[bombadilio]

Happy New Year!

I made an order for the Sennheiser 800S and plan to use it primarily for PC gaming and music. I oddly thought that my motherboard (Rampage V Extreme) with a 600ohm amp internally would be able to power these.....

Understanding I only have a 3.5mm jack, I was wondering whats the best $150/$200 solution? I saw FiiO K5 Pro DAC/AMP on facebook marketplace for $89 and someone else mentioned to me the Apogee Groove was wondering if anyone who has these with their PC could give me any pointers. I currently have AKG 65 anniversary (K702) headphones and love them! Really curious how much better things will sound with these

A quick question I have is, is it sacrilegious to try Dolby Atmos on such headphones with my pc audio in windows? Or is the soundstage with base model perfect as it is? Also, would an Equaliser be something I should download and possibly make some adjustments like boosting the bass?

The box comes with:

• Cable with 1/4" / 6.3mm Connector.
• Cable with Balanced 4.4mm Connector

I don't mean to sound too noob but I have 0 idea what balanced means or if one of these cables is better than the other, or if I need to purchase an adapter.

Appreciate all help and input!

 

[Spawn300Z]

Look for a used Chord Mojo. Then you will be good in that price range. If you can go up a little more a Mojo 2.

 

[bombadilio]

Look for a used Chord Mojo. Then you will be good in that price range. If you can go up a little more a Mojo 2.

Is there a benefit if I can find one with the balanced 4.4mm connector or 6.3mm. Otherwise I would need an adapter for this Mojo right?

 

[Spawn300Z]

It’s 3.5mm I thought it came with one. It would be the best at the price point. Plus can use your headphones when traveling

 

[dunring]

I have an SMSL DL200 and it drives those and sounds great for $180 on Amazon. Perfect channel matching and has 6.35/3.5mm and 4.4MM connectors. It's all you need for those. Atmos is a disaster even when I tried overwatch which supports it. Try them a while normally first.

 

[chesebert]

EVGA sound card

 

[bombadilio]

I have an SMSL DL200 and it drives those and sounds great for $180 on Amazon. Perfect channel matching and has 6.35/3.5mm and 4.4MM connectors. It's all you need for those. Atmos is a disaster even when I tried overwatch which supports it. Try them a while normally first.

I'll check the SMSL! For windows settings I should NOT have atmos selected? I have had that selected for all gamss as I had AKG K702. Atmos makes it perfect for those.

Does atmos set to on all the time messup the sound stage? Asking for games, music, movies, etc.

Also, did you ever do a custom EQ? At tweaks for games you recommend?

EVGA sound card

I had some of the creative soundcards prior. The evga acts as an amp and such?

 

[chesebert]

I'll check the SMSL! For windows settings I should NOT have atmos selected? I have had that selected for all gamss as I had AKG K702. Atmos makes it perfect for those.

Does atmos set to on all the time messup the sound stage? Asking for games, music, movies, etc.

Also, did you ever do a custom EQ? At tweaks for games you recommend?

I had some of the creative soundcards prior. The evga acts as an amp and such?

You can use EVGA as an amp. Better yet, use it as a dac. Even better, use it as a streamer with toslink to your own dac.

 

[Nago]

Happy New Year!

I made an order for the Sennheiser 800S and plan to use it primarily for PC gaming and music. I oddly thought that my motherboard (Rampage V Extreme) with a 600ohm amp internally would be able to power these.....

Understanding I only have a 3.5mm jack, I was wondering whats the best $150/$200 solution? I saw FiiO K5 Pro DAC/AMP on facebook marketplace for $89 and someone else mentioned to me the Apogee Groove was wondering if anyone who has these with their PC could give me any pointers. I currently have AKG 65 anniversary (K702) headphones and love them! Really curious how much better things will sound with these

A quick question I have is, is it sacrilegious to try Dolby Atmos on such headphones with my pc audio in windows? Or is the soundstage with base model perfect as it is? Also, would an Equaliser be something I should download and possibly make some adjustments like boosting the bass?

The box comes with:

• Cable with 1/4" / 6.3mm Connector.
• Cable with Balanced 4.4mm Connector

I don't mean to sound too noob but I have 0 idea what balanced means or if one of these cables is better than the other, or if I need to purchase an adapter.

Appreciate all help and input!

Balanced will provide more power and less noise (although this only matters when you use a very long cable which nobody does for headphones or got strong interferences closeby). Long story short: You can use whichever conncetion/cable is more convenient for you.

As for the DAC/Amp if you want to buy something neutral check the measurements of https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php. If your deal falls trough I'd recommand something like a Schiit Modi/Magni combo, JDS Atom DAC/Amp or anything from Topping. SMSL is also decent AFAIK, don't know about FiiO. All of them will power the 800s with ease and are dead neutral.

Last but not least about Dolby Atmos: Go for it, have fun exploring! There is no harm in playing around and whoever tells you it is, is a pretentious prick.

 

[ZzBOG]

I use HD800s for your purposes with a Topping Stack (E50/A90) and it shines, That's obv above $200, but also I never ever put the volume knob past 1PM on low gain, maybe ~2pm a few times when I was really into the music I was listening to.

My point is that you can def get away with a cheaper Topping, some integrated dac/amp.

i think for 150-200 you can get a50s (or whichever it is called).

Just get something from classifieds, there are plenty toppings out there