Advice on a Headphone Specific System

I need advice! Troubleshooting Help
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Hi all. I am new to the forum. I’m interested in your thoughts and advice on a setup exclusively for headphone use (DAC, amp, and potentially a streamer). It is not going to be near a PC, but I do like the desktop sized components since the system will be in my somewhat small bedroom. I know a little about home theater systems, but I have never really looked into these desktop type components so I am swimming a bit with manufacturers, reputations, best approaches etc.

Some basic requirements:

- I’d like to keep the total system cost to around $2-$3k.

- Although I want to prioritize quality first and foremost, aesthetics are important to me. I do not like PC component style aesthetics (e.g. Fiio R7, K19, Topping DX9). I prefer something that looks like a piece of audio equipment (and retro is even better).

- For the streamer, I will mainly use it with Tidal. So integration is ideal. I would also prefer a nice screen.

- On the DAC (if not using the streamer’s dac) and amp I am open to any suggestions subject to the concerns above.

Originally, I had planned on a DAC/Amp combo and just running my iPad or iPhone as a source via USB. When researching under those parameters, a few new items peaked my interest. The Luxsin X9 (Eversolo affiliate and engineers) and Fiio K17 (to me the best aesthetically) stood out as front runners given their feature sets and their great initial reviews.

But then I started thinking that I am going to eventually hate using a mobile device as my source, so I started looking at streamers which opened up new possibilities. I could still use a DAC/Amp combo like the Luxsin/K17 and just feed it from the streamers USB out to bypass the streamer’s DAC. In that case, I could go as simple as a Wiim Ultra/ Eversolo Play or step up to the Eversolo DMB-A6/ A8 or Matrix i4 etc. With a higher end streamer, I could also utilize its DAC and output to a headphone amp like a Topping A70 Pro or a Schiit Jotunjeim, etc. I could even go for an all-in-one box like some of the Matrix models that include a headphone amp.

Are there other approaches to consider that I am unaware of? What approach would you recommend? What gear options would you recommend that fit these requirements?

I really appreciate your thoughts.

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I have been using the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition, and I really like it for an all-in-one system. I am using it with Focal Utopia headphones and it is a perfect match. I am feeding it with a Roon Nucleus One.

I understand that this is above your stated budget, but I think it is a good endgame all-in-one system.

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So do you already have headphones or is that included in the budget/setup?

If it were me I would start affordable and learn each step of the way. Start with an ipad as your source and get something like a Schiit Fulla, that’s what I have used on occasion when I can’t find my apple dongle dac and IEM’s for my nightly zone out session. This combination will be essentially nothing so far as cost is concerned given your budget and it will teach you a lot about what you want and need. Example: I bought a dozen or so chifi IEM’s to get a feel for the IEM world, and what I learned is that I don’t like the form factor unless I’m at work or in bed. I also found out that IEM’s that can fit entirely in my ear while laying on a pillow is important. All of the in ears I purchased were fanfreakingtastic sonically, but the experience it’s self just didn’t jive with my lifestyle/needs.

My point is that when you have an affordable version of what your end-game is, you can iron out the kinks and figure out what exactly it is you are looking for from your setup.

Myself, it has taken me a lifetime of audio interaction and 5 year’s of mid-fi/head-fi to figure out my endgame chain.

Your budget is massive, IMO far to big to jump in blind.

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Thanks. That Naim looks nice, but is further than I want to extend my budget.

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This is really good advice and I appreciate it, but I am comfortable with my budget and know at least how I want to interact with the equipment. The budget is for electronics only. That is also why I was inquiring about manufacturer reputations. I am looking at return/trial policies as I research and I am reaching out to manufacturers with questions as well for specific information and to test their service response levels. Your point is well taken but it is all a matter of how much you are willing to spend upfront knowing you may make a mistake. That calculus is different for everyone and my current budget does consider that factor.

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I’m not sure why you’d hate using a mobile device as your source, unless you mean as a wired source. My preference when not using a computer’s USB as source is to use a mobile device over wifi. It gives me a much better way to interact with the DAC since I can hold it in my hand, the screen is larger, and the UX is usually much better. Airplay works well but if you want lossless then arguably the best solution is to run Roon. If your DAC is Roon Ready then it will show up as an endpoint in Roon and you can stream lossless music to it.

My current implementation of this is a Chord Mojo 2 + Poly but there are many ways to do this. The Fiio SR11 DAC is a good, cheap solution.

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My setup is as follows: Eversolo DMP A6 gen 2 (Streamer), Topping e-70 “Velvet” (DAC), and Topping A-70 pro (headphone Amp) to power my Sennheiser HD 800s (headphones). I eq the headphones through the streamer, and live in audio bliss!

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Yes - I meant wired.

I’d prefer not to pay for Roon, especially since I don’t have a collection of hi-res files to manage. If I understand its function, Roon to me would just be an added monthly bill on top of Tidal solely for the purpose of getting Tidal streaming access on my source. I figured a streamer with Tidal built in would give me the same functionality I was looking for without paying the Roon fee..

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How do you like the Eversolo? I was looking at that exact model. Have you had any issues?

I was also looking at some streaming transports (Shanling, Matrix) to eliminate buying a streamer with a DAC and then just bypassing the DAC, but the A6 is priced better than those transports anyway.

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Nice predicate. Or maybe that’s ROON to you.

ROON bills itself as a lossless music player with multiple endpoints. It also has a good native PEQ, and can integrate with HQ Player if you want to pay more (I don’t). But ROON is ALSO a first class UX which lets you pick and choose recordings and different mastering that you rarely see in TIDAL or Qobuz even though they are available. But for me, its unquestionable value is as a music database and means of music discovery. It will show you relationships between group personnel and influences that you never would otherwise know.

It paid for itself one day in my mind when it suggested I listen to Rocksteady by Flo and Eddie.

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In the $2k - $3k range system matching (“synergy”) is important, so it would help if you could tell us what headphones you’ll be using with the electronics.

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I feel that. I’ve often considered stopping Roon, even though I use its PEQ implementation. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it.

I think I saw that the Fiio SR11 also supports Tidal streaming, which I assume is lossless. So there are probably DACs you can stream Tidal to without Roon.

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I clearly don’t know ROON’s capabilities. Appreciate the info. I agree, choosing masterings and music discovery have value. I will look at it more carefully.

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Currently I have the aforementioned HE400i’s, Sennheiser Momentum’s (wired), and Meze 109 Pros. Nothing difficult to push. But my collection is not complete. One thing that intrigued me about that Luxsin was the reviews on how well the HP-EQ system works (pre-programmed curves selected by headphone model).

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You don’t actually want that. Watch GoldenSound’s review.

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My love-hate relationship is not with ROON, but with ROON-ARC, the mobile player. It can be flaky getting a good connection, although using TailScale helps a lot (in the docs). ROON-ARC is the only way I have to PEQ my car. When it works, it is great.

My car uses Android Automotive but also allows Apple CarPlay. I run ROON ARC on CarPlay, so that gives me a remote mobile access to ROON’s PEQ. Much better than the Bass Mid Treble tone controls that come with the car.

Someone pointed out that I do have USB, so I could buy a mobile streamer that has PEQ, but really?

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Thanks for linking that review and reviewer. I hadn’t seen it. Watched a bunch of his videos and now I’m thinking of a separate amp.

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I LOVE the Eversolo… it’s DAC is quite good.

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Make sure to get the ‘gen 2’ version… it makes a big difference and adds usefull features: ie 12v trigger output so your headphone amp and DAC will turn on automatically when you turn the streamer on. Also ‘Wake on LAN’ means you can turn it on through the network instead of getting up to push the button. Also the linear power supply included in gen 2 gives an improvement in audio. EARC lets you connect to your TV, and HDMI output lets you connrct to a surround sound system. Whether you choose to use the internal DAC or a good external, you will not be dissapointed. I use XLR cables from the streamer to the headphone amp… that way you can use VERY long cords w/o any signal degradation. You will be a happy camper!

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Preprogrammed headphone eq is standard in Roon. I bought Roon outright and never regretted it.

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