asoksevil
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2013
- Posts
- 14
- Likes
- 0
What amp and sound card do you recommend for the AD1000X?
What amp and sound card do you recommend for the AD1000X?
An amp/dac like the E17 is good enough.
Thanks for replying so fast!
What about the sound card? Not needed at all? How should I plug my cans? The rear jack port or the front one?
I'm using a PC so it doesn't have to be portable at all...
You gotta be kidding me...just got my ma900s!
These are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. I will never view headphones the same way after buying these. I prefer the sound signature over the ad900x. They're less fatiguing and sound great for all genres.
Anyways, just felt like chiming in and thanking you for the suggestion on this badass headphone.
You gotta be kidding me...just got my ma900s!
These are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. I will never view headphones the same way after buying these. I prefer the sound signature over the ad900x. They're less fatiguing and sound great for all genres.
Anyways, just felt like chiming in and thanking you for the suggestion on this badass headphone.
Yay, I'm so glad there's another happy MA900 in our midst. If you have both, a detailed comparison from your perspective would be much appreciated
Huh that's interesting. Any comments on space / soundstage (for another point of reference)
Not needed at all, unless you want some of the virtual surround sound stuff that's in some sound cards.
USB->FiiO->Headphone Jack on FiiO. It bypasses the internal sound in the computer.
I use a PC too.
The good thing about DAC/Amp combos like the FiiO E17 is that it's pretty much universal with whatever you plug it in to, which is non-existent with a sound card. Although my E17 isn't my main amp, I still use it for my PS3 (Toslink->headphone out), when I'm moving around and using other people's computers for music (use the USB on the FiiO), and as a portable amp (Ipod 5th line out->FiiO aux-in). Very versatile, and is an excellent buy. Since these headphones in their stock form don't need much power (or aren't made to have a lot of power going through them), the FiiO will be more than enough for it.
^^ Awesome stuff gl0ry. Glad you found something you enjoyed. Watching your video now
Btw, to save you the trouble of a warning, you should embed your videos in your post rather than direct linking to the video.
Price doesn't really matter to me as long as there's no "bottleneck". What do I mean by bottleneck? Both amp, cans match with each other.
Thanks for the tip!
Honestly, the only bottleneck you're going to get with headphones and amps is if the amp doesn't give the headphones enough voltage (power) to drive the headphones through the whole frequency range at a given dB intensity without clipping.
Short rant:
There are two main reasons why people would need a powerful amp. The first one is because their headphones aren't sensitive, or they have a high impedance, or they aren't very efficient drivers (or all three). In that case, you would need a powerful amp to bring them to the desired volume level. The second reason is to equalize the lower frequencies to get the bass out. Producing loud sub-bass frequencies takes much more power to make than producing something like 10kHz. In order for that driver to be controlled correctly, you have to throw some juice at it so it won't start clipping and sounding distorted, which are signs that the amp isn't giving the headphones enough power.
With the AD900x and MA900, you will never get a lot of bass out of them in their stock form, even when equalizing. Both headphones are pretty sensitive, have a low impedance, and use the power very efficiently, which makes it pretty much pointless in getting a powerful amp. That's why something like the E17 would be a great match.
Try putting the treble on -2 or -4. It helps with lowering a peak that's around 4kHz, and the peaks in the 10kHz range. I'm sure the AD1000x will be very similar in the treble area that my AD2000MKIV is, and putting it on -2 on mine sounds good. I know that if you try to up the bass on it, you aren't going to get what you think you're getting. Since those headphones are pretty good at leaking sound, if you even put the bass on 10, you'll probably just hear the bass/the membrane moving around instead of feeling it, like you would if you had a better seal.
As far as the connectivity on the E17, the usb portion will be fine. You will need a toslink cable if you want to receive audio from something like a ps3, some computers, or anything that outputs a toslink digital signal. Also, be careful with the headphone jack on the E17. Try not to get the cables in a situation where it's putting stress on the jack. You may mess it up, like I did with mine (when you wiggle the cable, the channels will start disconnecting/reconnecting). Also, make sure to use the hold switch as much as possible because the screen will burn after leaving it on long enough. That happened to my old E7, and it looks pretty messed up.
Oh, and put the volume on 60, gain on 6dB, and control the volume from your computer. That way, you won't run into any clipping issues that happens when the computer sends too big a signal to the volume-lowered E17.
Someone in this thread said that the AD1000x were closer to the AD2000 than the AD1000, so I bet it's gotta be what you are saying.
At this moment I set it up at -4 treble and +4 bass (+10 is just way too much for me, don't particularly like heavy bass music). I do feel the lack of bass of ATH, definitely different compared to my previous headphones.
Thanks for all your tips, E17 is lying on my desk and no symptoms of forced positions or stressful situations. I try to keep it at hold most of the time since I won't really touch it to change anything.