Hello everyone i own a creative Soundblasterx g6 which i only want to use as a dac and pair it with a good headphone amp thats around $200 i can’t go higher. All help is greatly appreciated. It will be used to power my beyerdynamic dt990 pro 250 ohms. These are not modded so i don’t need a balanced amp.
So what are you looking for in this amp that the G6 can’t achieve for you?
Better sound quality.
Do you need more power?
Are you suffering from buzzing, jitter or other distortions?
Are you looking for a wider soundstage?
Better imaging?
More bass?
Higher clarity?
All these fall under the umbrella of better sound quality but each one will lead you to a different amp. Warmer sounds will lead you to class A or Schiit. While soundstage could lead you to a small tube. Clarity towards clean solid states (thx?) while jitter and hiss will only be amplified with a better amp and are more of a dac problem
I don’t hear any hiss or buzzing. I am looking for clarity and soundstage.
In the budget realm soundstage and clarity never go hand in hand very well. While a cheap tube like the amazing MT-602 has excellent soundstage, it doesn’t compete with THX clarity. Though THX for some people (though I on the SH-9 tend to disagree) seems to flatten the sound out a bit.
I think an Ifi Zen Can could be a great choice. $150. Not as wide as tubes but better than THX, not as clear as THX but clearer than tubes. People also love the bass button
Lets say that if i do decide to get a stack what would you recommend for the same amount?
The Asgard 3 is definitely one of, if not the, best amps in the $200 range.
I’d recommend reading @WaveTheory ‘s review of the $200 range amps
Ok so most likely the asgard 3 is my choice. Now how would i connect it to my g6.
I guess that would be the first question at all.
only ouput is digital, and headphone amps are analog, so you need a converter from digital to RCA and if you get a cheap converter you will add a lot of noise and signal interferance…
no sure if that the best idea.
what about selling your G6? and get another dac/amp, like Fiio K5 pro, Topping dx3 pro, ifi zen dac( which personally I don’t like much) but you could add an headphone amp later.
Not a bad idea how about something from schiit or topping?
Well I have the G6 and for gaming is good and you can connect a mic and it has dolby digital and that’s why I like it, but then same as you I started reading more and more. I was going gor Topping E30 +L30 around 300$ really good combo… but then I got exicited by SMSL su 9 / gustard x16 … (those are dac only) and finally I end up with Dac/amp combo Topping Dx7 pro… and it’s really really good, but expensive. 650 u$s. same dac chip as the SU9 (Ess9038 pro).
schiit has a really nice amps, not sure about the dacs I can’t say much about it.
hope this helps…
I definitely can’t do $650. Im also looking into the the d50s and a50s stack as my birthday present for my 21st birthday on july 4th.
What do you think would pair well with an asgard 3? My budget went up to 300. Would the g6 be ok?