[Marso]

I am looking for a DAC/AMP for mainly pc use. Can you help me, i read about o2+odac, IDSD Nano, Denon DA300USB, dragonfly 1.2 (don´t see explorer 2 in my country for now) i want it to use like a "normal soundcard" so i can use it for gaming, voip etc. and use foobar with wasapi for listening music. i read that Denon use asio, do i need the driver if i only use CD quality files, because of voip and gaming i need to listen to 2 sources the same time.?!
 
anyone can help me/recommend me a dac? or help we with my driver qeustion.
 
sry for my bad english, its not my native language.
 
thanks

 

[subguy812]

  Just joined Head-Fi! Have been lurking here quite some time haha
Anyway, been reading up a lot on this gem. At the moment I own a DT 990 pro amped by an E17 and the ttpo-t1e.
I pretty much found out that I'm not a great fan of the V-shaped sound signature. Its great for Hip-Hop, EDM etc. but the X2 is/seems like the way better headphone, and definitely more of a do everything good. Really mainly missed the mids on the Beyers, so looking forward to a more neutral (better all-round) headphone.
 
Just pulled the trigger on the X2 since I've been reading up on it here and other places. The review of Tyll got me really excited as well
Found them at amazon.it for 230 euro's. Pretty nice.
Now the wait begins.
 
Btw, my E17 should be fine for the X2's right? Might purchase some higher grade gear once, but at the moment that's not in my budget unfortunately.

Use your E17 and enjoy it. I use a Fiio X5 and a E11. I could just use my Moto X for that matter. Just experiment and enjoy.

 

[OllyNL]

  Listening to the X2 through E17 as we speak and they sound great.  I also have a JDS C5D (currently sent back for repairs) and to be honest I don't really hear any real difference between the two notwithstanding the the 2x price difference.

 
Good to hear, thanks! Would you say there is a significant difference amped through the E17 and straight out of your headphone jack?
 

  Welcome to headfi!! The e17 will be just fine for the x2. Enjoy the x2, it's an impressive hp and crazy good for the price. 

 
Thanks! Happy to be here It's going to be a long week+ to wait for them..
 

 
Use your E17 and enjoy it. I use a Fiio X5 and a E11. I could just use my Moto X for that matter. Just experiment and enjoy.

 
I will, thanks. Nice that I don't need crazy gear to get great sound with these.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

   
Good to hear, thanks! Would you say there is a significant difference amped through the E17 and straight out of your headphone jack?
 
 
Thanks! Happy to be here It's going to be a long week+ to wait for them..
 
 
I will, thanks. Nice that I don't need crazy gear to get great sound with these.

I can't comment specifically on the E17 but I do find there's a significant difference between amped and unamped. And even those these are easy to drive and sound acceptable unamped, they really shine when amped and even more so if you throw some power to them. I was A/Bing them again a pair of HE-400's which are also highly regarded headphones and IMO great cans if you like the signature and I was having some trouble deciding. It wasn't until I used the X2 out of my cMoy that the X2 really pulled ahead and again when I got my Magni 2 Uber, the X2's pulled ahead even more. The HE-400's were sent out in the mail yesterday for refund, the X2 has officially found a new home. What I'm saying is amping really improves them a lot. You're E17 should be decent. I've read the O2 works really well since it's a neutral sounding amp and I feel that the X2 is very slightly warm, it should play well together. I don't like my X2 as much out of my Little Dot 1+ since it's very warm because I'm using warm tubes on top of a warm opamp. Too much warmth and it really hurts the detail that these headphones are capable of producing.

 

[encoreAC]

I am planning to use my x2 with my FiiO e07k

 

[dL.]

Any chance we can buy this in Canada?

dL

 

[encoreAC]

no, sir
 
tips fedora 
 
encoreAC

 

[bavinck]

I had to buy mine through amazon.com and pay through the nose on shipping and duties into Canada. Totally worth it.

 

[misobol]

  Still digging the sonics of my X2's very much, but I may have to return them to Amazon for a replacement pair.
There seems to be a very slight frequency response imbalance, somewhere, between the left and right channels. It does not seem to be a volume imbalance issue between the channels at all.
Voices, especially female vocals, are just a tad off center, and very slightly more to the left. This issue also seems to cause a somewhat less than accurate image than could be achieved, if the headphone channels were more frequency balanced.
My other headphones do not exhibit this issue.
They were like this out of the box, and I was hoping it would improve with burn-in, but after more than 200 hours of burn-in, the problem remains.
Has anyone else out there had this issue?

Hi,
I had exactly same with mine bought somewhere else than Amazon. I was really puzzled, since swapping them around ( right speaker to left ear ) would result in same bias of female vocals on the left. Can anyone explain this? 
 
For short while I was thinking it's just my head, realising vocals on the left side. But then I've put on Bose QC15 and this issue wasn't present.
Finally I have ordered another pair from Amazon. I did blind comparison tests and I was unable to find the difference between X2 sets.
However each time I was using new set for longer period of time the vocals seemed correctly in the middle, whilst listening old pair had this left bias.
In the end I've returned old pair with me suspecting some kind of fault in it.
 
 
On the burn in processes. I'm new to the the headphone/music scene and had no reason to believe the process or not.
However the new X2 pair was worst sounding pair it the department of bass and some vocals. There was harshness to them.
However after 10h of burning in they significantly improved and I had clear comparison of this in A/B listening.
Now the new pair have around 50h on the clock and to me now sounds exactly same as the old X2 I had.
 
All testing done on same cable.
 
Hope I help somebody.
Thanks 

 

[encoreAC]

  Hi,
I had exactly same with mine bought somewhere else than Amazon. I was really puzzled, since swapping them around ( right speaker to left ear ) would result in same bias of female vocals on the left. Can anyone explain this? 
 
For short while I was thinking it's just my head, realising vocals on the left side. But then I've put on Bose QC15 and this issue wasn't present.
Finally I have ordered another pair from Amazon. I did blind comparison tests and I was unable to find the difference between X2 sets.
However each time I was using new set for longer period of time the vocals seemed correctly in the middle, whilst listening old pair had this left bias.
In the end I've returned old pair with me suspecting some kind of fault in it.
 
 
On the burn in processes. I'm new to the the headphone/music scene and had no reason to believe the process or not.
However the new X2 pair was worst sounding pair it the department of bass and some vocals. There was harshness to them.
However after 10h of burning in they significantly improved and I had clear comparison of this in A/B listening.
Now the new pair have around 50h on the clock and to me now sounds exactly same as the old X2 I had.
 
Hope I help somebody.
Thanks 

Great contribution! I hope my pair will not have the same problems. Sending them back to Italy would be a hassle.
 
About burn in: Just don't worry about it. I personally think it's a mixture between your brain getting used it and real change of the sound, but it doesn't really matter in the end.

 

[tobzy]

For those interested in comparison between headphone jack (alc892) vs Sabre dac.
Alc892 got more bass, a rumble which actually vibrate my headphones a bit..just a bit. 
Sabre is clearer, brighter.
 
I don't wanna say any more at the moment but that's what I have gathered so far.
The difference isn't huge though. Its not like swapping to a new headphone. 
 
Sabre dac gives me plenty volume. I listen at 10-20 out of 100 on windows sound. 

 

[OllyNL]

  I can't comment specifically on the E17 but I do find there's a significant difference between amped and unamped. And even those these are easy to drive and sound acceptable unamped, they really shine when amped and even more so if you throw some power to them. I was A/Bing them again a pair of HE-400's which are also highly regarded headphones and IMO great cans if you like the signature and I was having some trouble deciding. It wasn't until I used the X2 out of my cMoy that the X2 really pulled ahead and again when I got my Magni 2 Uber, the X2's pulled ahead even more. The HE-400's were sent out in the mail yesterday for refund, the X2 has officially found a new home. What I'm saying is amping really improves them a lot. You're E17 should be decent. I've read the O2 works really well since it's a neutral sounding amp and I feel that the X2 is very slightly warm, it should play well together. I don't like my X2 as much out of my Little Dot 1+ since it's very warm because I'm using warm tubes on top of a warm opamp. Too much warmth and it really hurts the detail that these headphones are capable of producing.

Thanks for your contribution. Was actually debating on selling my E17 since I thought I was not going to need it any more. Good to know there's actually going to be a significant difference. In the future with different cans I will just buy a nice higher tier dac/amp. Would love to own a pair of Hifimans (HE-1000/HE-500) or Audeze (LCD 2 or 3) at some point. But it will probably be a couple of years since it would be quite the investment..
 
From my understanding the E17 is pretty neutral as well. So it should be decent yea. Anyway, enjoy your X2's, I'm just sitting here waiting, it's great

 

[OllyNL]

  For those interested in comparison between headphone jack (alc892) vs Sabre dac.
Alc892 got more bass, a rumble which actually vibrate my headphones a bit..just a bit. 
Sabre is clearer, brighter.
 
I don't wanna say any more at the moment but that's what I have gathered so far.
The difference isn't huge though. Its not like swapping to a new headphone. 
 
Sabre dac gives me plenty volume. I listen at 10-20 out of 100 on windows sound. 

Interesting.I will definitely try both amped and straight out of the pc.

 

[misobol]

  I can't comment specifically on the E17 but I do find there's a significant difference between amped and unamped. And even those these are easy to drive and sound acceptable unamped, they really shine when amped and even more so if you throw some power to them. I was A/Bing them again a pair of HE-400's which are also highly regarded headphones and IMO great cans if you like the signature and I was having some trouble deciding. It wasn't until I used the X2 out of my cMoy that the X2 really pulled ahead and again when I got my Magni 2 Uber, the X2's pulled ahead even more. The HE-400's were sent out in the mail yesterday for refund, the X2 has officially found a new home. What I'm saying is amping really improves them a lot. You're E17 should be decent. I've read the O2 works really well since it's a neutral sounding amp and I feel that the X2 is very slightly warm, it should play well together. I don't like my X2 as much out of my Little Dot 1+ since it's very warm because I'm using warm tubes on top of a warm opamp. Too much warmth and it really hurts the detail that these headphones are capable of producing.

 
Hi,
Since I drive X2 of Asus Essence STX sound card, would you say it's beneficial to apply more gain then standard setting ( up to 64 ohms ) ?
I have 3 amping choices( http://sobol.org/shared/gain.png).
However X2 is rated as 32ohms and I stayed with lowest setting, where volume is concerned I rarely go to max, but perhaps there are qualities of the phone that would come up with higher amping?

 

[SSSN]

Gain should be as low as possible and only as high as necessary.