Hi!
So i’m a little nooby in this. Please be gentle with me.
I will first explain my situation and general use, then i will list some questions.
I love sound, i’m a guitarist, but unfortunately i don’t have great budget.
I’m listening to a lot of differents music style, game a lot and so i play guitar.
Talking about gaming… : I love great audio, and also play lots of differents kind of game, but i just don’t care about competition, footstep ect… Just like to enjoy sound of the game.
When playing guitar this is my setup : PC => USB Scarlett solo => Sundara and Guitar.
When NOT playing guitar, for everything else, i have a Sound Blaster AE-7 as PCI-E internal soundcard and just plug my Sundara into this.
So, like this you can see what i already own and how i use it daily.
This is my upgrade project : Buy a ZEN CAN (so, not the combo one) to plug it in my Scarlett Solo as the DAC. Also, get a balanced cable to connect the Sundara to the ZEN CAN, but meh… It’s hard to found cable for this… Question on it later.
Zeos seems to loved the ZEN CAN, this seems really good for the price, and the “Magic Button” seems interesting to me.
But maybe there is better for something AROUND THE SAME price. I’m open to suggestion, but i have to say that the ZEN CAN is really appealing to me. If suggestion you have, can it have also some “Magic Button” please? Or maybe change my mind i’m completely wrong to want to try it…
Also, when i have the money, i’d like to buy a LCD-2C… This mean not soon at all it’s expensive for me…but eh, in the future.
So… Now that you have some context, there is the questions :
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Will the Scarlet Solo 3rd gen will do the job as a DAC ? I already own it and if i have to buy a separate DAC, it will surely be out of my budget.
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And so, i have to know if everything will work as intended this way, even before you recommand something else if you have a good idea to what to get, i wonder if i’m not planning it wrong :
-PC => USB to Scarlett => LINE OUT of the Scarlett INTO the RCA INPUT of the ZEN CAN with an adapter (Question 3 comes…) => Balanced cable INTO the Sundara with again a need of an adapter, for the balanced output at least.
Is the routing good and intended to be used like this? -
Cable…
So, for connecting the Scarlett into the ZEN CAN i need an adapter (JACK 6.35mm => RCA). Also, the LINE OUTPUT of the Scarlett IS balanced… So i saw this article :
How to Connect a Headphone Amplifier to an Audio Interface – JDS Labs Blog
Is this the good way to doing it? Will this adapter cable be OK ?
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01CG4C7FS/?coliid=ITRPYCAIUQRXY&colid=3VTQWAZ56I7B0&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Also, The ZEN CAN is provided with RCA Cable and power unit i think…
For the Sundara into ZEN CAN, this is the ONLY THING i found available in my location, it’s really hard to find something because of the Y 3.5 input of the Sundara and the 4.4 balanced output of the ZEN CAN… Here is what i found so, is it okay ?
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- So… If everything i planned work in this way (or not), have you :
-Better Suggestions
-Better Amp Recommendations (Im open, but i’d like to have convincing arguments please, i like the “Magic Button” idea…)
- Better DAC or a Combo recommendations if it’s really needed… I hope not, i don’t have much money…
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Is the “Magic Button” good so? Zeos seems to not really be into that kind of stuff and, thought, he still loved it and bought a ZEN CAN for himself
So, i can imagine it to be really cool and fun… Is the 3D thing good in game? Music?
Bass fonction? For everything? -
My Sound Blaster AE-7…
I might have done a mistake buying this, or is it actually good? To my personnal taste, i like to listen somewhat loud, and i’m often close to 100% volume knob… I use the “module” of the AE-7.
Generaly, volume turned up to 75-85%, something like 3-4 o’clock (windows at 100%). The module max seems to be 5 o’clock. Using the normal gain mode “32-149 ohm”. Tried the high gain one that go up to “150-600 ohm”, and it was distorded/noisy.
What kind of improvement can i have with the kind of upgrade i’m going to do ?
Will my upgrade be huge or more or less? -
Or maybe just buy a new and better audio interface? i’m afraid it will not be as good as an amp for headphone, but it will surely be better for my guitar… Oh and Scarlett is really bad with Sundara, not enough power.
You can just answer to question with the appropriate number. Not needed to quote me.
Thanks for you time… I really need advice please! I don’t have the money to make more mistake…