Looking for My First external dac amp for my X2HRs and v moda boom pro, I am looking for a “noticeable” difference than my motherboard audio but I also dont want to spend money where I dont need to, I know the hel would be more than worth it but it’s a bit out of my “buy that shit right meow” price range so I’m torn between the syba sonic or spending a little more on a fulla 3. I assume it’s a no brainer that the fulla would be a better buy than the syba sonic but seeing as I do fully intend on upgrading to a hel in the future, is the difference in performance between the syba sonic and fulla 3 worth the premium? I won’t be upgrading to the hel for at least a month but also don’t want to be disappointed and would gladly spend the extra money on the fulla over the syba right now if the quality is actually that different
This may sound strange but this is what I would recommend. I would first pick up a jds labs atom or monolith liquid spark or magni heresy. You would run this from your line out of your motherboard for the time being. Once you have the funds, I would get a focusrite Scarlett solo interface and an antlion xlr to 3.5mm adapter they sell for the modmic, and it would be used as your mic interface and dac for the amp you choose. Personally I think this setup would be better than a schiit hel, and also way more flexible in the future
I wouldn’t recommend the syba Sonic as it would honestly be comparable to motherboard audio. The fulla is better, but the mic in doesn’t sound that great, and I think you could do better for a headphone amp. Neither of those are flexible as well and can’t really be added on to in the future as well
Current situation is, need a combo like the fulla / arc / syba just because it’s honestly my second choice as is and I just want to get out of my current setup immediately, because trust me I’ve looked at everything except for that exact situation you’ve recommended and I totally agree that it’d be better but, considering I’m mainly looking for foot in the door, immediate gratification plug and play, the fulla would probably be my best bet out of the few? Is the hel getting into “definitely better off doing it through different means” territory?
So what are you mainly looking to improve? Are you planning on focusing on headphones or your mic more? Just grabbing an amp like the 3 mentioned above would really improve your headphones personally more than a fulla or syba Sonic. Mic wise, the fulla might have a bit less noise but it would be a subtle upgrade in that regard. I wouldn’t really recommend the syba Sonic if you want an upgrade as honestly that would most likely sound like your current motherboard audio
The hel is good don’t get me wrong, but I think the setup I described really is a decent bit better for around the same amount as the hel. If you really love the form factor and simplicity of the hel, it’s pretty nice, but I think if you wanted something a bit more well rounded and flexible in the future, the amp + interface is the way to go.
Another question is what motherboard do you have currently? Most mid-range motherboards already have pretty decent audio on them these days
I guess currently, not looking to upgrade anything specifically but I’d like to move away from my on board audio but not just be spending money on nothing? (in the sybas case, thank you btw) I guess if I were to choose headphones or mic I’d pick headphones, don’t use my microphone that much and I know for facts I sound better with this boom Pro plugged into in my onboard than i did with my old headset but I really think my main goal is to just move away from the onboard right now, I’m not too pressed about buying more stuff in the future by any means, I know I’ve expensive tastes but I lack a even slightly proper setup, it’s a asrock b450m pro4, it’s got some pretty solid Realtek I believe it is and I’ve definitely not had issues with it but I’ve a itch for Shiney new stuff.
The intent was to go with a usb mic like the yeti or the like and just have a proper dac/amp setup for the headphones but I can’t make a desk mic work with my current space and now my plans have been fucked thusfully so I’m back here in panic land.
Gotcha, well in that case, I do think that getting a pretty dang nice amp like the atom/heresy or liquid spark would yield a pretty large upgrade, as the dac you have in your motherboard is pretty solid, so getting a better amp would definitely improve the setup. This would be immediate once you get the amp. Later on you can get the better dac with the mic interface and this would increase the improvement for both the headphones and the mic
I am looking into the setup you first mentioned though and maybe you’ll have swayed me to hold off until I can splurge on a little more than foot in the door.
With the interface down the line, you could eventually get a nice xlr mic like the Shure sm48-lc or a condenser like the mxl 770 once your situation permits
Since I’ve got you here, I do remember looking at the atom previously when I was looking to go with a usb mic solution instead of the 3.5mm but I still have a very light grasp on things, I do Not NEED a separate dac with a amp correct? That was the only reason I didn’t send it on one last week, didn’t wanna drop $100 to learn I also need the dac lol, This has stressed me out to the point of possibly just finding a fucking desk and getting the usb microphone so I can go with my original plan and get the proper amp setup, also I appreciate you so much! I’ve gotten more help in the last 30 minutes than I’ve gotten googling shit all night.
I’m currently using a Topping D50 with a JDS Labs Atom and feeding my headset mic into the small syba sonic dac/amp. I can rec the atom completely and you can stack the syba on top of it. I don’t have the space to really make a desktop mic work at all. I tried an audio interface for my mic, but I decided against using it and sent it back.
You can just get a 3.5mm to rca cable and run the amp from your onboard line out no problem, you definitely don’t need a dac, you can get one down the line later though for more improvement. If you get a mic interface, that can act as your dac as it will have line outs
Awesome! Well maybe I will wait it out and fight off the new toy urge until I can get somthing cool! Or I’ll send it on one of these amps tonight and be able to give myself at least a path of shit I should be buying. I appreciate you two a lot!!
You can be very flexible on where you go by just starting off with a very solid standalone amp, allows for lots of options in the future
Just make sure if you decide to go for one of those amps to get a 3.5mm cable to rca if you don’t have one (although with the atom it has a 3.5mm in so you would just need an aux cable)
Also I’m curious about this? How do you set that up? Just use the syba as a mic input then yeah? Hows that seem to work? Might be a damn good idea, saves me from Fucking with this usb desk mic situation and I can still get a proper amp and use the boom pro!
I figured I’d have to buy one after your last comment, didn’t seem like the atom comes with one and I do not have either! Well i don’t have a spare aux cord atm lol
That’s exactly what I do and it does the job. I wasted money trying to get different desktop mics and other bullshit going when I was just like it fuck it this is fine. Allows me to use whatever dacs or amps I want, while still having this small syba sonic just for my mic.
My only thing is that the mic in is very similar to the motherboard mic in, so I just question why you would buy it for that purpose unless your motherboard audio is really bad or borked
So your mic cord can go to the same general area as the rest of your setup. Depends on cord length, I guess and how you have that stuff managed. My pc37x has a split of about idk 5 inches or so, so the mic in has to be near where I plug the headphone jack in. It just makes sense to have these 2 things side by side.