I think I recommended that Asgard 3 just because it’s a great excuse to buy more equipment but I’ll admit, I get concerned with the numbers I see (without trying it myself) if the Sundara would be properly driven by the Atom.
I get it, the sundara is just fine np on the atom from my experience. Of course later down the line getting an a3 would be beneficial but tbh you could easily live with the sundara and the atom imo
1 Like
Is it possible to use the enog pro 2 with a laptop? I only know that my laptop has usb that I use with my d10 but idk if my laptop would be compatible with the options on the enog pro 2 as I know it doesn’t have usb.
So your laptop would either need to have a mini toslink out in your headphone jack, or use your d10 as a usb to optical box which it can do
If you have an eternal monitor with HDMI, you can use an audio extractor. Please be careful though to check the refresh rates of the audio extractor before you purchase one. I know the Schiit Eitr was a USB -> Coaxial.
How do I tell if the 3.5mm headphone jack has a mini toslink out or not on my laptop?
What is the model of your laptop?
I think it’s a MSI GV62 8RE.
Gotcha, that doesn’t seem to have a mini toslink then, you would want to use your d10’s optical out or grab a device like this then https://www.amazon.com/Coaxial-Convertor-ASIO-（Excellent-Shielded-Magnetic/dp/B07R8138XL/ref=sr_1_15
But you do already have the d10 which will convert usb to optical as the device above, so just use the d10 if you can
What dac options would recommend to pair with the rnhp new or used at 350 and less?
Most likely a smsl su8, enog 2 pro, the smsl m300 mkii looks pretty sweet
1 Like
I haven’t heard much about the smsl 300, how does it compare to the others, also I know these are an unbalanced dac, but what about the artist r2r, El Dac II, and Aune X8?
So the airist r2r is a solid r2r pick, a good entry into r2r if you wanted to try something different. The el dac ii is pretty sweet and is a great unbalanced dac. The aune x8 is good but nothing special to me personally.
The m300 mk2 is new and I haven’t heard it yet so I can’t quite comment on it yet
I like the Airist R-2R especially for the wonderful things it does to the bass and details. However, for the current issues I’m hearing about with Elex I would suggest against the Airist R-2R for this particular case. I would totally recommend a Topping D50(s?) or SMSL M300. SMSL-SU8 should be fine as well because I’ll be completely honest here, any DAC you get will be temporary. The SMSL-SU8 has some filters that may help simulate what you may want in your sound better than som other options. The RNHP + Bifrost 2 is an unholy combination that just seems to impress me.
I have not tried out the RNHP with the Airist since it will be on lone for some time as someone is building a new speaker set from scratch (Martin Logans) and has never heard an R-2R DAC. I’ll report on that later this summer when my gear is all at home and ready for testing. I have tested a Schiit Fulla 3 DAC output with the RNHP and it’s more enjoyable than it was with my Schiit Heresy (should sound identical to the Atom) or THX 887. The Fulla 3 should be identical to the Modi 3.
My introduction to hifi was a long, but exponential one. There are other audio purchases in between, but there are the important ones that lead me to this point. It goes something like this.
- 2004: Needed new earbuds that didn’t fall off my ear. Hear about these IEM things that musicians use. Bought the Shure 210. This was the first time I’ve heard so much difference in sound, and from then on, I could not go back to cheap audio gear.
- 2009: Realised I couldn’t play games in IEMs forever no matter how good they sounded. Bought a Logitech G35, with it’s virtual surround sound. Whether it was placebo or true, I liked how well it was for gaming, but more importantly, I actually didn’t like how it made music sound, so I always turned it off when listening to music.
- 2013: The Logitech G35 was already wearing down. Not knowing that they sold replacement pads, I previously glued fabric to the pads to get rid of the icky peeling pleather. I needed something more for gaming, then I happened onto the Audiotechnical A700X. I bought it because people said it was great for both music and gaming. I didn’t care about bass back then, but words like detail and imaging stuck out for me. Until today I feel it’s one of the best headphones I’ve ever worn. I still have it. In fact, it’s been modded to have a 3.5mm detachable cable.
- 2017: I felt like there could be more with the A700X, and it had been years. So on a whim, I bought the Massdrop x Fostex T-X0. I didn’t know much about Fostex, so I did a lot of research, learning about it’s original T50RP lineage. This was also the same time, I found Z Reviews. This was the point of no return. During this year I also bought the O2 amp, and eventually the Grace SDAC in order to try and power the T-X0. I liked the headphones, but because I had no great reference before hand, I didn’t understand what muddy bass was. I just felt that it sounded wider and less detailed then the A700X
- 2018: Zeos gave the T-X0 a shitty review, so I converted them to Argons. Also learned that T50RP’s and their mods needed power. So I bought the Aune X7S. Also bought Hifiman HE4XX and the AKGK7XX during this time too, obviously thanks to the Zeos effect. Not content with the X7S powering my Argons, and because shipping a Emotiva BasX to Australia is balls expensive, I settled for a Audio-Gd NFB 11.32 for cheap. Except that it wasn’t an NFB 11.32 but an NFB 12.1. I settled for it because it still gave 1.8W at 32ohm, single ended, which i was fine with driving my Argons. That was quickly superseded by the THX AAA 789, which I purchased on Christmas Eve right after Zeo’s review.
From there it’s down the rabbit hole of headphone/IEM purchases (and sales) and trying to understand what kind of sound signature I want. I settled between either V-shaped and neutral. I’m not a rich person, so everything has been limited to under $500 AUD (bout $300+ USD). I also do a lot modding (specifically Koss stuff) and I’ve written a how-to here in the forums on modding the KPH30i. This is my current gear so far that I’m comfortable with, but who knows what I might get later on.
7 Likes
If you have a balanced amp with balanced inputs, will getting unbalanced dacs vs balanced dacs of a similar price result in similar performance or will balanced dacs perform better than unbalanced dacs?
bruh put these pics in the endgame snapshot thread really sweet stuff. it’s like, bruh it’s 2016 yeah
1 Like
So it depends, but typically devices with balanced in will benefit from a balanced device moreso than the unbalanced in
I have a SU8 Paired with it and it sounds great. Sometimes you can find the SU8 on sale for 185$. I got mine for that much off Drop
Ok i got a few questions for you sir. The T-X0, how was it different from the t50rp? How did you like it after it got converted into the Argons?
In the picture of the amps what is that box on the lower left hand corner?
In the picture of the headphones what audio technica headphone on the far left is that?
I see you have the Verum One’s! how do you like it?