After years of day-dreaming about heavenly eargasms, I finally pulled the trigger on my first set of decent headphones (Sennheisser HD 650), but now I’m having a serious case of analysis-paralysis in my hunt for an amp and DAC. Bear in mind, I’ve been living with a $35 walmart gaming headset for years, so my ears are convent-level virgins.
As I'm completely new to all of this, I'd like to keep my budget below $1000 for both an amp and a DAC. Right now, I’m leaning towards the Jotunheim 2 or Lyr 3, but am stymied by the choice of DAC module. From what I’ve read, the Multibit is either stupendous at highlighting the layers of a soundstage and will change the way I listen to music forever, or is complete and total music-ruining Schiit propaganda. Or do I go with the AK4490 module that, depending on who you ask, provides a more neutral and accurate depiction of the instruments, or is all-schiit-DACs-are-garbage-you-fucking-shill-go-kill-yourself.
If I do stick with something from Schiit, would it be worth it to skip the dual amp/DAC and splurge on a Magnius/Bifrost stack? Would my completely uninitiated ears be able to tell the difference between the USB-driven DAC of the Jot/Lyr and the wall-powered Bifrost?
Or perhaps Schiit really is terrible and I should go for a completely different set-up.
Please, help guide this neophyte out of the quagmire of interference curves and partisan bickering. I just want something that sounds "good" and gives me wiggle-room down the road. Any advice would be extremely appreciated. Many thanks!
P.S. In case it matters, I’m planning to use my new headphones chiefly to melt my brain with music, but they will also be my primary listeners for gaming and movies on my computer+TV combo.
