Napalmhardcore
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2013
- Posts
- 342
- Likes
- 46
Hi,
I currently have a Schiit Magni 2 Uber, a Little Dot Mkiii and a Sound Blaster Omni (USB sound card). My Upgrade path so far has been from a budget USB gaming headset, then the Sound Blaster with various headphones and most recently the Little Dot and Magni.
While I'm finding the Little Dot and Magni to be a big improvement over the Sound Blaster (I can hear noise when using my RHA T20is and the sound just isn't as engaging/pleasant with the Sound Blaster with other headphones) these amps aren't particularly well suited to in ears (at least at the volume I listen at).
With the Little Dot I opted to avoid it with the RHAs simply due to the fact that they are 16 ohm and the recommended impedance range for the little dot is 32-600 ohms. With the Magni, if I have Windows volume at 100% I have very little control range on the volume pot.
I've also made an observation. For the first few degrees of the Magni's volume pot there is a channel imbalance, so I've lowered the volume in Windows to allow me to raise the volume on the pot high enough to ensure the imbalance is no longer an issue (it doesn't take much but I like to take it to about 9 o'clock for peace of mind). The observation I've made is that when I raise the volume on the pot and drop it in Windows, the bass seems to become less prominent. The T20i is quite bassy (perhaps a little too bassy for my tastes), so this is actually welcome. The sweet spot (for me) seems to be 60% volume in Windows and around 9 o'clock on the pot.
Here's my problem. I've yet to install a player that will output bit perfect audio via ASIO or WASAPI on this PC (bought recently and have been listening almost exclusively to Spotify) but I intend to output bit-perfect audio in future. I remember reading that it is best to output at 100% and control volume from your amp to avoid potential issues with compression when listening to bit perfect music (Does WASAPI/ASIO even have volume control?). With that in mind, I'm thinking of buying a new amp better suited to in ears.
At the moment my eye is on the Dragonfly Red due to the excellent reviews, the fact that it doesn't take a battery (I hate non user replaceable batteries for products that I intend to keep for a long time) and the fact that the volume control is digital so I shouldn't have to worry about channel imbalance at low levels. However, I normally sit/lay on my bed and listen to music and my PC is a little over 2 meters away. Is there any reason I shouldn't plug the Dragonfly into a USB extension? I'd obviously prefer to have the Dragonfly where I am so that I can adjust volume rather than run a headphone cable across to it and have it plugged directly into my PC. Alternatively, are there any desktop amps better suited to in ear use (low powered so that I have plenty of adjustment on the pot or digital volume control)?
I currently have a Schiit Magni 2 Uber, a Little Dot Mkiii and a Sound Blaster Omni (USB sound card). My Upgrade path so far has been from a budget USB gaming headset, then the Sound Blaster with various headphones and most recently the Little Dot and Magni.
While I'm finding the Little Dot and Magni to be a big improvement over the Sound Blaster (I can hear noise when using my RHA T20is and the sound just isn't as engaging/pleasant with the Sound Blaster with other headphones) these amps aren't particularly well suited to in ears (at least at the volume I listen at).
With the Little Dot I opted to avoid it with the RHAs simply due to the fact that they are 16 ohm and the recommended impedance range for the little dot is 32-600 ohms. With the Magni, if I have Windows volume at 100% I have very little control range on the volume pot.
I've also made an observation. For the first few degrees of the Magni's volume pot there is a channel imbalance, so I've lowered the volume in Windows to allow me to raise the volume on the pot high enough to ensure the imbalance is no longer an issue (it doesn't take much but I like to take it to about 9 o'clock for peace of mind). The observation I've made is that when I raise the volume on the pot and drop it in Windows, the bass seems to become less prominent. The T20i is quite bassy (perhaps a little too bassy for my tastes), so this is actually welcome. The sweet spot (for me) seems to be 60% volume in Windows and around 9 o'clock on the pot.
Here's my problem. I've yet to install a player that will output bit perfect audio via ASIO or WASAPI on this PC (bought recently and have been listening almost exclusively to Spotify) but I intend to output bit-perfect audio in future. I remember reading that it is best to output at 100% and control volume from your amp to avoid potential issues with compression when listening to bit perfect music (Does WASAPI/ASIO even have volume control?). With that in mind, I'm thinking of buying a new amp better suited to in ears.
At the moment my eye is on the Dragonfly Red due to the excellent reviews, the fact that it doesn't take a battery (I hate non user replaceable batteries for products that I intend to keep for a long time) and the fact that the volume control is digital so I shouldn't have to worry about channel imbalance at low levels. However, I normally sit/lay on my bed and listen to music and my PC is a little over 2 meters away. Is there any reason I shouldn't plug the Dragonfly into a USB extension? I'd obviously prefer to have the Dragonfly where I am so that I can adjust volume rather than run a headphone cable across to it and have it plugged directly into my PC. Alternatively, are there any desktop amps better suited to in ear use (low powered so that I have plenty of adjustment on the pot or digital volume control)?
Last edited:
