 2, Matrix M-stage, Audio-GD offerings, etc...

 

[Chubtoad]

Quote:

Btw, I only recommend those amps because of their price.

This is a thread with gamers in mind first. And this thread pulls in a lot of newcomers not looking to break their bank by attaching a $250+ amp to help aid the Mixamp for gaming use.

I could put up $250+ amps on the guide, but it seems silly. I'm sure those who have delved in this hobby long enough have their own, more expensive amps which they use in place of what I recommend here. Like me using the Lyr and Compass 2 in place of the entry desktop amps.

I'm sure once you guys are serious about your setups, you can go through the forums and search for better desktop amps... like the ever popular Asgard 2, Matrix M-stage, Audio-GD offerings, etc...

I haven't actually ordered the Magni yet, but should I be considering something more powerful such as the Asgard 2? obviously the $99 dollar price tag is nice on the Magni compared to the $250 Asgard 2, but I'm looking to kind of order without having to order anything again for a long while. Obviously this is my first real audio setup so I have nothing to really compare it to, I'm sure I'll be blown away from either setup realistically. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If you can spring for the Asgard 2, I'd say go for it. That will satiate the need to upgrade, and looks like a real piece of equipment. The Magni is TINY in comparison. Not that it matters, but if I were in your shoes, I'd definitely get the Asgard 2. In fact, if I knew I wasn't getting planars which can take a bit more than the Asgard 2 gives, I'd get the Asgard 2 myself. For dynamic headphones, it should have more than enough power for everything, and still do well with planars like the HE-400, 500, LCD2 which don't require a ton of power (though can definitely take much more.

 

[Chubtoad]

Yeah I'm pretty sure I can spring for the Asgard 2, do the amps come with any cables or will I need to grab an RCA cable from somewhere else? I'm looking at the website right now and it shows a 115V or 230V version, which one should I be looking at?
 
 
Oh yeah my Annies shipped out this morning

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If you live in an NTSC area like USA or Japan, I'm sure you'd get the default, which I'm sure is the 115v.

I'm not sure if the Asgard 2 comes with cables, but It's always wise to have some spares. I'd get some from Amazon, like some Mediabridge ones. Assuming you're using a Mixamp, you'll want a 3.5mm to RCA cable. Also, not sure if you already own it, but the Mixamp comes with those cables and then some.

 

[Chubtoad]

I live in Canada, about an hour outside of Vancouver, I was just looking at my circuit breakers and it says Amp - 100 max, volt AC - 120/240
 
I'll be ordering the mixamp at the same time so thats good if it will come with everything

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, it should.

Man, you have one hell of a setup as your first! Are you planning on getting a DAC for non-gaming use?

But seriously, Annie + Asgard 2 + a decent dac like an ODAC/Bifrost is endgame level worthy for me.

 

[Chubtoad]

I will probably get a non gaming DAC at some point yeah, haven't really looked much into that yet, but for the sake of keeping aesthetics the same It would probably be the Bifrost because I like keeping everything matching
 
Thanks for all your help by the way I really appreciate it.