long story:
Ok, so I was looking for some headphones for use in competitive gaming, and for music/movies, I have some akg 701's at a crazy good price, they're incredible for gaming, and initally I loved them for music too (after getting an amp, very disappointing without the amp), but i'm starting to get a feeling that I don't like the sound
I do 99% of things on a mac, but switch to windows for gaming only
they're light in the bass without a bass heavy amp, i'm no bass head but I want a thick, rich sound- I listen to all sorts of music (but mostly mainstream, not classical, or 'audiophile recordings'.
I absolutely love the clarity, and the soundstage, the treble is great too (and if course they're amazing for gaming).
I was looking for an amp to use with them (desktop or portable, don't mind), and then also a DAC- I bought a few to test out:
so in my hands I have asus xonar u3 and u7 usb gaming cards (which do surround sound processing for games, so I need to keep one of these), audio engine d1, fiio e17, fiio e12
i'm not an audiophile, I don't care for neutrality I just want the music I listen to sound good. Perhaps that means getting new headphones, but I like these, I got them at a great price and they look great, so if I could get the sound I want from them using the right amps, or the right software EQ
I got into researching the odac and 02, and at first I thought 'id defintitely hate the clinical sound', but after reading his blog (and learning a lot...) I realised that a perfect DAC and perfect amp remain true to the original signal (and as a graphic designer I know all about calibrated workflows), but that the pure unadulterated signal actually sounds boring, so most amps add in some colour to 'improve' the sound. So my headphones are bass light, so I was combining them with a bass heavy amp (fiio e12), but the source that feeds them needs to be clean as possible.
my thoughts on the amps:
they're all portable, which I don't really need so would be happy to get a desktop amp
fiio e17- a nice warm sound, lots of bass even without EQ, slightly forward mids, seems to sound good with lots of genres, very musical, forgiving on poor quality source, but then not so revealing on higher quality sources, useful as a portable DAC/amp,
audioengine d1- clearly more detailed than the e17, much less bass, better clarity, slightly better separation, more revealing on higher quality recordings but also punishing on lower quality sources, extremely useful volume knob and looks great on my desk. no where near enough bass for me
u7- similar to d1 but much harsher sounding
u3- muddy sound, but quite bass heavy and musical, I actually liked the sound, sure it's low fi and low detail but it's rich and thich and warm
fiio e12- extreme bass, with the bass boost on the e12 pulls out deep sub bass I never thought i'd get from the k701's, fed from the xonar u3 it is the most musical, I was extremely happy with this until I got the other DAC's to compare, ultimately detail is lost on this set up but the bass is there and it sounds warm. after comparing the d1 and e17 connected to the e12, it was clear I wouldn't be happy with either one without the e12 to add the sub bass, even with the e17 bass boost it never got the sub bass, but the e17 (purely as a DAC) +e12 sounded warm, and nice, like the xonar u3+e12 but more detailed. It sounded great paired with the d1, it had detail and bass (but not a lot of it), this sounded better than the e17+e12 for some recordings, and in others the opposite was true- for the money neither really thrilled me. I did like the 2 fiios strapped together though, it looked great, and a portable SPDIF DAC is useful (or is it?). Ultimately I would keep the d1, xonar u3 (for gaming) and the e12, then I have the dirty/warm/bass set up, and also the clinical/treble set up- the fiio is too in the middle.
so if my sonic preference is
1) warm dirty u3 + sub-bass heavy e12 + bass light k701 = perfect low-mid, but lacking in mid-high
2) slightly dirty/warm e17 + e12 + k701 = perfect low-mid, better in mid-high
3) highly detailed d1 + e12 + k701 = perfect high mid, lacking in mid-low-sub bass
observations
- the d1 is techically a superior DAC, but quite a sterile listen on my headphones, either my headphones don't play back the bass, or the DAC doesn't dig it up- it needs the e12 to bring out the sub bass
- the d1 doesn't color the sound like the fiio e17
- I like the top end of the d1+e12 (this is where the extra detail the dac brings out is evident)
- I miss the low end clout of the fiio e17 and e12 combination
HERE IS MY QUESTION
1) at the moment I only listen to music on my computer, so if I set software EQ (there is a 31 band EQ built right into mac osx), can I bring out the missing bass/sub-bass with the d1 (removing the need for the e12), I assume that would be easier than trying to bring out the treble in the fiio combination.
2) should I invest in different headphones, something good for gaming and music, or maybe I could keep the k701's and have another pair for music. Looking at sennheiser 598, 650, akg 702 anniversary, and also the philips fidellio x1
I know I can get good sound from the k701, the 'cheap dirty' u3 + e12 sounds rich and great in the bass, and the 'clinical' d1 sounds good in the top end, the d1 + e12 sounds ok too but doesn't have the richness. So i'm sure there's an amp out there that would go well with the d1 to add in the rich, warmth i'm looking for
I seriously love the woo tube amps (the wa7 particularly), imagine there's no budget limit- should I spring for the wa7 to use as a dac and amp, or return everything, including the k701's and get the fidellio x1's with the audio engine d1 (or odac/02)
I don't really know desktop amps, all i've been looking at are portable ones
