I thought multi-bit DAC were only beneficial if you had crazy res music and stuff. amiwrong?
Na, a better dac is a better dac not really dependent on the actual quality of the music tbh. Multibit is just a different way of doing things kinda like r-2r
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R2R is how DAC’s were originally done, all analog, their expensive to do right for large bit depths.
MultiBit is how digital DAC’s were originally done before switching DAC’s, they became impractical with large bit depths, but are back in vogue with improvements in the technology.
Delta Sigma DAC’s basically use PDM encoding at a much higher frequency and a filter to produce the output voltage.
I suspect you’d be hard pushed to measure a meaningful difference between the technologies, if you were just looking at the output of the actual DAC, but they don’t really exist in isolation, the filters on the Delta Sigma DAC’s probably impart some color, there will be noise form the higher frequency signals.
etc etc.
Yeah, the main reason to own a multibit or r2r is to add some color (like tubes) to the sound for some more enjoyment
Say I wanted to also have the r70x for serious gaming, would the multibit dac negatively affect its sound signature for gaming? Or is the effect subtle enough for it not to matter?
I would say it really wouldn’t matter that much. I would say that the ad1000x would be a better choice for pure gaming performance though, as the r70x doesn’t have as good of soundstage and imaging imo
As for a set of streaming cans, you did mention I did consider the DT 770 250 Ohm. Is it worth looking at any of the other beyerdynamics?
The 880 600 ohm is pretty great imo, better then the 770 imo but it is semi open. You might want to also consider the t50rp mk3 with Shure pads or a m40x with different pads, as all of those would be good for steaming and monitoring imo
Is it likely that sound leakage would get picked up by the mic should I go for the 880s?
It should realistically be fine as long as you aren’t listening too loud and you don’t have your mic gain all the way up
I noticed that The Element amp/dac combo isn’t much more than the Asgard 3 with the dac, what would you say is the better pick for the 4XX or 5SE?
Hmm. I think both would be good imo, but the extra power of the asgard 3 would be more beneficial imo
Fair enough. Feature wise they both seem to be neck and neck. RCA inputs with Preouts. I do really like the form factor of the Element though.
The element is nice for sure, and I think you should have no problem with the 4xx as they might sound similar, but the 5se will benefit from the greater power of the asgard imo. If you didn’t have the 5se as a want I would say the element and asgard would just depend on what you preferred
I know I go around the bush with this topic, I just found it interesting how the power output varies quite a bit with some of the amps you recommended for the HE5SE. From a power standpoint it looks like the Asgsrd 3 is really the best option at the given impedance that the HE5se runs at.
That’s what I was thinking as well
That being said, I also find it interesting how so much power is needed to ‘bring out’ these particular headphones. I’m probably looking at it too objectively, but would you mind elaborating a little more on how the extra power improves these headphones? I imagine there has to be a limit as to how good these headphones can get with additional power.
There is a limit, but with more power they tend to have a more even frequency response, the bass gets better and is more refined, and the treble gets a bit more smoothed out and refined. You typically want more power at a higher quality. Overall they go from sounding average/flawed to sounding great. They were just designed to take more power than most headphones
Higher quality? Would that imply a more consistent current or does it have to do with Class A or something like that?
So just a better designed amp. If you only throw power from an amp not really designed for quality, it’s not going to sound as good. It really just depends on the quality of the amp and how well it was designed. The Asgard 3 is pretty good so I don’t think there is a big concern there. But you could hook it up to a higher quality amp and end up with better quality sound