Budget headphone setup for desktop computer

Shivam

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I have a decent desktop with USB out, optical out and motherboard based sound card. I use skullcandy headphones which get plugged in on the front of computer cabinet and produce lots of noise. I also sometimes use iball speakers (2.1) which are connected to one of the rear outputs on the cabinet.

I rarely listen to music on my desktop and usually it is just to check if the music files that I have are working or not. I already have a decent music system and do not need a great headphone system.

With that background and a budget of INR 10K, can someone suggest good DAC and headphone amp setups? I prefer both in a single box of possible. As far as headphone setups go, I am a total noob.
 
DAC/AMP - Geek Out 450/V2 (Stay away from Fiio stuff, the entire range sounds low fi compared to the GO)

Headphones - Under 10K there is hardly anything that'll complement the technical qualities of the GO. M50/X is decent but still low fi.

You'll have to increase the budget for entire setup. If strict under 10k only , invest in headphones first. Then build a chain around it.
 
Schiit Fulla seems to have positive reviews (no first had exp).
It is cheap if you can source it from US.

Regards,
Raghu
 
For a 10k budget, try the Fiio X3; it'll give you a good USB DAC and a powerful amp that can drive most headphones.

Of course, it works as a full fledged portable Flac player as well.

Available locally, cheaper if you import directly.
 
I have a decent desktop with USB out, optical out and motherboard based sound card. I use skullcandy headphones which get plugged in on the front of computer cabinet and produce lots of noise. I also sometimes use iball speakers (2.1) which are connected to one of the rear outputs on the cabinet.

I rarely listen to music on my desktop and usually it is just to check if the music files that I have are working or not. I already have a decent music system and do not need a great headphone system.

With that background and a budget of INR 10K, can someone suggest good DAC and headphone amp setups? I prefer both in a single box of possible. As far as headphone setups go, I am a total noob.

The ultimate budget headphone combo under 10k for me is Philips shp9500 and Fiio k1 or q1,if you don't know about the 9500 just do a quick search in google.They don't sell the here in India unfortunately. They are neutral sounding headphone,so if you listen to edm only this are not for you
 
Actually, They do sell in India

I got a pair from Flipkart for 11 K

Very Easy to Drive, but requires bass boost, nice midrange

and treble, but for Dynamics I preferred the older SHP9000

blew one driver on SHP9000 because of DC from the Headphone Amp

output going to headphone, resolution in Brainwavz HM5 is better than

SHP 9500, but natural tone is better than HM5

AKG 712 also has better resolution that SHP 9500 but is much harder

to drive

Robert Bose
 
My opinion is to build the O2 odac and get a cheap sennheiser like HD202. Later when you have the moolah upgrade the headphone to whatever you like you amp dac combo can drive the best out there.
 
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