I’m going to be upgrading my old gaming headset to a headphone/mic setup. After doing a bit of research I’m planning to buy a pair of dt 880 edition 600 ohms along with a mod mic usb to play CSGO and Valorant along with other games every now and then. MIght listen to music on them but probably not since I rarely listen to music on the desktop and usually listen more during work and commuting which these headphones aren’t made for.
I’m not sure whether to go with the fiio K5 pro or the jds labs atom since they’re both the same price for me in the uk. Would it be better to get the K5 pro if I’m also planning to get speakers so that I can plug them into the dac?
Very stupid side question if I get the K5 pro since I’ve never owned this type of equipment before and not 100% sure how dac/amp combos work except that they’re a combined unit(which might make me sound more stupid), how do I setup the cables for them? Do I just need to plug the usb in to drive the headphones or do I need to plug a 3.5mm to rca from the computer to the line in for the amp to drive the headphones or something else?
So with the atom, you would also want to grab a dac like a topping d10 or smsl m100 (also check out the schiit magni 3+ or monolith liquid spark for an amp if you go septates). You could run it off your motherboard as a dac for the time being if you didn’t have the budget
The k5 pro has a built in dac so you wouldn’t need a separate one. In the case of the k5 pro you would just need to plug it into the wall and then a USB cable to the pc. The speakers would connect via rca to the output of the k5 pro. What type of speakers are you planning to connect (passive with an amp or powered)?
I’m planning to get a pair of rt1700bt speakers which I believe are powered.
Good to know, was searching for too long on to see if I need to connect a cable between the audio source on my motherboard to the k5 or not to run the amp. Might have been able to figure it out when I got it but wanted to know if I needed to buy the cable or not.
Would you say I would notice too much of a difference between using the atom or the k5 pro when using the 600 ohms headphones?
So I would say the atom is a higher quality amp, but I think the k5 pro is pretty solid as well. Personally I would lean towards a magni 3+ or monolith liquid spark + a dac like the d10 or m100, but if that is too expensive the k5 pro is pretty nice
All you might need would be a rca cable to connect the speakers if you didn’t have a rca cable already. The k5 pro has a variable out which means that the volume dial on the k5 pro will control the level of the speakers or whatever is connected to it, so you can adjust speaker volume on there
If I may throw another option or two into your list, you could also consider the Schiit Audio Hel and use a modmic that connects with the 3.5mm and run that right into the front of the Schiit Hel. The Hel puts out the same power but I feel like the build quality is better on the Schiit Hel. Also, I would probable go with a lower impedance headphone (probably nothing more than 300ohm) imo.
IMO I would argue the sound quality of the heresy is a bit better imo. Also I think for the price of the hel, you can get a heresy + a good mic interface that would yield a better quality headphone amp and a better quality mic input/interface than the hel for the same price
You may be right, I don’t have any experience with the Heresy. I do like a lot of the Schiit products. I’m probably a little biased because that was my first stack that I put together for my desk. Now my habit is getting worse and I’m collecting more headphones and amps than my wife would like…
A lot of the options everyone listed is unavailable online in the uk right now.
Tempted to get the atoms and then get a dac later down the later if I think I need them. Am I right in saying that I shouldn’t be connecting powered speakers into an amp or it doesn’t matter? Though saying that, that would mean I shouldn’t be connecting them to the k5 pro either.
So the powered speakers would go into the pre out of the jds atom or the k5 pro, and you would control volume from the amp. There is a rca out on the back of either of the amps and that is a pre out
O I see, sorry about that, just realised how that all worked after you said that.
Thanks for all the help, I think I’ll get the atoms and use my motherboard as a dac for now until I get some more money for a dac/wait until some dacs in the uk become available.
Gotcha, well then just make sure you have a regular rca cable to connect the powered speakers and then also a 3.5mm to rca cable to connect the atom to your pc’s line out
Pfffffff once you have enough they barely even notice anymore lol.
Gf doesn’t even realize when I get new ones unless she’s the one that gets the package lol. If you have over 10-20 they stop noticing. Or maybe just stop caring lol.
So I’ve bought the dt 880 600 ohms headphones and jds labs atom amp and the headphones are a lot better quality than my gaming headset for both gaming and music, that much I can tell. But I wanted to see how much of a difference the amp made but I can’t hear a difference between using the headphone jack on my desktop and the amp when it comes to sound quality/level except that I could turn them louder than what I would want to listen to by using high gain rather than low gain and maybe a slight difference in what it sounds like but I feel like that might just be what I’m telling myself since I keep thinking the amp should make some difference.
I tried it on my phone as well and found that I’d have to put it on high gain to be able to listen to my music at a sound level loud enough that I’d be happy with but no real quality difference.
Is that what I should be expecting(never owning an amp before and being a sheep and following what people have been saying online) or am I just deaf?
I’ve never heard the Atom, but typically when I switch my headphones from a source like the phone or computer to an amp I do hear a difference. Usually, the soundstage is what stages out most to me. Everything seems to get bigger and wider and the imaging improves. I could even tell a pretty large difference going from my e10k to an o2 amp or Liquid Spark, and that was when I was still using the e10k as a dac.
I feel like a lot of the higher quality bits of audio, you really have to no what you’re listening for in order for it to make a difference. Even after spending quite a bit of time in this hobby the last few months, I’m still not sure I can hear all the differences people talk about.
I’d suggest listening only through the Atom for a week. Then, go back to those other sources and see what you think. I bet you’ll see surprised at the differences you notice.
So you may not notice the quality of an amp if you are a beginner at first listen, but after you spend lets say a week with the amp and then go back to motherboard audio, you might start to notice the differences and find some things missing
