[osanilevich]

Just picked up a stellia and while I do enjoy the detail does anyone know of any ways (maybe a dac/Amp or different pads) to get a nice bass thump going or a more lively sound? I tried hooking it up to a dragonfly cobalt and it took out whatever little bass was left. Any help would be appreciated

 

[MacedonianHero]

I would definitely classify the bass as north of neutral. The dragonfly might be running out of steam with them. Out of the Hugo2 they kick like a mule when warranted. These are $3000 headphones and I suggest you look into improving your source and amplification. It's about the chain and it is only as strong as the weakest link.

 

[DaddyWhale]

Just picked up a stellia and while I do enjoy the detail does anyone know of any ways (maybe a dac/Amp or different pads) to get a nice bass thump going or a more lively sound? I tried hooking it up to a dragonfly cobalt and it took out whatever little bass was left. Any help would be appreciated

Simplest thing to do would be to do some EQing. See if that helps. If it does get a good source with eq capabilities

 

[osanilevich]

I would definitely classify the bass as north of neutral. The dragonfly might be running out of steam with them. Out of the Hugo2 they kick like a mule when warranted. These are $3000 headphones and I suggest you look into improving your source and amplification. It's about the chain and it is only as strong as the weakest link.

I guess in comparison to the reference sound it might but I guess that just means I have different expectations from what I'm looking for in a headphone. I guess the best headphones should be the most "reference" but I found the reference sound to be sterile, probably because I want a more "fun" sound signature. Idk if you ever had it or not but does the hugo2 actually boost the bass or not really? I'm worried that I'll go out and get it and it only reinforces that "reference" sound the stellias already make

 

[osanilevich]

Simplest thing to do would be to do some EQing. See if that helps. If it does get a good source with eq capabilities

Yeah I've been trying to do that but being on Apple music (tidal has too few songs imo), the eq options are horrible. Looks like I gotta try my luck with Spotify or something

 

[MacedonianHero]

I guess in comparison to the reference sound it might but I guess that just means I have different expectations from what I'm looking for in a headphone. I guess the best headphones should be the most "reference" but I found the reference sound to be sterile, probably because I want a more "fun" sound signature. Idk if you ever had it or not but does the hugo2 actually boost the bass or not really? I'm worried that I'll go out and get it and it only reinforces that "reference" sound the stellias already make

If you're finding "reference" = sterile, try different music; because that's how the artist intended it to sound. I would say that the Stellia's bass is more than reference with a tad of treble sparkle, but this may not be enough for your personal tastes? The Utopia is closer to "reference" than the Stellias, but the familial resemblance is very apparent. The Hugo2 will only make the recording sound more like it was intended. Some EQ might fit the bill though as mentioned here?

 

[osanilevich]

If you're finding "reference" = sterile, try different music; because that's how the artist intended it to sound. I would say that the Stellia's bass is more than reference with a tad of treble sparkle, but this may not be enough for your personal tastes? The Utopia is closer to "reference" than the Stellias, but the familial resemblance is very apparent. The Hugo2 will only make the recording sound more like it was intended. Some EQ might fit the bill though as mentioned here?

yeah I'm currently shifting my library to Spotify since they have the best combo of library size and actual eq settings. Do you recommend any dac that might do the trick? Or maybe an astell and kern or something?

 

[MacedonianHero]

yeah I'm currently shifting my library to Spotify since they have the best combo of library size and actual eq settings. Do you recommend any dac that might do the trick? Or maybe an astell and kern or something?

MP3s through a $3000 headphone? To maximize your sound quality, I'd look at your source material, DAC and amplification. To get the best sound quality out of the Ferrari headphones you have, you will need to optimize your setup. Spotify doesn't sound that great being only MP3s...I would suggest at least Amazon HD (if you're in the US) or Tidal or Qobuz instead. There are players like Audirvana that could help with the EQ as well. The best I've come across is Roon though.

For DAPs, the FiiO M11Pro is pretty fantastic with it. But the higher end gear isn't setup for bass-head listening. As I mentioned, the bass on the Stellia isn't for bassheads (I'm totally not using this as a derogatory term here...just some folks really like a lot of bass), but is still more bass than neutral IMO. The Utopias offer a more balanced bass (and less than the Stellias). So anything with a good equalizer should get you where you want to be.

 

[Arniesb]

MP3s through a $3000 headphone? To maximize your sound quality, I'd look at your source material, DAC and amplification. To get the best sound quality out of the Ferrari headphones you have, you will need to optimize your setup. Spotify doesn't sound that great being only MP3s...I would suggest at least Amazon HD (if you're in the US) or Tidal or Qobuz instead. There are players like Audirvana that could help with the EQ as well. The best I've come across is Roon though.

For DAPs, the FiiO M11Pro is pretty fantastic with it. But the higher end gear isn't setup for bass-head listening. As I mentioned, the bass on the Stellia isn't for bassheads (I'm totally not using this as a derogatory term here...just some folks really like a lot of bass), but is still more bass than neutral IMO. The Utopias offer a more balanced bass (and less than the Stellias). So anything with a good equalizer should get you were you want to be.

+1 most of the time bass/dynamics complaints is from people who underpower headphones or speakers. Wolume is not everything.

 

[osanilevich]

MP3s through a $3000 headphone? To maximize your sound quality, I'd look at your source material, DAC and amplification. To get the best sound quality out of the Ferrari headphones you have, you will need to optimize your setup. Spotify doesn't sound that great being only MP3s...I would suggest at least Amazon HD (if you're in the US) or Tidal or Qobuz instead. There are players like Audirvana that could help with the EQ as well. The best I've come across is Roon though.

For DAPs, the FiiO M11Pro is pretty fantastic with it. But the higher end gear isn't setup for bass-head listening. As I mentioned, the bass on the Stellia isn't for bassheads (I'm totally not using this as a derogatory term here...just some folks really like a lot of bass), but is still more bass than neutral IMO. The Utopias offer a more balanced bass (and less than the Stellias). So anything with a good equalizer should get you where you want to be.

Really appreciate the insight. I was looking at those streaming services but it isn't worth it to me if I have to give up half my songs. Looks like I'd have source high quality versions of a lot of my current library independently which would be an enormous project so the best I can do is make sure the sources around that is the best I can make it. I guess the plan would be a proper dap and source it with a good portable dac/amp (maybe the ifi black label since it probably won't be as "surgical" as the Hugo 2)

 

[osanilevich]

+1 most of the time bass/dynamics complaints is from people who underpower headphones or speakers. Wolume is not everything.

Yeah starting to realize that, I guess when people say a headphone is easy to drive they mean you should only use it by itself in case of emergency lol

 

[Arniesb]

Yeah starting to realize that, I guess when people say a headphone is easy to drive they mean you should only use it by itself in case of emergency lol

I can get very loud wolume from my S9+ on HD800S, but i dont think they sound optimal at all.

 

[up late]

the stellia is a very efficient headphone. i suspect that personal preference rather than insufficient amplification is the cause of the op's dissatisfaction.

 

[osanilevich]

the stellia is a very efficient headphone. i suspect that personal preference rather than insufficient amplification is the cause of the op's dissatisfaction.

The thing is, when I plug them in to a desktop with the cobalt they sound really good, markedly better than from my iphone with or without the cobalt (same audio files etc). Going by that it looks like these headphones can be great for me its just a question of finding the proper setup and eq. That said hopefully the idsd will help but I might bring in a high end DAP as well since its clear the iphone won't cut it.

 

[up late]

The thing is, when I plug them in to a desktop with the cobalt they sound really good, markedly better than from my iphone with or without the cobalt (same audio files etc). Going by that it looks like these headphones can be great for me its just a question of finding the proper setup and eq. That said hopefully the idsd will help but I might bring in a high end DAP as well since its clear the iphone won't cut it.

i hope that the stellia works out for you. i think that it's a terrific headphone. i also hope that you can enjoy it without feeling the need to throw money at it for incremental "performance improvements".