New headphones / speakers / sound card?

[rids57]

Huh?

No....

[PC] ---<USB CABLE>---[Modi 2]---<RCA CABLES>---[Magni 2 Uber]---[Headphones] OR/ ---<RCA CABLES>---[Speakers]

 

[dt97583]

Sorry, I didn't twig the audio was coming out the mobo out of a USB port.

Thank you

 

[dt97583]

I use a decent quality (though still cheap) 2m USB cable I got off the rainforest.

USB a to USB b cable?

 

[Marsman]

So it's looking like:

Headphones: Sennheiser HD650 £232.00
Headphone Amp: Schiit Magni 2 Uber £145.00
DAC: Schiit Modi 2 £100.00
DAC to Amp cables: Schiit PYST RCA £15.00
Speakers:
Edifier R1600T3 £87.00 or M-Audio BX5 D2 £149.00
Total: £579 or £641

How does the Modi 2 connect to my PC mobo, USB to ? are there cables supplied with it?

I guess speakers generally come with RCA cables to connect to the line out of the amp too?

Ouch. Things are getting expensive quickly.

It seems when it comes to audio, people go in intending to spend a certain amount, then that budget goes completely out of the window, and they spend much more than they intended!

Anyway; yes a USB A to USB B cable is what you need.

Unless you need the SPDIF input, you could save £45 by getting the Modi 2, rather than the Uber version; although, spending the extra to have optical input would be invaluable if you ever have a motherboard which suffers from electrical noise through USB.

 

[rids57]

According to his spec he already is getting the standard Modi 2

 

[dt97583]

Ouch. Things are getting expensive quickly.

It seems when it comes to audio, people go in intending to spend a certain amount, then that budget goes completely out of the window, and they spend much more than they intended!

I know right, ultimately I want to upgrade from my current kit, and I don't want to feel like I need to upgrade again in 3 / 5 years because I didn't spend the right amount the first time round.

It seems like there's marginal to no gains to be had with anything if I don't get a proper DAC/amp solution, and this seems like the best bang for buck whilst not going in too cheap. I could do things a bit cheaper, save a couple of hundred, but if I'm already 400 in, what's 200 more right?

The next question of course is do I go for 650s for HE-400i's

 

[Ryanr1987]

650 resolves better, smoother treble more cohesive and natural sounding. 400i has better bass extension and bass texture. Soundstage is about equal slight edge to the 650. 400i is a bit rougher sounding. 400i is a bit cleaner than the 650.

If you plan to upgrade to higher end gear I'd personally go for the 650 otherwise I'd still give the edge to the 650 being a better headphone but on lesser gear the gap is smaller even given the edge to the 400i depending on gear.

The 650's tonality and how they make you feel is unbeatable outside of the older LCD-2's.

 

[rids57]

Using mine right now - my ears are grinning