Was actually referring to like objective 2, and mayflower o2 both on massdrop. The headphones I am running tests on are almost officially done with. I only have a very select few left so returning the amp in this case wouldn’t hurt me. Good to know thats as far as you would recommend. Alright so, sounds like I need to locate an asgard 3. Outside that locate an RNHP. Less someone knows for sure theres a better alternative here.
Solid amps and dacs, but older and a bit outdated at this point from my experience, but they used to be one of the go to amp and dac combos before stuff like the magni 3, jds atom, liquid spark, etc came out which imo offered more for the money
For the headphones you have yes, if you decide to go up to another tier of performance, that might change
Alright then. Looks like I have the general idea as to what I need to go about doing. I don’t really see the point of going up at tier though let alone what the next step up from a dt 1990 would even be. Obviously, it wouldn’t be cheap. Probably would end up being a ZMF or something. Headphone pricing wise I find $500 to be my limitation of which you can find dt 1990s for around $300. I am sure theres probably another step up some where for used like this but if there is I have no clue.
Wanted to chime in real quick on here. So if I planned to use the dt 1990 and aeon open x. I know you mentioned the gilmore being better for Planars right? I was curious if in the case of these 2 would it be better to go with a gilmore or still the rnhp. Theres also now the idea of the Balanced amp. I don’t know jack about tubes but now we are getting more technical. Would there be an amp thats good for the balanced port for these aeon open x but also good for the normal port for a dt 1990?
So in reality in this range imo no, I think for your case if you still wanted the 1990 to sound good, going for a single ended amp is the way to go. Sonically a good single ended amp will sound just as good as a balanced one, it matters more about the quality of the amp than if it’s balanced or not. Having balanced is a design choice, and having it does not automatically make something better imo
Hmmmm. So I think the open x would preform pretty well, but you might loose a tad of bass impact, but it would be pretty solid. The Gilmore would be a bit brighter but maintain the impact here. I think the rnhp would give the aeon a bit better timbre, but the Gilmore would be a tad quicker sounding
Well alright, thats what I was curious about. If it’s not an upgrade and I can’t utilize both headphones in this case than I would rather go with the other two mentioned. Thats questionable though. As you mentioned the rnhp would be the better choice for the 1990s. In this case though is a bit different… a little brighter is fine I guess? however, losing bass isn’t very ideal. I suppose asgard 3 would work just fine with both as well.
I don’t think you are really losing bass with either tbh, it’s just the impact that would change.
Imo the Asgard 3 really just makes sense here tbh, it’s a better all rounder. Once you get into the higher tier amps, pairing becomes way more important, hence why the amps get a bit more specialized
I already figured I would end up buying one at this point. In this case would you have a different suggestion for these two headphones as an upgrade from the asgard 3? Otherwise I will just end up sticking to the asgard 3 less theres a better alternative or upgrade. Sounds like if I wanted to upgrade I would need two seperate amps at that point
Alright @M0N I know you said don’t worry bout the THX but I keep getting recommended this one in particular. Wanted to ask your opinion on it as it keeps showing up everywhere from drop. DROP + THX AAA™ 789 LINEAR AMPLIFIER I know it’s a linear … not sure what it would be good for headphone wise or if its worth me picking up… but its the only one I see on there that has extremely fantastic reviews
So personally I think thx is really just not great lol. I think you can get same or better performance from a magni heresy or jds atom. Thx is a great example is numbers over sound. It has many issues that bother me with it lol. It doesn’t recreate space well and is pretty spatially dead, it has fairly poor timbre which bothers me, it’s got oversharpened treble but no added detail as a result, it’s analytical without the benefits of an analytical amp, and for the price, it can be bested by amps 1/4 or 1/3 it’s price. I have no idea where the hype comes from besides just looking at numbers and freaking out about it, it’s real world performance doesn’t offer really anything I see desirable for the price. If you want something with great specs and an analytical sound, but can actually recreate space well with the same detail and better timbre, the magni heresy is for you, I really just see no place for thx in the market outside of people who only care about numbers
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And with that you save me from making a really dumb purchase. Thank you kindly. Still buying an asgard 3 later.
There’s not many things that I strongly dislike, but thx is one of them lol
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Hmm, so fun little side question here… Do you think Tube amps would be worth it for gaming? I always have pondered the thought, but I have literally never bothered listening to a tube amp before. I know by changing the tubes you change their sound too. I suppose I can ask the same about Balanced amps and balanced tube amps Since I am planning to use an aeon or something similar which will probably utilize those 4 pins making it balance capable. If the tubes or balance is worth it what would you say would be a very solid recommendation to look at. Since I already know the solid recommendation right now is asgard 3 and rnhp. Budget wise $350 for the tube amp $500 for amp dac balance setup
For casual and fun yeah, really just depends on the tier of tube amp and also want headphones you use with it imo
To varying degrees yes
Most good actual balance tube amps tend to be in the 1k range imo, but you can balanced tube hybrids for that price typically
So first off, what headphones do you plan to use? The aeon will sound pretty bad on an otl tube amp like a darkvoice or whatnot, so not something I would recommend there (this goes for most planar here). A good transformer coupled tube amp is also mostly out of your budget, so that’s prob not going to work. You can get a hybrid tube amp which is a tube on the input stage and a solid state amp on the output stage, but TBH I would instead just get a warmer solid state amp in this range for most bang for buck
Another thing here is the balanced idea, you are mainly going to increase cost for little to no benefit in this range, but you could do it.
So if you wanted a fully balanced solid state setup in this price range, the geschelli enog 2 pro and the new upcoming Geshelli Erish would be the go to imo. If you wanted to incorporate a balanced tube hybrid, the xduoo ta20 would work with most planar but admittedly not be that big of a difference from solid state imo. I would still lean towards the rnhp and then use your current dac, or use the enog 2 pro, as actually if you are dying to have balanced, a balanced interconnect makes more of a difference than a balanced headphone out imo due to a higher line voltage, more consistent input and output impedance between components, and also the benefit of common mode rejection, which are not found on a balanced headphone out
hmm so, quick query. Was thinking and contemplating sounds while sitting here auditioning the Fidelio x2hr, which… not to bad for pricing at all honestly. Was curious what setup would be good to make a headphone sound warmer, wider, and punchier didn’t know if the asgard would be good for this.
The spark is already doing it well imo, the asgard 3 would be a bit less warm but also wider and punchier
stupid edit
Better extended with better detail, still smooth but not as rolled or smoothed as the spark
hmm its not rolled you think thats going to cause the 1990 to be a little sibilant? it’s already bright as hell
No, you should be fine there imo from my experience