So I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones. Currently I am using an Asus Essence STX II for a sound card but am considering moving away from that and getting an AMP/DAC. Watching reviews from Zeos I was gonna buy the Fostex HP-A4BL. Thoughts on the AMP/DAC? How much difference would it make instead of the soundcard? Would the HP-A4BL be sufficient by itself and plug straight into my computer?
Apologies if this is the wrong section…first post. Any help is appreciated.
@ZeosPantera I recently had been watching your videos. I noticed your video going over your wall you had mentioned the Fostex HP-A4BL, do you think it is outdated as stated below? Is there a better combo for the money? Thanks man and I really enjoy your content.
You can get a separate dac amp, that would provide a quality bump but it’s most likely not going to be night and day. I personally think the fostex is a bit outdated, I would consider something like a magni 3+ and a topping e30 imo, would be a solid stack
had to make a new account just to reply, but I have the fostex hpa4bl and i run it with my 909’s it is a great amp dac combo, looks amazing and MADE IN JAPANU im not a weeb i promise! Although anything higher than 300 ohms i would use the balance input and high gain maybe.
It’s a solid amp and dac for sure, but imo doesn’t really present a good value anymore in the us at least, along with that you would want to recable to balanced for most benefit, adding more cost
I started my sound journey with that card. It’s one of the best sound cards out there… and still a $200 dollar amp/dac SCHIIT stack will run rings around it. The STX II headphone amp left a lot to be desired.
Well its old and basic and expensive for how weak it is, but I always had a soft spot for Japanese made stuff and there is something just right about how it sounds on some cans. 58x would be fine on it. I personally can use it however because I have like 20 amps behind me. If you got this as your only DAC/amp and started trying hard to drive headphones it would be a limiting factor with power.
I think for the price, it’s been fairly far surpassed in terms of sound quality, but it’s not really bad or anything, just not great for what it costs to get one
