[xthakila]

I had an X-fi at one point of time. I thought that it caused the sound to become to cool. Hey but I guess that's just my opinion. You might find them to be perfect.
 
On everything else I agree with Ronin. Also another amp you can look at for high impedance cans is the LittleDot MK VIII SE. I own one and I was supposed to write a review but have been really tied up lately. Will review them a week from now. As a brief note. It is a nice amp. A little big but it serves its purpose. It can effortlessly drive the DT990 and gives them a warmer sound texture. The bass becomes controlled and looses its occasional flabbiness. It is a fun headphone that works well with the LD and is hard to grow tiered of.

 

[ph4tandy]

Sweet, I keep reading around about the DT990 and hear nothing but good things. As for the Schiit Valhalla I can't seem to find a solid review, but judging by everyone's anticipation/praise I shouldn't go wrong. And even if I do there's the 15 satisfaction guarantee that'll make me feel much more comfortable.
 
My X-Fi is actually onboard (Asus Crosshair IV) named SupremeFX X-Fi? I've heard that it isn't an actual X-Fi chip or something, I forget the details. If necessary I don't mind buying another sound card with a built in DAC, since it'd be cheaper than buying a full on DAC. Or would I benefit more from just keeping my onboard X-Fi and buying an external DAC, though most of them seem pretty pricy.
 
In any case I might just finalize my decision about the DT990/Valhalla combo after spending a night to think about it. Now I wonder if any last minute recommendations will sway my decision for tomorrow lol.

 

[xthakila]

I had one of those external X-fi cards as i had mentioned before it was horrible. I would say get an external DAC the yulong D100 is an exellent cheap DAC. It has got a ton of positive reviews on Head-fi.
 
For me the DAC made a huge difference. You also need to make sure your music is lossless not some mp3's... That would be an epic fail

 

[ph4tandy]

Oh man $500 for a DAC? Wasn't expecting something like that to be "cheap". So I guess DAC's really do make a difference? Maybe sometime in the future I'll add that onto my rig, but for now headphones/amp are probably my priority.
 
And yes I've made the switch to lossless audio months ago. Even with my (lack of a) setup now I noticed a difference between FLAC and mp3's.

 

[maverickronin]

You don't need to spend nearly that much on a decent DAC.  Get the amp and the 'phones and see how you like it with your current setup.  If you feel its a little lacking or just want to have all your bases covered then get something like the uDAC.

 

[ph4tandy]

Yeah I'll probably hold off on the DAC until the burn in my wallet recovers lol.

 

[xthakila]

Best of luck

 

[ph4tandy]

Okay so after a good day's thinkover I came a very sad conclusion. I don't have enough funds for the Valhalla. Sigh. Wasn't expecting the tax and shipping to hurt me further :/
 
So I think I'm going to have to settle for something smaller. The MKIII is again in my mind, so I'm open to suggestions again.
I heard tube rolling on the MKIII can help out a lot, so it'd a cheaper way to get more bang for the buck; Valhalla doesn't allow rolling though(?)
Otherwise I'll wait another two weeks for my next paycheck and smash right into a Valhalla.
Hopefully there'll be more reviews and opinions on it by then

 

[maverickronin]

You might want to wait a bit for the Valhalla.  If you get into tube rolling your wallet will never forgive you.

 

[ph4tandy]

Haha I expected as much. Modding is always an addictive (and expensive) hobby ><

 

[maverickronin]

Next thing you know, you'll be obsessing over date codes, factories, and things like that.

 

[ph4tandy]

My DT990's and Valhalla have arrived and all I can say is WOW.
Definitely a huge step up from what I had before.
Depth, clarity, response are all substantially better. Words cannot describe hahaha
 
Now I'm curious how an upgraded sound card or DAC would play in. But that will have to wait til another day lol.
 
Thank you all so much for pointing me in the right direction! Big ups to you guys!