A 21st Century Personal Music System

I’ll make an assumption that the kids need shoes so budget is a concern. And I’ll make another assumption, that you are able to listen to music after baths and bedtime stories, so loudspeakers are out on space and familial considerations.

Modern headphones offer live concert detail without intruding on the household and do so at a price within reach of many.

Revisions

2023-08-23 Original

References

The following video reviews introduce several $300-$500 headphones and the Schiit Audio Asgard 3 headphone amp and digital to analog converter combo. The fifth reference is the collected Passion for Sound recommended kit with review links.

Budget

I guess we ought to set a budget. Lets try $1000. I know we can get something many can keep for a lifetime for $1000. But it will be a headphones-only system and somewhat limited in what can be connected.

Product Recommendations?

Yep, I’m going to pitch some things I own and use or that are related to stuff I own and use. This is my own doing. And thanks the the product manufacturers for use of stock photos of the products mentioned. These are not the only ones possible but are examples whose voicing and build quality are known to me.

A Competitive Price Range

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting $300-$500 priced product from China. The Schiit Audio items mentioned in this article are designed and assembled in the US of US and foreign made components.

HiFiMan is a Chinese company whose founder is also an audio guy striving to build great product at a fair price. His headphones are simply amazing. Sundara is among the most neutral of them and at the lower end of the company’s price range. That neutrality lets them serve a broad spectrum of listeners. More money buys you fancier cosmetics and different voicings.

Your Ears are Unique

Your ears have a unique response curve with individual deficits and boosts. A pair of headphones that I like may sound all “class without the cl ” (Red Skelton in character) to you. I’ve recommended 2 pair that a large spectrum of listeners will find acceptable.

Your Music Preferences are All You

I like jazz, folk, and newgrass. Acoustic music mostly but I can also dig some Seasick Steve or a side or two of Led Zeppelin. Or the Doors! Amazing band. Still fresh today. Or the Beatles, simply genius and blessed with a brilliant producer/engineer in George Martin and son Giles Martin preserving this great music.

In retirement I’ve made it a point to listen to live acoustic music. Our Virginia Symphony is brilliant. Victor Wooten (Portsmouth boy) gigs with them from time to time. And Chris Thile is bringing music and his mandolin for a June 2023 date. And John Toomey (ODU Music Jazz Chair) and Jimmy Masters have a year round jazz series going.

In recommending kit, I’ve recommended bits that are not fiddly yet put you in a good seat in a good acoustic music live show.

What Headphones?

Modern planar magnetic headphones are an affordable pathway to live music sound at home. Two companys, Audeze (said Oddessy) and HiFiMan usually said HiFi Man), make quality planar magnetic headphones. Audeze is pitching to the pro audio community and to gamers. HiFiMan is pitching to audiophiles (likers of good audio).

In [1] and [2] John Darko reviews a number of budget priced yet great sounding headphones. John does a good job comparing the headphones in his review. He did miss the Audeze products and did mention the Sundara in the second video.

YouTube channel Passion for Sound also reviews headphone kit and the presenter is brilliant at explaining how headphones sound and comparing the differences in presentation among them.

Price?

Audio gear comes in a broad spectrum of prices. Good headphones can be had for $250 but Sennheiser has a $60,000 product in the catalog. Does the flagship sound better than a pair of HD600 pro audio mastering headphones? Unlikely.

Robotic component fabrication and assembly make possible great kit for $350 or so. That’s true of DAC/Head Amps and headphones both. Audeze and Hi Fi Man are adept at production and high run yield. That and design for value.

Open Back or Closed

Headphones come on ear and over ear, open back or closed back. For extended listening most prefer over ear headphones having pads resting on the skin around the ears. On ear phones press the ears against the head and are somewhat sensitive to head movement. They will move on the ear a little.

Open back phones are more natural sounding than closed back phones. Open back phones radiate from the back side of the diaphragm into the room through the open back. Closed back headphones reflect the rear wave back through the diaphragm into the ear where it combines with the front wave constructively and destructively. Close back designs go to some lengths to dissipate the back side wave so it can’t muck up the primary. This is never perfect so closed back phones are not as neutral as open backs.

Audeze

Audeze has a fairly broad yet organized product line divided into Gaming, MM Series, Flagship Series, Reference Series, and Legacy Series. The MM-100 headphones in the MM Series (Mastering) are of interest here.

The gaming headphones are BlueTooth connected and oriented toward providing aural and spatial cues to gamers with musicality a secondary consideration.

The MM-100 has a consistent stable wide-range sound with good bass, extended yet refined highs, and crisp, clear transient response needed to mix records or live shows. These less expensive phones are intended for field recording use use. They can be put in a case and carried around without worry of them not working at the venue.

I own a pair of Audeze LCD-1 headphones (discontinued) that occupied the slot which the MM-100 occupies today. These are neutral in the important midrange, bass rolls off below about 50 Hz, and highs roll off somewhere above 10,000 Hz. But cymbals are natural. Drums are natural. Deep bass guitar and double bass lack heft on the bottom. The vital vocal range is Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell friendly and Chris Thile’s mandolin and voice are natural with crisp plucked play and convincing mandolin shred for that rhythmn thing Chris does.

*Audeze LCD-1 Open Back Headphones*
Image Courtesy of Audeze

HiFiMan

HiFiMan is a Chinese audio company making quality audio product. The founder is a US trained electrical engineer who stared the company in the US but later returned to China. He started in DIY, trained at school, and learned in practice to make headphones, head amps, and DACS.

The Sundara headphones are his popularly priced planar magnetic offering. I just bought a pair of HiFiMan Sundara Open Back headphones. These play deeper and have a bit crisper transients and cymbals than the Audeze LCD-1

*HiFiMan Sundara Open Back Headphones*
Image courtesy of AudioAdvisor.com

HeadAmp DAC Combos

A compact, easily portable system will, of necessity use a DAC/Headphone Amplifier combo. These devices combine a headphone amplifier and digital to analog converter in a single chassis. In [2] Jason Stoddard compares and contrasts its various products. For portability and convenience he recommends his Asgard 3 combination amp with an added DAC card. Schiit offers a good delta-sigma converter but also a multi-bit converter as add-in cards for this product.

*Schiit Asgard HeadAmp/DAC uncovered*
Image courtesy of Schiit Audio

Schiit Audio designs and builds Asgard in California. The beast is in the mid-sized package convenient for desk or chair-side table placement. The left half of the chassis contains the power supply. The right half contains the head-amp and associated controls. The DAC card slots in to the right of the head amp.

Asgard is available for use world wide. Mains voltage and line cord style are selected at ordering. Schiit ships world-wide.

DAC

Schiit Audio offers 2 DAC add-in cards for Asgard, an ESS ES9028 based delta-sigma DAC and an Analog Devices AD5547 multi-bit DAC. When ordered with Asgard, the add-in price includes installation and testing by Schiit.

*Schiit Audio Add-In DAC Card*
Image Courtesy of Schiit Audio

Either of these converters is available separately as Modi or Modi Multi-bit. In add-in card form, these cards have a USB Audio 2 USB-C input. The USB interface is Schiit Audio’s own Unison USB subsystem having just the USB Audio 2 features needed to play PCM audio.

Separate DAC and Amp

Modi and Magni are two box alternative to Asgard that is similar in price. The converters and amplifiers used are similar to those in Asgard. I have a pair of these critters for my study system.

In Modi form, these converters support USB Audio 2, SPDIF, and TOSlink. Many use the TOSlink input for TV audio playback as I do. Modi and Magni together are about the same price as Asgard. You’ll need a pair of short RCA patch cables to connect the two. Schiit offers these as accessories.

*Schiit Audio Magni and Modi*
Image courtesy of Schiit Audio

Source

Schiit Audio’s Unison USB interface allows use of any USB-C Audio 2 compatible source including Windows 11 PC’s, MacBooks, recent iPads and iPhones. You can play media from any of the supported streaming services. However, only Apple Music and Qobuz offer “lossless” music.

Lossless Sources

Lossless is an audiophile term of art for encodings that yield the original PCM samples when expanded for playback. Currently, ALAC and FLAC are the two lossless codecs in widespread use.

Some Recommended Recordings

Jason Stoddard, John Darko, and others are quick to remind us that tracking, mixing, and mastering determine the sound of the recorded music we hear. Remixing and remastering for reissue can be a blessing when done with the care taken by George and Giles Martin with the Beatles catalog or a curse in the case of other lesser artists, particularly those who have sold their back catalog to private equity.

Most of us listen to streaming services. I use 2, Apple Music and Qobuz USA with a preference for Qobuz which is integrated with the Roon playback system I use. Roon is music playing software, the hardware is my own Intel NUC and Raspberry Cobbler endpoints. With the recommended kit, you can easily tell the difference between streaming services. Each will have a house sound determined by how they are compressing and equalizing tracks for streaming playback. Qobuz makes a FLAC transfer of the original CD and that’s what they send via my Roon Rig. But I could just as well play the same material using the Qobuz website in a Safari browser and USB-C USB Audio 2 protocol.

Sony has done right by Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck. Miles Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, My Funny Valentine, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew stand out. Dave Brubeck Time Out, Take Five and Time Outtakes are cool jazz standards.

Conclusion

An end state listening-focused headphone rig can be had for under $1000 US.
At least 2 widely available planar magnetic headphones are readily available from Amazon, direct sales, and several audio specialst web shops.
A portable computer or mobile with USB-C USB Audio 2 interface is an already in hand

HiFiMan Sundara open back headphones, $350
Black Asgard 3 with ES9028 DAC, $350

Schiit Audio Asgard and Modi/Magni pair are available by direct sales.