Upgrade my listening experience, recommendations? DT-880 / Audient ID14

[martijn_2m]

Hi everyone,

I'd like some recommendations and opinions about ways of upgrading my listening experience. Thanks in advance for those who take the time to read my post and think along.

I like my DT 880 edition 250 ohm. I have had them for 2 years (so yes, they are burnt in). I enjoy their definition and. dynamics. I listen to them at home mostly directly plugged into my 2021 Macbook Pro M1. Which sounds pretty good (the MB drives the high ohm cans fine and loud enough). I listen to them in my studio/office through my Audient ID14 interface, which to my ears sound a bit better than directly from the Macbook.

But .. I have the feeling that these cans (DT 880) do not reach their full potential with my current setups. It feels like the soundstage could be bigger, opened up, and the resolution and liveliness can be improved. Not sure how to describe it more accurately. Hence, I would like to upgrade my listening experience to the next level.

Here are my thoughts:
- The headphones are pretty good. But am I hearing the optimal performance already? Should I upgrade the cans?
- The DAC's in the Macbook and Audient are very good. Probably this is lowest in priority w.r.t. an upgrade.
- The amp's in the Macbook and Audient are good. But perhaps a dedicated, more powerful amp can make a difference.

What am I looking for?
- <700€ investment that will improve my listening experience
- Preferably something that I can power of my macbook's USB-C, or on board 12 volt system (I live on a boat)
- Preferably something that is portable (meaning, I can transport easily from the studio/office to home/boat).
- I use the headphones occasionally for mixing and mastering my own band and sometimes other projects
- I use the headphones mainly for listening for my enjoyment. My musical preference is very very broad, but as a bassist and drummer I am listening for definition, impact, dynamics. As a mix/recording engineer I listen to soundstage, resolution, detail and depth.

I've looked at:
- the xDuoo TA-26S Tube Amp: interesting, seems a good companion for the DT 880, but not so portable. Since I live on a sailboat, I have 12v permanently and 230 volt only when we are in the marina or run the inverter.
- the Fosi Audio SK02 Dac/Amp. More portable and usable when we do not have 230 volt directly to the boat.
- the Fosi Audio ZD3 DAC. Mostly to use for my home setup with speakers to replace the AV-755. It uses 12v and I could use it as DAC with a headphone amp.
- Other headphones, but the reviews for these DT 880 edition 250 are generally very positive .. so I am not sure about this. I like beyerdynamic, and for speakers I love my Focal's.

Based on what I (over-)shared, do you have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Greetings,
Martijn

 

[dunring]

Those are good headphones the Sound blaster X1 in direct mode will output 2.4volts when it detects over 120ohm. It's compact and USB C and works with Apple or Windows. For $50 it will give better sound quality.
For headphones, the Hifiman HE5XX or Deva wired pro with an Apple 3.5mm adapter will power them well and sound terrific. A hard travel case will give more options. I'd first get factory pass and the Soundblaster X1 though, taking into account keeping on a USB C is important.

 

[earmonger]

Different headphones will have the biggest effect on your sound. The headphones should be the main investment.

The MacBook DAC is fine. And with your Audient you're already providing amplification to the Beyers, so they are probably performing as well as they are going to. You could try a different dongle, like the Soundblaster, but the effect might be more of a difference than any radical improvement.

With 700€ to invest you should think about upgrading the headphones. Do you need closed back to prevent noise leakage (both coming in and going out), or would open-backs work for you?

I am a big fan of the ATH-R70X, a tried-and-true studio headphone that's ultra-comfortable and very natural and clear. Open-back with a wide soundstage. Try thomann.de for a good price in Europe -- and I think you can return them easily if you don't like them.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/6/17535412/audio-technica-r70x-review-professional-headphones

The ATH-R70X and BT 880 graphs are pretty similar, and the Beyers do have more highs in some areas, which may make them seem clearer up there.
https://auricularesargentina.squig.link/?share=dt_880pro_250_ohms,ath_r70x

With your budget there are plenty of other choices, particularly if you want something that's more exciting than neutral.

 

[Thomasr]

My DT880/600ohm sounds awesome driven by my SMSL HO200 amp.

 

[pbui44]

Check this amp out:

https://www.schiit.co.uk/headphone-amps/vali_3

 

[pbui44]

If you want a more compact tube design with a battery pack for up to 18 hours of battery life:

https://www.kaeidesign.com/store/products/tap1-pro

 

[fliz]

grado RA1 headphone amp that runs on a pair of 9v batteries.

out of production but pop up used on here fairly frequently.

if you don't like it, you'll be able to resell it on here for little to zero loss.

Just confirmed there's one for sale:

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds...hone-amp-battery-version-box-paperwork.58029/

 

[axle_69]

Everything makes a difference. I don't know if your audio interface has its own software or not but I found that a bit-perfect player like Audirvana made a significative difference on my Mac, unfortunately they changed to a subscription model. But streaming directly from the Qobuz app on my iPad sounds as good. A better amp (something from Lake People/Violectric is a solid choice) would be an improvement but considering your budget I would try to get a used RME ADI-2 DAC FS version B (AKM) or C (ESS, current version). It has a relatively good DAC, a very decent amplifier and you can power it with 12 VDC. You can also play with a demo version of HQPlayer (direct DSD only works on AKM).
You can get a wider soundstage because of amplitude and phase distortions between channels, but at the cost of imaging. I prefer systems with very good resolution, precise imaging, and whatever is the soundstage in the recording, sometimes is very wide, others isn't. The only way is to compare the same recordings and see how wide/deep/tall it gets without losing the precise placement of sounds.

 

[fliz]

You can power it with 12 VDC.

The problem w/ using the boat's onboard 12vdc is that its unregulated. This will not produce good results.

 

[axle_69]

The problem w/ using the boat's onboard 12vdc is that its unregulated. This will not produce good results.

Maybe the equipment itself had a very good power section but I never had issues with 12V from large batteries on boats, can't say the same from when power was coming from the generator... But there are DC-DC solutions that don't cost much. The good thing about the ADI-2 DAC is that the internal power section seems relatively good, I couldn't notice differences between the stock SMPS and an Ifi Elite on the ADI-2 DAC but could notice the difference in a Chord Qutest or on a Ferrum Wandla, several people report the same about the ADI-2 DAC and I don't think the stock SMPS is that good.

 

[martijn_2m]

The problem w/ using the boat's onboard 12vdc is that its unregulated. This will not produce good results.

Not on my boat . The 12v is regulated via dc dc converter and very clean. The sound i get is superb.

 

[theElk]

Maybe FiiOs BTR 17 or Qudellix t71 would be an option as you can try some ne tunings with the peq with very little hassle. They got enough power for your cans and are easy to configure via browser.

 

[martijn_2m]

Well .. for all who are reading, or still following this post, here's an update. I visited a lovely high end headphone place here in the Netherlands and set out to test somethings based on recommendations in this post (=> the headphone as main point of upgrade), and reviews of stuff that I saw on youtube. I took my own macbook with my reference playlist on Tidal, my trusted DT 880 and my audient ID14 for reference and comparison.

TL, DR: I bought the Hifiman Arya Organic.

Longer version:

Different amps made a big difference:
- RME ADI 2 -> both the dac and the amp are marvoulous, exciting to listen to, but outside the budget for now.
- Lake People G103-S MkII -> great amp fairly neutral and balanced rounded sound. Would help my id14 quite a bit.
- Chord Mojo 2 -> hmm didn't like it so much. In combination with the planar headphones (Hifiman Ananda, Arya Organic) the high mid became too brittle and forward.
- Fiio Q15 -> Great dac/amp combo, that came close to the RME sound, and is on my wishlist as next upgrade.
- My own Audient ID14 => the dac is great, the headphone amp is a bit overshadowed by all of the above.

Headphones:​

I was expecting to leave the store with the MEZE 109 Pro. But I didn't. I listened to quite a few headphones (Like the Senheizer 660S2, The Beyerdynamic DT1990 the Focal Hadenys, Adeze LCD-2). But I kept on getting back to the Hifiman Ananda. Why? The Hifiman had the best overall tonal balance, lowest bass extension, best definition and soundstage. I liked the fact that the music did not sound like it was in or on my head, but at a bit of distance. This made it much more enjoyable and easy to hear nuances/resolution/details (hope this makes sense). Biggest criteria: everytime I put the Hifiman on my hears I started to smile. That's all I needed to know, really. So once I was set on the Hifiman, I made the mistake of listening to the big brother of the Ananda, just because I wanted to know what the next level would sound like. Enter the Arya Organic: even more balance across the frequency range more bass extension. And once you hear it ..
So at the end of a long and varied listening session the choice was: Hifiman Ananda plus a dac/amp, or the Hifiman Arya Organic (postponing amp/dac upgrade). I went with the latter choice.

Thanks all for your tips, I appreciate it, and I looked into all of it before I ventured out today and made a decision.

 

[]eep]

Ik doe ff lekker asociaal in het Nederlands. Ik heb jaren lang de DT880 gebruikt op de pc. Ik heb 'm nog steeds. Met nieuwe earpads. Ik heb ze al 20 jaar of zo? Zoveel plezier van gehad. Maar er is in die tijd zoveel ontwikkeling geweest in koptelefoons. Ik ben afgekicked van achter de pc zitten en weer terug naar mijn oude hobby: muziek luisteren. Niet perse met koptelefoon. Eerder met luidsprekers.

Ja, een koptelefoon is belangrijk, maar alles begint bij de bron. Ik heb recent een Laiv Harmony dac met de HP2a en de DT880 kon het verschil niet tonen met mijn vorige THX hp-amp/voorversterker. Ook mijn Takman planar niet. Ik heb nu een Hifiman HE1000v2 en die laat het wel horen.

Maar waarom ik hier post, onderschat de bron niet. Ik heb net uit nieuwsgierigheid de Fosi ZD3 gekocht. Geupgrade met een Sparkos opamp (alleen RCA). Aangesloten met dezelfde DDC als mijn Harmony dac. Dat klonk echt geweldig. Bijna net zo goed als mijn dure Laiv Harmony dac. Dat verbaasde mij vandaag. Voor hp versterker heb ik geen aanbevelingen, de Laiv HP2a is gewoon niet goedkoop, maar wel erg goed. Maar voor de dac, de Fosi ZD3 is zeker wel kneiter goed als je de opamps upgraded met discrete opamp(s).
Ik heb ook een goedkope DDC met zeer goede klok generators (Crystek 957) en dat maakt ook flink verschil met de ZD3. Met de Laiv Harmony dac niet zo, daar zit al dezelfde klok in. Maar met de ZD3 maakt het best verschil.

Kortom: de Fosi ZD3 is zeker een aanrader. Doe de opamp wissel, discrete opamps doen het echt beter. SX52B, 8802, SX45B, SX35B, Sparkos of zelfs Bursons. Zeker de moeite waard.