Schiit setup and future changes
Hello folks. Wanted to show my Schiit setup. Got some short patch cables so I could do some "scientific testing" of my Schiit Magni Heretic / Modi 3 stack vs my Asgard 3 with the ESS DAC card on my HD6XX headphones.
Bottom line, if there's a difference, I can barely tell if at all. Both measure well enough in Amir's AudioScienceReview testing that I should not be able to discern any difference anyway. Both are excellent setups, have dead silent noise floors and plenty of power for these 300ohm headphones. I was testing using some of my best Telarc recorded discs. I don't claim to have golden ears, but I am confident I know what sounds good at least to me.
There is an obvious difference between the HD6XX and my HD280 Pro closed back phones, though. The 280s are good for the price, but the 6XX is obviously clearer and superior. It may be more tempting to play around with different headphones. No idea where to start there, but the Hifiman Arya Stealth may be a good option to play with?
That said, I'm pondering some tweaks to the setup. Obviously it's a case of upgrade-itis. Thinking I could get the balanced Hart cables for my HD6XX and a Jotunheim 3. I've seen talk of a Schiit Bifrost 3 in the works as well, so I'll wait to see what that can do compared to their current Mimir DAC. A Jotunheim/Bifrost stack would definitely be an endgame level headphone stack to me. It also might be a waste of hard earned cash.
On the speaker amp side, I'm using an Outlaw RR2160 to drive my Exodus Kit 61s and a pair of Emotiva Ultra 12 subs crossed at 60Hz. It's obviously gross overkill for PC listening and gaming. The funny part is that the amp idles at 50W when I use <1W audio power for normal usage. It would be tempting to change it up except that the cost of doing never outweighs the power cost savings. A Gjallarhorn amp would do my desktop setup justice for nearfield use and the Emotiva DRP-1 is the only preamp I can find with proper HPF/LPF bass management with subwoofer out. But for the cost, it's not worth swapping out from the Outlaw. I'd be better off just turning the Outlaw off when not using it to save that tiny bit of power. Fun to think about though.