Sundara + Fosi Audio Q5

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
1

So i want to “upgrade” from my TYGR 300 R (the quotation mark are there 'cause the drivers are destroyed, I’m waiting for a repair), my budget is around 300 bucks and I’m seriously thinking about the Sundara

I have two questions:

the DAC/Amp that i have is the Fosi Audio Q5 (old version) that has these specifications:

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is this enough (both in term of power and quality) for the Sundara?

the second question is, do you have any other suggestion for this price point? i know that the 6XX are a safe bet but idk I’ve seen contrasting opinions online

thanks

2

I’d go for something else, dont get me wrong the Sundara are great but i dont think they will pair well with that amp - Hifiman plannars tend to like power, your amp/dac could possibly run them but not well.

However they are plenty of other headphone you can find that might work for you in that budget (im focusing on open back mainly)

  • The obvious - get another 300R they are a solid set by any metric, practically gaming and if you like the sound stick with what you like.

  • Thieaudio Ghost - really nice set for the price, though i do highly recommend swapping pads to
    https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Angled-Memory-Foam-Earpad/dp/B01J54NLOI?tag=hififorums-20

  • Sennheiser HD 6XX - A classic by any metic, praciturally nice if you ever get a tube amp

  • Harmonicdyne Athena - Solid semi open, nice bass over

  • Sivga Luan - One the most comfy headphones i have ever used.

  • Harmonicdyne Zues - Wide sound stage, with a fairly fun sound (warm with plenty of bass)

I could go on and on and there are probablly ones i missed that are worth mentioning but in general i’d suggest avoiding Plannars for now

3

from the one that you’ve suggested i’d probably go for the 6xx i think

but in any case, I’ve never even tried a planar and I was curious to listen to it, from what I’ve researched they fullfill what i mainly want in an headphone (clarity, instrument separation, resolution/ etc…) so i was curious to see if what i think is true in reality

considering that the dac/amp that i have can be used as just a dac, are there “pure” amps that could be paired nicely with the Sundara or the costs are prohibitively high? (if it’s 100 bucks-ish i could think about it)

also I’m still kinda learning, but from online specifications the sundara has 32ohm impedance and 94dB/mW of sensitivity, and that is basically the same as the Tygr, with my amp i’ve never ever come close to max it out

according to this headphone calculator i should need 40mW and and 1V (rms), the Q5 has 500mW of max output power at 2V, i know that these numbers dont mean everything and there’s difference between power and “usable/clean power” but i’m still using 1/10 of the power output, so why “planars needs more power” if after few watts the volume becomes unberable?

i hope i dont look too aggressive ahahah, english is not my native language and it’s hard to talk on the internet without sounding accusatory, my questions are geniune

(here’s the headphone calculator:)

4

Its not just a question of how much power it makes, its also a question of what can power it “well” - unlike a PC’s power supply there are a lot more factors to problem, since a lot of DAC and amps have thier own “flavor” and also the how well they drive can drive certain headphone, its not just give a certain amount of power. That’s why you’ll a lot of people talk on headphone forums on what “pairings” are good

Planars in general are a bit more power hungry than dynamics (there expections in both but its a overall rule of thumb), your amp could drive them but i doubt that it will drive them well.

As far as dedicated amp cost , there are plenty of powerful amps that are fairly cheap, nowadays plenty of companies like Topping, SMSL, FIIO, and more make great amps for the 100-200$ that are killer, they also make combo units. But that’s a whole discussion entirely, for now i’d suggest sticking with headphones :smiley: