Schiit stack or gsx 1000?

[jubei]

Hi all,

I am in the market to upgrade my headphones from my HyperX Clouds as they are on their way out (strap being dodgy) and thought i might see if i can upgrade my sound as a whole somewhat.

My current setup is a Soundblaster Z, with my Clouds plugged in as well as my Aego M speakers. I can switch between the two using the Z series control panel.

I am considering getting the gsx 1000 or the modi/magni 2 ubers and maybe some dt770s or the like to get some good sound. Ideally i would like to have both speakers and headphones plugged in and be switchable via a hardware button.

My usages are probably 75% gaming (fps), 20% movies, 5% music.

Could anyone give me some advice on the best hardware to buy/good headphones for comfort etc. I will just buy a separate mic like a modmic etc.

Trying to keep the budget to sub £500 but there is wiggle room if it makes a significant difference.

Cheers

 

[jubei]

IF there's any music involved at all I can't recommend the GSX1000 the amp and dac sound bad even on easy to drive phones for my taste anyway. I'd personally consider the Fulla 2 as well. I got one after having the stack and love it! For a PC set up it just feels really good. And has some decent power for usb driven. I run it with Atmos for headphones and don't miss my GSX at all.

Yeah i first heard of the fulla yesterday, will take a harder look at it cheers

 

[jubei]

...snip


As for headphones unless having noisy environment open design DT990 would have better for gaming wide soundstage and for open design good amount of bass for that fun factor in games.
Because of same physical design they're all equally easy to mic mod even without commercial Modmic.
DT 770 Pro mic mod

AKG's K712 would be another headphone with wide sound stage and sound balancing between neutral and fun with good amount of bass.
Having myself used very bass neutral Sennheiser HD595s before DT990 also movies benefit from having some robustness in bass.

Appreciate all of that information mate, I was actually leaning away from the gsx after hearing that the mic port on it only supports lower quality sound etc and read somewhere else that the chips in it were ones used in mobiles.

As for headphones, i originally looked at 990s but only ever see people talk about the 770s. With the 990 there are a bunch of versions, rainforest has a 990 premium, would that be your recommendation?

These are used upstairs in a room across the landing from my bedroom. When my wife goes to bed are they going to leak so much sound that shes gonna moan at me despite me wearing headphones or would it only really leak into the room i am in?

Cheers

 

[jubei]

Inputs are one thing used to cut costs for lowering price and obviously phone/tablet has even less need for higher quality input than PC.
So Conexant didn't put that much energy/money into that.
And then Sennheiser wasn't eager to lower excessive profit margin for separate ADC...


Unless other people are literally in same room and close to you sound leaking isn't big danger.
With driver couple centimeters away from ear you're far in risky volumes and hearing on its its way to "early retirement" before there's power to produce much of sound pressure at distance of many meters...
And especially though any door/wall stronger than toilet paper.
Even standard "non-mechanical" keyboard sounds reach lot farther and much more easily.


Other measure of scale for sound leak is that you can add headset style microphone without problems from sound leaking to it...
Or you'll be at major hearing loss starting in seconds/minute sound pressure level!


For awfully lots of people sound quality means more bass and DT770 has that.
Closed headphone design has its advantage in easy to make very strong lowest "rumbling" bass.
Because of physics dynamic driver open headphones have harder time in lower bass and can't match that lowest part.
Hence closed designs being used more in fashionable headsphones to have that strong bass, usually at expense of everything else.

Beyond that open design is easier to balance along with usually lot bigger sound stage.
If you look at headphones ranked highest by music lovers you'll note that they're usually open or at least semi-open designs.
Another advantage is lack of heat insulation in open design, so ears won't sweat unless temperature is enough to make you sweat any way.
Having thousands hours of experience from closed cup in products of Peltor I really like that no sweating part.
And while Sennheiser HD595/8/9 are shy on bass like most open headphones DT990 has good "punch" in it.


Premium or Edition is term used by Beyer for "music pleasure" use models with least clamping force and most "decorated" look.
They have also this kind storage&carrying case:
http://kenrockwell.com/audio/beyer/dt-880/D3S_7430-case-1200.jpg

Pro version of DT880/990 is meant for studio use next to mixing table with some more clamping force and coiled/curled cable making it less ideal for home use in which you might move little/switch position in chair.
(there's also DT990 Pro Limited Edition which has straight 3m cable)

If wanting some colour there's actually some customizing options for ear pads and some parts:
http://europe.beyerdynamic.com/shop/hah/headphones-and-headsets/at-home/hifi-manufaktur.html
All dark with dark red rings looks nice...
Just defaults at output impedance sensitive 32 ohms instead of 250 ohms.

32 ohm versions of DT770-990 models are basically meant for mobile use on devices with lowest operating voltages.
600 ohm versions are for "when you have volts to throw around" (used as yardstick for voltage hungry cans in Objective2 design) but those aren't commonly available.

again ace info mate thanks. I'm set on the dt990 for sure. So it sounds like i want the premium ones as i have to wear glasses these days so the clamping force is probably less than ideal. Does higher ohms = better quality? I wanting 600 or 250? Currently got the sbz but happy to buy an amp if it will make much diff.

Cheers again

 

[jubei]

I've ordered the 250ohm dt990 premium to arrive Tuesday and will update this with my impressions. Just going to use them in my sbz for now. Thanks for the help

 

[jubei]

Well i have used them for a couple of days and am fairly happy. I dont find them as comfortable as the hyperx ones as they arent as snug around the ears, but i am getting much better directional sound from these and they are sounding great running off of my sbz.