I bit the bullet and went for 3 hour drive to buy the 1990 pro! I was scared if i can’t use them at all because of the treble. Although when I first put them on i did hear the spike at some songs etc and after hd 598 it was bit harsh, but after listening music and gaming with them for 3 hours I enjoyed them more and more and didn’t notice the treble peak as something bad anymore. At this point I can’t be happier with this decision. It was risky but atleast after first “session” I’m not having any remorse of buying them, i actually had my worries before I bought them and while I drove home.
Anyhow now I need new amp / dac! I checked and my current amp runs 350mw at 32ohm, I have the headphones max everywhere (windows / programs) but the amp is about 50% volume and if i want I could get it too loud, but i wonder if I’m missing on the headphones abilities with low power amp? I checked fiio k5 pro that’s at 1,5w at 32ohm. That seems quite alot more power (im very new to these amp / dac things).
I’m very limited because I live in Finland so there’s not that many options it seems for amps. I did find that fiio k5 pro, but also looked at topping
L30 + E30 Stack, That’s like 280e total and bit more than I planned to use on amping, but would that be worth it? Or should I get fiio for 160e. There’s also some other options but i don’t know what’s good and what’s bad since googling for advice people usually suggest the amps i can’t get (as in schiit / jds).
So yeah I was planning on something like 150-200e for the amp, but if i get alot better for slightly more money I can stretch budget. I guess if i get warmer sound or so from it would be good for dt 1990pro? Did look at ifi zen dac, but someone mentioned it gives even more treble and i don’t really want that.
so you have everything cranked to maximum and only need to dial the volume to 50%? this is fine, and means your headphone is getting plenty of power.
not so much the power of the amp as much as that amps will sound different… they all offer different sound characteristics but its still more of a slight change nothing like if you change the pads or something.
1990 isn’t like the T1 over there where it scales and synergizes to some crazy degree but it does respond quite well to better equipment regardless… Though, in that particular budget? I would say just leave it alone if you have it driven already. Something like the lake people amps or an asgard 3 would be very nice to use with the 1990s… liquid spark the entry level is the most common recommendation as it, like the asgard 3, has treble roll off… however, asgard 3 is the better amp for more money. One of the “best case” amps you will sometimes see recommended is RNHP but that ones quite pricey… I would say, save up a bit… If you really want to tinker with your sound… try looking into some pad swaps instead of different amps considering you seem to have enough juice going to the headphone.
I see I see, guess I keep it as is and buy pads or something if i feel like I need something different or give fiio k5 pro a try and return if it has no impact on the sound, apart from being louder. Although at the moment with analytical pads i feel very satisfied with the headphones.
Thank you Falenkor for your help with my headphone buying journey and also all the others that chimed in their opinions (referring to the headphone thread where this all started). I feel like I’m happy with what I got and know that I’m not that treble sensitive, guess aging helps there also.
Also couldn’t get liquid spark or asgard 3 in finland so bit sad with the options there are. RNHP i did find from Thomann but unsure if they ship to finland and also that amp costs more than what I spent on headphones, if i don’t really need it then I don’t see how I could justify myself buying it.
More power does more than add more volume for some headphones.
I could drive my Sundara’s to louder than comfortable with 0,6 watts but the bass was very… meh
I then switched to a 6 watt SH-9 and it added so much bass. Mind you it didn’t make it a bassy headphone. but the bass that I felt should’ve been there, was there now. And tight and controlled just like I expected from a planar.
So no. Being able to drive them loud doesn’t mean you supply them with enough power, but adding power might just as well do nothing. Headphones aren’t all the same.