so I’m watching Zeos, DMS and Joschua for a while and watched some Reviews regarding Amps and DACs and I’m getting pretty insecure because I have no experience to relay on.
So where do I come from?
I recently bought the DT 1990 Pro since I head the DT 880 600 Ohm Versions vor quite some time now (around 5 Years) and I heard that the DT 1990 Pro would be a worthy upgrade.
With the DT 880 600 Ohm I used a Objective2 + ODAC Combo Unit and was quite satified with it.
I love the DT 1990 Pro even more than the 880 (with the Analytical Pads) and was wondering, If the O2 Combo got the best out of them. One of the tree reviewers, I think it was Joschua, mentioned, that a good AMP can further Improve the Sound of the DT 1990 Pro.
So my Question is:
If I would consider upgrading to a Monolith THX 887 or SMSL SP200 with a SU-8, would that be a really noticable improvement over my current setup?
I’m especially searching for detail and clearity.
Since I have not much budget for Audio I have never heard a different Headphone-Amp than mine. I tried a entry-level Power-Amp but that one sounded kind of compressed and muddy (Onkyo A8630).
I would love to hear Your opinions on this and thanks in advance for the help
I think if you wanted a sizable noticable upgrade in detail and clarity, I would actually suggest looking into a Rupert Neve rnhp amp with something like an enog 2 pro or su8 dac, I think that would yield the most bang for the buck. If you wanted to spend less, you could consider something like an archel 2.5 pro and enog 2 pro stack imo. The o2 + odac is respectable, and I don’t think you would need to upgrade, but an upgrade would help. I would recommend skipping thx amps though as imo you can get similar performance for much less or better performance for a bit more
Thank you very much. I though of the THX Amps because they are praised so much buy Joschua and Zeos. I live in Germany so its hard to get a hold on the archel 2.5 pro and the enog 2 pro
The second thought I had, when upgrading to the THX Amps would not be needed/not have so much impact, is saving for a RME ADI-2-DAC. Do You have thoughts on that? Is that objectivly a good Amp-Dac Combo? I would like some features like the crossfeed and maybe the DSP Engine. I mean, I think I would use it when I had it to save some Profiles for easier listening but that not a KO-Argument for me.
This is usually a slow time of day for the forum. I can’t help you myself because I have the DT 1990s but no amps or DACs.
I can tell you based on what I’ve read that the latest ADI-2 FS is generally considered a good but high-priced pairing for the 1990. The original ADI-2 version is regarded as being an excellent DAC paired with a just-decent amp. The amp in the FS version is an improvement, and is perhaps at the same level, or close to it, as the 1990. That said, crossfeed is a feature that most people seem to find to be fun to experiment with but not to be useful in the long term. If you can do without the DSP features of the ADI-2 like crossfeed, I think most forum members would suggest spending the same money by putting less into the DAC and more into the amp.
A forum member you may want to connect with is Martin_Lesch, who lives in Germany and has experience with the DT 1990, the ADI-2, and much else.
Gotcha, another amp and dac you could consider would be the Asgard 3 and a topping d50s or the su8
I think if you wanted to have those features, I do think it’s a worthwhile combo for sure, although if you don’t want the features there are cheaper options
