Isn’t purchasing both the e30 and scarlett solo redundant? Or does the e30 serve as the better DAC and the scarlett serve just as an audio interface for the mic? What is the advantage other than better voice communication quality? I’m also assuming you mean the modmic uni analog 3.5mm + xlr adapter that will only connect to the scarlett.
Correct. The e30 is the better dac than the scarlett solo, so the solo would be only used as an audio mic interface now
Mainly flexibility, you mentioned futureproofing, and with an xlr interface you are able to upgrade or change mics easily if you are interested in that. If not though, then ditch it altogether and just run the mod mic from the motherboard, it will most likely get the job done
Yes
I’m not very concerned with mic Thanks for helping me narrow down my options. There is just too much to consider and I have no way of trying before I buy.
I am a bit concerned with the e30. While it seems to get good reviews, some don’t have a lot of confidence in topping as a company. Do you think that is warranted?
I’m also pretty sure I would like to use balanced xlr cables at some point. I’d like to have options in the future. The e30 and asgard 3 seem as though I would be limited in this regard. Any other options I should consider?
So from my experience topping is really reliable, but there is a distributor called aimpire that you should not by from, they are not reputable
So is there a reason you would want do this? From my experienced going balanced mainly adds cost and complexity in this price range with not really any sonic benefit, as a good single ended design will sound just as good as a balanced one
I can see myself going into headphones in the sub $2k range and not wanting to shell out for a new amp/dac when this happens. I’d like to cover as many scenarios as possible without saying to myself, “crap, if I want to get these headphones I need to upgrade my setup again.” I probably will also be trying to fill in different sound signatures and/or refining my preferences. I’m one of those people that likes to dabble in many aspects of my hobbies. Back to skiing for an example. I could just buy one all mountain ski and be fine, sure. But I found i love skiing in deep powder so that warrents me buying fat skis. I enjoy playing around with tricks and just having fun on the mountain so that warrents some loose buttery skis. Sometimes I just want to be game on and assault the mountain going mach 11, again totally different skis. I hope that makes sense.
That’s most likely not going to happen then lol, you will want to upgrade when you get to that range, the headphones will really appreciate it
Sounds good, but with an amp and dac, you want to match it to the headphones you get, but there are good all rounder dacs and amps as well
I think if you quickly plan to move to the 2k+ range, I do think you would want to spend more on your dac and amp if you did so, with some more info on what you plan to be moving up to so you can match an amp better
Was kinda figuring i would probably buy a new headphone on average once a year. The argons may be my next purchase but the balanced version seems very appealing and an e30 and asgard combo wouldn’t do the trick.
What balanced amp are you considering then to go along with it?
I think if you are really after a balanced amp some good all rounders are a cayin iha6 or cavalli liquid platinum imo, that would offer a significant jump in performance over the asgard 3 and have balanced
I’d assume the dac would need upgrading at this point as well? Would I run into issues where headpnones like the 177x go start sounding like crap?
Yes, but you could grab an enog 2 pro or something like that which are solid for the price until you plan on spending more for the dac.
If you don’t run it balanced then yes, both the cavalli and cayin sound pretty bad single ended compared to their balanced out, and this is the case for most true balanced amps. Good thing though is that the 177x go can actually be balanced with an aftermarket cable from someone like Hart audio, so you would actually be fine there. For those amps you would really want only balanced capable headphones
Could I go enog 2 pro + asgard 3 then upgrade to a iha6 or liquid platinum in the future when i want to go balanced?
Sounds like a plan to me imo, would be real solid
Just put in an order for the dt177x go, enog 2 pro, and asgard 3. Will I need to purchase rca cables to connect the enog 2 pro and asgard 3?
Yes, pretty much any rca cables will do the job, the shorter the better
To connect the enog2 pro to my pc I need a coax to 3.5mm jack right? Is the 3.5mm connected to the line in on my motherboard? Pretty lost 
So your motherboard has an optical output correct? What motherboard do you have?
Its a ASRock x570 Phantom gaming 4
Hmmmm. That doesn’t have a digital audio out, you would grab something like this to use it (I’m surprised your motherboard has no digital audio out)
And then an optical cable if you don’t have one
Thanks for all the help. It’s been greatly appreciated. So the converter comes with a USB B to USB right? There is a picture of it but it doesn’t state that it is included.
Let me start off by saying that I think you hit the nail on the head on what I was looking for. Your advice has been spot on. I’ve been listening to my dt177x go’s for the last couple of weeks (took forever to arrive…) and am loving them. The stock pads were nice and I really didn’t have any qualms with them but they were a little to analytical and were missing some bass and spaciousness maybe? They just didn’t quite wow me. Tried out the other included pads and it added a bit of bass. Then I order some XL perforated pads per Zeos’s recommendation. Now they are sounding even better to my ears. Anyways, very happy with the advice.
I’m sure I’m making myself sound even more clueless, but I’m a bit confused as to why I’m not able to select 24 bit from the windows properties tab. The highest I can select in the drop down menu is 16 bit 48000 Hz. The Enog 2 pro is supposed to hit 24 bit. Is this due to my computer using the Signstek Q5 (which I’m using as a pass through so I can connect the Enog 2 via toslink to the Signstek then via USB to my PC) instead of the Enog 2? I couldn’t find any other audio output source besides what windows is calling “Speakers (USB Audio DAC).”