wellllllllllll I guess but it might not sound satisfactory. It would work decently, but might not be all you would be hoping for. There’s no rule that you couldn’t, it would just be a fair amount better with more power imo. If you wanted a hifiman that would run well on the atom, the 4xx or sundara would be the better pic, but the sundara isn’t going to be as fun as something like the 5se
Fair enough lmao
Still, I’m tempted to aim a little higher on the amp end. I might pick up the atom anyway and see how that headphone collection grows over time lol
From what you described, the 5se looks very interesting for me, but if I really wanted those I’d have to grab a more powerful amp.
If you really wanted them you could grab them now and use them, but to really get them to what they want and how they should sound, a more powerful amp like an Asgard 3 or a thx 789 or 887, or cayin iha6, or ifi iDSD micro black label, and the list goes on for powerful amps.
Using the 5se on the atom would be like getting a 144 hz monitor and having a graphics card that can only get up to 90fps if that makes more sense lol
Yeah, that make sense. I think what it comes down to is weather I want to dive into the deep end, or play it safe for the time being and chose some more budget friendly options. That’s more of a personal decision, and while I may be leaning towards the deep end side, circumstances change and I may really only be able to buy the budget stuff, which honestly, I can’t go wrong with either.
Yeah, as long as you actually enjoy what you decide on, there really isn’t a problem lol
Right, with how subjective audio is, I feel like I might not even come across a point where I might say I ‘wasted’ my money. Maybe if there’s just something out there that I really don’t like, but even then, chances are I’ll be able to return it or sell it off to someone else and call it a day.
Well, buying magic audio rocks or some garbage like that might be a waste lol
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I’m talking just the basic equipment, but yeah that sounds about right too lmao
Y’know, the one thing that’s making me hesitant about buying anything other than the Atom is really that ‘coloring’ of the sound. Obviously I know I have no way of actually finding out if I like it or not, but that uncertainty is making me really consider just the Atom.
The atom is probably the most transparent for the price, so that would be your best bet then
But a little coloration isn’t necessarily a bad thing lol
I think the decision is pretty easy, Smy. the 4xx are on the warm side of sound, so if you are really enjoying them, you should also enjoy the sound that comes from a DAC / Amp that are on the warm side as well.
I would say the 4xx is more on the v shaped side then warm, but it depends on what amp you prefer. I mainly recommend the liquid spark because I feel it allows the 4xx to preform better because of the better power
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I would say v shape is more warm in nature than cool.
How is the sound colored on the Asgard 3?
The asgard 3 is actually pretty clean, and I would say a bit warm (not that much though as the liquid spark), but I think the 4xx would preform better on it because of the lots of power it can deliver which I think will be beneficial. The older schiit stuff is fairly colored, but the new asgard 3 isn’t really that way, which is nice.
I see. How good are the dac units on the Asgard? I heard the multibit dac has an “analog” feel to it, and that the 4490 is also really clear but I’m not sure what “analog” totally means.
So the multibit dac is pretty good imo, as it adds a more rich sound and does some good things to the soundstage, its kinda like adding a tube (but it doesn’t effect the sound that much). I would personally prefer the multibit but the 4490 aint bad either. I would say the are around the performance of the topping d10 for the regular 4490, and the multibit is a higher tier of performance
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If anything, I feel more inclined to grab the Asgard 3, since I think it looks really neat. That being said, I wish they had the black skin of it in stock since their website doesn’t show it as an option.
You could contact them and ask if it’s available or will be available in the future if you really wanted to
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