Ah yeah it might not be the best with the elex, as it would be around like 10 ohms output impedance balanced which would mess with the frequency response a bit
You could do that, but the archel2.5 pro was really designed to be used in the stack with the enog2 pro and I think the full stack would yield better sound quality. I think the enog2 pro and topping d50s are about equal in sound quality to my ears anyway, so one isnât a clear step up above another to me
So the element II is a bit more colored than the atom in sound, so I figured it wasnât what you were looking for. The element II does something with the highs that sweetens them up a bit which is really nice but that is coloring the sound
I would highly suggest getting much better headphones before you consider something like this lol. I would prioritize headphones first, amps 2nd, and dacs after that for what you want to upgrade
The enog2 pro is a very good dac, and in the future you could upgrade to a different balanced amp later on depending on what headphones you go with
I can tell you from first hand experience that after the 1k mark for a headphone amp or dac diminishing returns hit hard. You have to spend the big bucks to keep getting significant improvements
So I think the elex is neutral yet fun. It sounds actually pretty even, but has a slightly w shaped presentation which is fun and enjoyable yet still neutral sounding. The separation is very good as well and everything gets through. The dynamics of focal headphones are impressive and are definitely not lacking
The elex is very detailed for the price, impressively so throughout the range. The imaging on the elex is pretty dang impressive as it really doesnât have any large blind spots and images in a circle around your head.
The elex has some air in the treble region and plenty for my tastes without being overdone or overly prominent.
The soundstage is very nice. Together with the very good imaging it is able to accurately recreate a space very well. The soundstage is very open, and has good range, as it can be wider sounding with some sounds and intimate with others depending on the track
The midrange on the elex is very accurate and enjoyable, pretty engaging to me. It has pretty good timbre, but may sound slightly metallic but it isnât a big issue. Overall I think it excels the most at mid-range and high end in the frequency response so it sounds up your alley
Regarding where you can go from the elex, it depends on what traits you value. You can move up to the focal clear for a direct upgrade but you would want a better amp for that (pretty amp dependant compared to the elex) or perhaps a different headphone depending on what you wanted
The 95x is pretty good, but is a bit different from the elex. The 95x is going to sound more light and airy, with great speed and detail presented pretty forward (with some dynamic range compression but not a ton), but not much impact and also a less organic timbre. I do think they are very good, but I think the elex is a step up in performance unless you are really chasing that light and airy estat sound
I personally donât really like the original aeon and by extension the aeon x, but the new aeon 2 is very good. That would be something to consider as well, but I do think it wouldnât have as good value proposition as the elex does. Since I wouldnât recommend the original aeon, comparing the aeon 2 to the elex, the aeon 2 is a bit of a more even responding sound with more impact and a bit less fun. I think they are similar in detail, but the elex has better imaging and soundstage, and better dynamics. I think the aeon 2 has a more refined sound signature but I personally think the elex would be more appealing to you in this situation
Regarding the hd800s, thatâs a different type of sound. Itâs very bright and super detailed, but not really natural. It definitely wows with itâs soundstage and imaging, but it does sound a bit exaggerated and not really lifelike. It also is pretty amp picky and you would really want to consider it with a tube amp in the future.
The k812 was a bit flawed for me personally, the sound signature was off and it just was kinda a mess to me. I wouldnât really recommend it. And I donât really see how they advertise for studio usage. I do commerical mastering and I would not use that lol
Electrostatics are something unique, but itâs a sound signature you have to buy into.
I really like the Elex, but my preferences arenât aligned with yours, I find the Beyers to be way to sharp for my tastes.
The thx is more feature rich, but you are trading the features for better sound quality (for this pairing), so it depends on how much you value those features
I really like my 880 600 ohm, very impressive for the price, something that is very good for a neutral bright signature. Also very nice wide soundstage and imaging, and good timbre and detail too. Not much I can complain about for the price. Still use mine on occasion
Oppo has kinda left the us market for sure which is disappointing
Something else I didnât mention was the build and comfort. The elex is very well built and also fairly comfortable, but the cable is somewhat subpar but still usable for sure. The 880 600 ohm are built very well too and also pretty dang comfy, but the attached wire gets annoying at times. The 95x is very cheaply built, but comfort is good, but they do feel pretty fragile. The aeon 2 is just awesome in build and comfort
Getting both the elex and koss? Or the elex and 880?
So personally at this level I wouldnât recommend buying any high end cables or anything. Amazon basics cables are actually pretty nice lol. You might want to get some short flexible xlr cables for the stack but otherwise you really shouldnât get something expensive
Ah, the 95x is very impressive, I can highly recommend it, I do enjoy mine. I would say itâs probably the most balanced estat under 1k, beating out the stax l300 and l500 for me. I highly doubt he would be disappointed. If you can get over the cheaper build it really is an excellent value
Thatâs my choice personally for what you seem to want sound wise. It just seems like the most flexible in the future to me
Also if your dad is a B&O guy too, the H6 are pretty great for the price if he wanted a portable headphone
And one more thing to complicate everything lol, if you wanted a more studio oriented headphone compared to the elex, the dt1990 pro is pretty sweet
So asio drivers can help, and if you want to use them go ahead. Itâs a more direct path to the dac because it bypasses the windows audio mixer and is sent as bit perfect. The dac will adjust itâs sample rate and bit depth depending on the tracks played. Depending on the system this can help with sound quality, but sometimes it makes a super small difference. It also mutes all other sounds besides the program playing music with asio
So I actually did a smaller comparison for the 1990 vs the elex and another headphone here for someone else, and that should explain what I mean when I say a studio tuning. If you go through the thread I give more info than that single post