[Gil80]

Hi.

I got a Zen DAC v2 and I would like to pair it with a balanced closed-back budget headphone... if such an animal exists
My current headphones are ATH-A900X and would like to replace them.

The main use will be for games, hence the closed back. But equally important is a wide sound stage for gaming.
The secondary use is for music.


Thanks in advance

 

[kman1211]

Honestly that may be difficult considering you have the A900X which has a large soundstage for a closed back, I have it’s sibling headphone the A990Z and honestly for anywhere near it’s price you’ll be hard pressed to find anything as spacious sounding. I don’t really know of any closed-back options that can easily be run balanced that will equal the A900X soundstage for a budget.

 

[Gil80]

Honestly that may be difficult considering you have the A900X which has a large soundstage for a closed back, I have it’s sibling headphone the A990Z and honestly for anywhere near it’s price you’ll be hard pressed to find anything as spacious sounding. I don’t really know of any closed-back options that can easily be run balanced that will equal the A900X soundstage for a budget.

ok, that's good to know. Let me divert for a second based on your input. Say the A990X is better suited for gaming due to its sound stage and closed-back, what then would better music geared balanced and closed-back headphones be?

 

[kman1211]

ok, that's good to know. Let me divert for a second based on your input. Say the A990X is better suited for gaming due to its sound stage and closed-back, what then would better music geared balanced and closed-back headphones be?

Depends on your preferred sound signature and what type of music you listen to. Want a brighter more hyper sound the ATH-MSR7b isn’t a bad choice. Something warmer the Sony MDR-1AM2, only heard the original 1A not sure how the M2 differs but the current Sony sound is generally a warm v-shape. Those are probably the only two closed-backs around the price of the A990Z, etc. I can think of on the top of my head that come with an extra 4.4mm balanced cable stock. Maybe there are others but not aware of them atm. Most others you have to buy the cable separately. There are also many that can’t be balanced sadly such as various Beyers in the price range.

 

[Gil80]

Depends on your preferred sound signature and what type of music you listen to. Want a brighter more hyper sound the ATH-MSR7b isn’t a bad choice. Something warmer the Sony MDR-1AM2, only heard the original 1A not sure how the M2 differs but the current Sony sound is generally a warm v-shape. Those are probably the only two closed-backs around the price of the A990Z, etc. I can think of on the top of my head that come with an extra 4.4mm balanced cable stock. Maybe there are others but not aware of them atm. Most others you have to buy the cable separately. There are also many that can’t be balanced sadly such as various Beyers in the price range.

Thanks for the info.
Is it possible to make the ATH-A900X balanced?