Looking for the best AMP + DAC for Focal Elex within $500

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
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Is it lol?

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I get the feeling it might be. Lol

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And he remembers the stuff he tries. maybe hes one of those savants

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To an extent at least, it would be nice to be able to recall every exact thing but I don’t think that’s possible for me at least

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it seems like you hate the THX amps

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I don’t hate them, I just think for the same price there are more accurate amps out there to my ears. If you want power and something analytical leaning the thx stuff is a good choice, but I don’t think they are neutral/natural, and I def don’t think they are endgame worthy. I may be more irritated about the imo misinformation that thx is the end all and be all, and people don’t give higher end headphones what they actually should have, tilting experiences because they see no point to going over thx when in reality it would yield pretty noticeable improvements with their headphones

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Yeah i can see that. but at 260$ i think its in a good price point.

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To the original post. One of those cases is actually mine…lol for my 2.5

I’ve got the clear and have been testing them on the ENOG2 , Archel 2.5 stack. Balance and unbalanced input.

I’ve been A/B testing that setup against the ENOG2, SP200 balanced and unbalanced.

Also tested ENOG2 , liquid spark combo.

And RNHP gets delivered tomorrow I think.

Tested with other headphones as well but used the clear the most as I need to review them.

Posted my review here of the Archel 2.5 stack

Basically unbalanced, blind testing at a reasonable volume, it would be hard to determine which is which.

Balance input high gain on both at a reasonable volume. The Archel 2.5 gets a luster, fuller, sound signature while remaining clean. The SP200 maintains the more analytical sounds signature but everything is boosted. It has more thump as well due to its higher power

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Let me know what you think when you get the RNHP.

Yeah I think right now I’m considering if I wanna go mid-range or high-end:

Archel 2.5 + ENOG2 + Elex
or
D90 + RNHP + Clear

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I’m not arguing with the price here, I think it’s pretty competitively priced, I just think thx somewhat starts to fall apart when you get into the 700ish and above headphone range depending on the headphones

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Sweet! ive been wondering about how the SP200 compares to the Archel with the Clear. which one would you say was your favorite with the Clear?

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Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I think Archel 2.5 is probably truer to life sound. The SP200 has that THX sound where everything is sparkly and wonderful, plus the extra power provides an extra bit of thump the Archel can’t.

So basically it depends on personal taste and genera you listen.

If I could have only one I’d look at other headphones that you have and see which would amp would benefit/complement the most headphones.

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FWIW the Archel 2.5 has more than enough power to push all the headphones I have to deafing levels most on low gain

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When recommending to me, consider my tastes in music to be mostly rock, metal, and classical, and things that match them up. Also chiptune but yeah. I listen to the “Lo-Fi beats to chill out to” YouTube stream sometimes, I do like whatever genre you’d consider Nujabes to be in. A lot of OSTs from video games and anime.

I’ll give you some examples I guess… I’m normally shy to share my tastes in music, but I guess I kinda have to. Y’all are music/headphone enthusiasts, so maybe you’ll appreciate a list of music to listen to, I dunno. I’ll point you in the direction of YouTube videos, although I feel that they’re bad to use for sampling headphones there’s really no choice in sharing in an online forum.

These are just random tracks that are of the type I’d probably listen to:

This Kind of Music Reserved For When I’m Upset

Streams

Gaming

Video

Bonus

Just know that I’d have better, higher-quality versions of any of those tracks – YouTube compression sucks.

I used RWBY for the movie example because I feel the series has really well mixed audio. I mean, in my unprofessional opinion… it stands out to me.

A lot of my music can be complex and fast at the same time – you might be able to understand why I like heaphones that empahsize “detail”. And I guess I need more range than I’m really saying too, need something that does good with EDM booming as it does with those Japanese female vocals and trumpets and violins. The one thing most of my kind of music has in common is that it’s usually fast and intense, unless I’m explicitly trying to calm myself.

That’s not to say it’s ALWAYS intense. Heck I might listen to something like Roaring Tides II or a piano version of Terra/Tina from FFVI sometimes, which is on the other end of the spectrum from what I’d usually listen to.

A ton of my music mixes elements from many different genres – electric guitars, violins, trumpets, etc all going off together at a fast pace. Not sure what you’d call that genre-wise.

I think you might get what I mean by me not really being the most relaxed guy on the planet. I’m obsessive, my music is fast, and in games and such I’m the kinda guy that moves fast, reflexive, and instinctively. As such, most of my music is fast and hard-hitting. But there are exceptions like nujabes – as you can imagine, someone like me really needs to calm the f*ck down sometimes. So while I do typically enjoy complex and fast things, have my music for doing that as well.

And then there’s the… “spiritual” feeling ones. The ones that are like EDM or Electronic or something but… that’s not what they are, they’re more trying to take you on some sort of mental soul journey idk. The Island, Eternus, End of My Dread, Prophecy, and Nocturne are kinda like that in the examples I gave.

I listen to just about all kinds of music in the end – I’d say only rap and country I tend to steer clear of (although some music I listen to will have a rap “cameo” of sort, like so. And there’s exceptions too, like so.

I do notice that my current setup seems to lack “punch” in bass – I guess that’s what I’m giving up to have clarity in the treble. Some people have suggested that I should try Planar Magnetic headphones in the past, something about enhancing the speed and bass or something they say.

Anyway, I hope that gives a better idea of my tastes. Maybe that’ll make it easier for giving suggestions.

Currently thinking of the D90 >> RNHP >> Clear plan.

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So the clears would suit your preferences and tastes imo, but do note they don’t have as much impact as other headphones. I don’t think it’s relaxed or anything, I think it’s very detailed and tight but it doesn’t slam you or anything. Regarding the planar, with options in this price range I think you would sacrifice neutrality and naturalness for impact and also a bit stranger signature imo. Something to consider planar wise that might suit your preferences would be the audeze lcd x (which happens to also pair well with the rnhp) which you could consider. The lcd x would be focusing more on impact and detail, but also with a slightly recessed midrange/vocals and also a less natural sound.

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DAC- ENOG2 $179

AMP- Schiit Hersey- Clean clear sound, nice power and impact $100
Geshelli Archel 2.5 PRO- balanced input, more natural sound $179
SMSL SP200- THX sound, clean sparkly, balanced input, more power, not as natural sound $399

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It depends on what headphone though which would be the better pairing (since now there are a few headphone ideas being thrown around)

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Ah, I though he had the Elex already.

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Now he’s considering the clear, and also some others I would assume

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nice, smart man…lol