[DucksEverywhere]

Hey folks,
Recently bought the Beyerdynamic DT 770 and DT 990 (both 250 ohm) as my first audio setup. I intend on picking a favourite and returning the other.
My PC has an MSI B350M Bazooka motherboard, and it can go plenty loud for both of these.

However, I like the practicality appeal of the Schiit Fulla 3 (due to having mic in and line out). Also very appealing since it's a combo DAC/AMP. I guess that doing the typical Shiit stack of modi and magni is very overkill for these headphones, especially since the Fulla 3 is available for half the cost. It's quite enticing to spend another £105 to have a completely independent system and be confident I'm making the most of these headphones.

If my motherboard is getting these loud enough with no static at all, do you think I will see an improvement in the sound quality (particularly bass response) if I get a DAC/AMP? Do either the DT770 or DT990 shine when amplified?

The alternative for me is to get a 2m long USB to 3.5mm cable to reach my phones suitably, since I need a quick disconnect for use with guitar amplifier.
I really appreciate the advice folks, bought these two sets on previous responses

P.S. Do ambient noise audible through open back headphones bother anyone else while gaming?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Your motherboard uses the Realtek ALC892 DSP processor.
So I vote you get the Schiit Fulla 3, which is about as much as I would spend, for driving the DT770/DT990.
I'm fairly sure you will use the DT990.
Me, I would return both the DT770 & DT990 and get the Soundmagic HP200 headphones.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

However, I like the practicality appeal of the Schiit Fulla 3 (due to having mic in and line out). Also very appealing since it's a combo DAC/AMP. I guess that doing the typical Shiit stack of modi and magni is very overkill for these headphones, especially since the Fulla 3 is available for half the cost. It's quite enticing to spend another £105 to have a completely independent system and be confident I'm making the most of these headphones.

Unless the mic's mounted on the headset and has a short cable, you can just plug the mic into the motherboard. At worst you have to manually set Windows to return to the motherboard as input device but I haven't encountered this happening unless the USB device has a mic input.

If my motherboard is getting these loud enough with no static at all, do you think I will see an improvement in the sound quality (particularly bass response) if I get a DAC/AMP?

Without having the motherboard and at least one other separate amp, the best I can do is guess that maybe I can hear a bit of difference. Probably a lot if the headphone has a low nominal impedance.

But even if I had them to test and can tell there's a more obvious performance gap I can't tell for sure if you will absolutely be able to perceive the difference.

Do either the DT770 or DT990 shine when amplified?

What do you mean? If they're absolutely not amplified then there'd be just a barely controlled higher voltage, low current low level signal. Even a smartphone audio chip kicking out 5mW at 32ohms is technically amplified.

If you just mean using an dedicated amp, one thing to note is that modern motherboards aren't that far behind in terms of usable power (ie they're far behind in absolute power, but do you really need the output of something like Lyr or even a Magni3? like, all of the power they can put out? heck no), but that usable power gap combined with higher noise and distortion could be audible to some vs a really quiet, really clean amplifier that isn't clipping.

P.S. Do ambient noise audible through open back headphones bother anyone else while gaming?

You mean like mouseclicks and keyboard key noise? Not really.

Cooling system at 50dB 1m away from my head that it's audible over the A/C? Absolutely. This is my complaint with my freaking 1070Ti Duke so I just dialed down the overclock and changed the old thermal paste (hell, even from what I remember when it was overclocked new, Cryonaut is a significant improvement over relying on the old thermal paste and those tiny fans).

 

[DucksEverywhere]

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate it. I think I'm gonna buy the Fulla 3 since I still have about as much money left over in my budget for it. It means I can be certain I'm getting the highest quality possible. Cheers!