X2hr dac/amp upgrade

I’m trying to figure out which direction I want to go. I just bought the x2hr (got them on sale for $120 USD) as the first part of my upgrade path and I’m currently using it with the astro a40 mixamp and a vmoda boom pro. This works very well in PC mode with the dolby turned off. You may be familiar with the ZaliaS website that provides custom eqs for this mixamp and I am using the studio reference one with a few tweaks. Also, you can sync any changes you have made to the mixamp device itself so the software doesn’t have to be running while you’re using it. However, pretty soon I will be handing down the Astro A40s to my son so he can use them on the xbox. This unit has served me well on console for many years but I have moved on to PC gaming.

Anyhow, I don’t think that I will just plug the x2hr directly into the Tomahawk b450 max mobo audio ports. I researched quite a bit when I purchased the x2hr and it seems most people say that doesn’t require a lot of power to drive, but I want a solution that does incorporate a dac/amp component. I will definitely buy another pair of cans down the road a little higher quality than the x2hr but for now I am really impressed with the sound, obviously coming from the Astros :stuck_out_tongue: I have some questions about how things will work with some specific devices and I appreciate any feedback (first post!). Here are some scenarios/options I am looking at.

  1. Get the Fulla 4 (recently released btw) and the TRRS adapter so that I can still communicate in game using my vmoda pro and also setup mic monitoring/side tone. This would be about $130-140 with taxes and shipping calculated. If I go the combo route from Schitt I would just get the Fulla and not the Hel for budgeting reasons. Because if i’m going to spend more than $200 I would be looking more at option 2 below.

  2. Get something 1 step up from the Fulla in terms of audio quality like the schitt stack for example. Would this really be a waste on the x2hr? (again though, upgrade path). I would also need to purchase a seperate mic input solution and so far I have looked at the hyperx solocast and the razer min for USB mics and I would just setup the side tone through the windows settings. This would be more around the $250+ mark and I’b be willing to go this route if I knew that I would be getting value out of potentially doubling the budget listed in scenario #1.

  3. Something totally different that would pair nicely with the cans that I don’t know about and any mic recommendations. . Example, forum people say “those cans don’t need an amp they’re so easay to drive” so does that mean that I could just get away with an upgraded dac instead of a combo or stack? But also isn’t the golden rule to get the amp first?

Overall I need this unit to work for my needs of playing mostly open world games and some music and movies. Thank you for tolerating my noob questions and my rambling post. I look forward to learning more.

Honestly, the most cost-effective option would be to use the onboard until you decide to upgrade your headphones. The only reason I say that is because you don’t know what you’re upgrading to, but it’s likely not going to use a single 3.5mm TRS to 3.5mm or 1/4" TRS connection, so your BoomPro is going to be obsolete. Once the BoomPro is obsolete you’re not pigeon-holed into needing a DAC/Amp with mic in anymore.

If you’re hellbent on spending money on something at the moment, with my own hindsight as perspective (I started out with a GSX1000 > BoomPro > X2HR), I’d say get the standalone mic and either a decent low budget stack or something else you can build on (ifi ZEN DAC?)…

Thanks for the reply. I’ll fiddle with the Mobo inputs a little and see if it’ll suit my needs possibly incorporating the peace eq to level out the treble. Not sure how side tone would work using that setup. I’ve read that there’s a delay so that might be a deal breaker. I think part of it is that I’m very used to using a dac/amp so having a device on my desk to move knobs around feels like second nature. I have about $250 left in my budget and I don’t particularly want to be locked in to a system just cause it has a mic input. I think I’d rather have a separate mic solution and a higher end dac and amp.

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