I’ve been trying to decide on what headphones to get for awhile now and think I finally decided on these. since it’s my first hifi headphones and a lot cheaper than what I was going to get. Plus they are apparently great for gaming and listening to music.
soundblaster play 3 (untested claims of being able to supply past 300 ohms of power) for best budget at $20,
Fx-Audio Dac X6 for a bit more spending bit better sound. $60 range
Soundblaster G6 or maybe zen dac for heavier budget $120 range
Liquid Spark + spark dac, Topping D10S, or E30 for budget. $200-$230
Asgard 3 + modius or multibit, E30, or other alternative for a bit more ideal imo $330 - $400
RNHP + bifrost 2 or alternative for high end. beyond $600+
Violectric + Soekris for highest end but not particularly necessary Getting into past $1k
Would the liquid spark dac/amp be a combo that’s good enough? that you think I would be happy with coming from audio technica M50x’s. I know you said it’s not as ideal. but my budget is only up to $800.
So just wondering for personal research… Do 1990’s scale well with higher end stuff like these?
Also how do you feel about something like the latest schiit lyr for a main setup.
they do to my ear but not so much as something like an 880 or T1. I would say only really go behind like the asgard limit when you get a few higher grade headphones… then it would be a bit more worthwhile as you get more out of it otherwise just stick with units around asgards price range…
latest? did it get an update? haven’t been paying attention. In that price range I definitely prefer my Liquid platinum bar none but once you get up to that point it becomes much more preference in my opinion.
it is but you definitely gain a much better sound out of the next step up from there in my opinion. If you are in the USA you can search the used markets and potentially snag the asgard with it’s multibit or modius for a total of like… I want to say $300 minimum. liquid spark can be bought at $70, spark dac is too new really but you can get the toppings a bit cheaper
I would probably recommend trying the DT 880 at 600 ohms then instead. DT 1990 can be a bit more unforgiving, analytical, and rather bright posing potential sibilance issues. DT 880 can grow with your setup and will save you quite a lot monetarily… quite a few here would argue they prefer the 880 over the 1990. While yes, 1990 has more soundstage and some better imaging 880 is better in the mids, smoother on the highs, not as bright, and has bass that’s a bit inbetween the two tunings of the pads of the 1990 when it’s in its’ 600 ohm variant. If you like the 880s decide which route you take from there(if you feel you want to take a step forward)… the aggressive yet neutral bright yet you lose scaling which is the 1990 or the scaling route with teh T1.2 which is a more relaxed smoother signature with more bass and mids staying at 600 ohm
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Thanks for the advice Falenkor!
No not really… it’s just that some people call it the Lyr 3 although schiit now calls it just Lyr… so yeah got confused.
I didn’t realise these were in the same price range as some EU retailers sell the Liquid Platinum for more then 1000 euros!!! Insane!
Yep, I didn’t upgrade till… I wanna say I got my third headphone that was right after I had the T1.2 and aeons both in house and was looking for something to compliment both of them. I was a bit on the fence with T1 and aeon both… liquid platinum made me fall completely in love with them… that was my introduction to scaling to such a degree. Then again, got a taste of violectric and the ifi ican a bit more… miiight need a upgrade at some point for myself lol. Just be sure to remember that next to the headphone itself… the pads will change the sound the most followed by your amp, then dac, then cables source etc and ya know… equalizer
ah okay, yeah it’s alright I wasn’t the biggest fan of it though all considering.
That is… rather insane yeah lmao. For further transparency you can snag a plat here between $375 - $600 range just depending on the market… it’s fluctuating a lot though I never seen it go beneath like $410 till that slip up with monoprice recently lol
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I’m not too worried about sibilance being an issue. the one review I watched said it’s not really perceivable at all with the balanced headphone pads. I think I’m going to go with the Modius for the dac and the topping A90 for the amp. I’m willing to save for a bit longer if I can get even better sound quality.
Is the A90 amp a good choice to use with the 1990 pro’s?
just because a reviewer states something of this sort does not at all mean this is true… and it’s not… not by a long shot. the balanced pads do not mess with the treble only the bass meaning it’s still quite bright
I will tag @M0N on that as I believe he has experience on that of which I don’t
Even if the treble is an issue. can’t I just fix it with an EQ? I know there’s one person on Reddit that has a lot of EQ guides.
It goes on a person to person basis so I cant say for certain if you will have some problems with it.
Eq can help yes but to an extent granted yes you can make it sound fairly dark takes quite a bit of adjustment
I thought it’s only a small change to make them sound better. Isn’t it just lowering the 8,000hz slider down a little? I’ll only do it if the treble bothers me. I ordered the 1990’s and should have them by Friday.
between 7k and 8k is the peak. Still remains bright, again it just goes on a person to person basis. For me personally, I have no need for eq as I am not sensitive to that much treble. For others? Well, some people just can’t handle brightness at all. Just depends, I can’t really say if it will work less a person already has experience with bright signatures
I guess I’ll just see for myself if I’m sensitive to brightness once I get my dac and amp. the Asgard 3 just shipped today. but the Bifrost 2 won’t ship until the 15th because it’s back ordered.
Will the 6 inch pyst RCA cables Schiit sells be long enough to connect my dac and amp? That’s the only thing I’m still worried about lol…
you will be fine… the units stack on top of one another
You went straight for a bifrost 2 huh? I guess that’s one way to do it. Good choice overall though. The bifrost is and amazing dac and you won’t find yourself needing another for a while I don’t think. I haven’t tried an Asgard 3 yet myself but I have the 1st gen jotunheim that enjoyed for quite some time and I hear the Asgard surpasses that greatly.
Good luck on your journey!
(Ps: I hear the 1990s really benefit from a tube amp so that is something to maybe look into in the future but for now enjoy what you have 
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