[500sd]

This is relatively new territory for me just to preface. My last experience with any sort of amps to power my cans was well over a decade ago with an altoids cmoy bass boost amp to put things into perspective timewise. So for some reason my buddy just gave me his old Micca Origen+ which is both a preamp & DAC combo right? But I found it after cleaning my desk drawers after I had already ordered a pretty neat little Fosi Audio DAC with two tubes up top. My question is: is it nonsensical to think about trying to combine both devices to power my cans from my desktop or laptop? I imagine the Origen+ makes the Fosi DAC a bit questionable in terms of it's purpose? I normally have just been plugging cans straight into my audio interfaces (I always have one plugged into my desktop for music production purposes with my monitors as well if not wearing cans) so I have a bit of a knowledge gap here as far as current smaller end kinda hifi-ish DACs and Preamps go. What should I do here?

I dont exactly even know how to see if the Origen+ is in good working order since it's been out of use for several years consecutively. I think it's fine last I remember...
The wiring for these devices is where I REALLY get confused. Help me enjoy some good ol' lossless audio with my Beyerdynamics I would seriously appreciate any help for any of my questions and gaps of info. I feel like I might benefit most from using the Fosi Audio in a stack with something else that would compliment it due to the Fosi DAC being very new and literally unused. I don't even think I have the right chords to test it even if I wanted to.

EDIT: Forgive my lack of proper term usage I may be totally wrong in how I'm describing the Fosi Audio device. It is a Fosi Audio P2. (Described as a headphone amp + preamp as well now that I just looked it up to confirm what I now know was wrong, I will let the original post stand just swap the wrong descriptors for how it actually is)
Is it choose the Fosi or the Origen+? Not both? I think the differences in inputs and outputs on the two are making this more complex than it needs to be, but like I said I have basically no clue at all what I'm doing. Don't want to destroy these cute little 6K4 Tubes lol (half joking). I REALLY do not want to blow my Beyerdynamics though...that is 100% top priority.

Best Regards!
Excited to get going on this journey of budget audio consumption on a pseudo-hifi level with these little gadgets.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Do some research, you need to understand what a DAC is and the differences between digital and analogue signals
On the upside you are unlikely to break anything, connectors are different to prevent dangerous combinations and I doubt the Fosi has enough power to bother the Beyers

 

[500sd]

Do some research, you need to understand what a DAC is and the differences between digital and analogue signals
On the upside you are unlikely to break anything, connectors are different to prevent dangerous combinations and I doubt the Fosi has enough power to bother the Beyers

Well that's where I feel like I went wrong, I did too much research and it resulted in this totally unnecessary kinda sensory overload; so essentially I'm pretty confident I know what's going on I'm not totally a blank slate here I mean I've been doing music production myself including mixing and mastering within Ableton and Pro Tools for 15 years now

I for sure worded my post super poorly. I more so just want to get a confirmation regarding how I'm over thinking this situation, or not if somehow I am super off the mark. This whole concept of people running stacks and to my understanding if two Preamp/DAC combos are paired together for a headphone music listening experience then the two combo amps will simply choose which device will be the preamp and which will be the DAC due to rudimentary electronic power dynamics if that makes sense.

For example, I'm obviously not going to like somehow connect my headphones as an output source split from both devices based on common sense and just crank the knobs up on max, right? Why would I do that? I suppose the root confusion is if the two devices can be used in unison to create a better listening experience as opposed to buying another device that I may not even need due to having all the tools I require for a nice setup right now. I'm not running a microphone or turntables etc as an input for my end goal here. I just want to listen to music via aux which can clearly only be connected to one device, if per se the Miico is obsolete nowadays then it would be pretty easy at that point for me to figure out what to do.

Sigh, all this text I typed should be more than enough proof that I must be overthinking this right?? I must be overestimating developments in this whole realm in the past decade all the inputs and outputs are the same I just never got into the whole stationary headphone amplification scene, so seeing how the hifi market is these day's (outside of cans, this is all amplification based) and the amount of different products doing the same thing but disguising to look like certain "nicer" products do something totally different sorta vibe. Idk this is anxiety at it's best. Was merely hoping someone would hop in to recommend a pairing for the Fosi Audio and to forget about the Origen+ entirely. Something straightforward so I'm not left with my thoughts any longer. This is the result of that and I've been thinking about this in the background for 2 weeks now on and off. Just had to see whatsup on these message boards for your guys input (I have been MIA for quite some time ie 2009 join date and 35 posts). I am not blind or illiterate clearly, my original post was stream of consciousness and scattered without an outline to go off of for advice. Hence this thesis paper I just typed in summation LOL

 

[AndreRitter]

This is a simple question IMO. The Origen is a very nice bit of kit and the Fosi isn't.
The Origen is like a Swiss army knife, lots of features.
The Fosi has one trick, making things fuzzy.
Resell the Fosi and keep the Origen.

 

[500sd]

This is a simple question IMO. The Origen is a very nice bit of kit and the Fosi isn't.
The Origen is like a Swiss army knife, lots of features.
The Fosi has one trick, making things fuzzy.
Resell the Fosi and keep the Origen.

I am so glad you came in before I had this thread up for much longer ahaha
I had a pretty good feeling this would be the case, however, even if I got rid of the 6K4 Tubes and upgraded to some actually decent compatible tubes it wouldn't be an interesting thing to have around? I should mention I sift through ALOT of oldschool vinyl samples (digitally for workflow efficiency before I go about further action aka buying the wax and sampling it properly) and the right amount of ...not fuzz...but warmer fuzz type vinyl portrayal and not like a white noise interference fuzz, having something like that to sift through the digital samples would be very nice. hence the crapshoot on the fosi audio p2. i think i can return it still for free, fingers crossed. amazon prime is good and bad in that sense, sometimes you get too comfortable with their relaxed return policies and miss the windows.

thank you for the clarification and simplified easy stamp of confirmation andre!

 

[AndreRitter]

No problemo.
No harm in keeping the Fosi if you might fancy having a play with it in the future but is it more likely to gather dust when you forget about it?
If you can return it and not have the hassle of selling it on I'd send it back and have the money instead.

 

[500sd]

No problemo.
No harm in keeping the Fosi if you might fancy having a play with it in the future but is it more likely to gather dust when you forget about it?
If you can return it and not have the hassle of selling it on I'd send it back and have the money instead.

I am going to have my brother come and conduct an experiment to see if I can trick him into thinking I just want to show him a project I'm working on. Then based on his reaction I'll figure out what to do. I still have 13 days to decide if I want to return it or not. Amazon prime is the best
Either way if I return it or don't, the thing was like $40 bucks free next day shipping. It's not a big deal I just am curious if I can beat the Origen+ with another $40 investment to make a stack with the Fosi p2. Only one way to find out.

OH I cant believe I still haven't asked. Do you have personal firsthand experience with this exact Fosi Audio p2 I have??? What is your advisory to return it based on exactly? I'm curious

 

[AndreRitter]

I have no experience with the Fosi, it is however basically the same circuit as that used in other cheap Chinese 'amps', a buffer that does nothing but add a veil to the sound.
Those I have tried and for me they just aren't worth the bother.
That and experience with a lot of Chinese equipment in the past that has at first dazzled me but eventually shown itself for the crud it really is due to terrible quality inspection in Chinese factories.

 

[500sd]

I have no experience with the Fosi, it is however basically the same circuit as that used in other cheap Chinese 'amps', a buffer that does nothing but add a veil to the sound.
Those I have tried and for me they just aren't worth the bother.
That and experience with a lot of Chinese equipment in the past that has at first dazzled me but eventually shown itself for the crud it really is due to terrible quality inspection in Chinese factories.

Yeah I was well aware of the circuitry before I ordered it, I didn't just think "ohh looks cool hope it sounds good!" i read a handful of genuine reviews scattered about on non commercial websites so I figured I may as well see what happens. I mean also I had a $50 Amazon gift card I had been needing to use for too long that I didn't like carrying around in my wallet anymore so I pulled the trigger. I am typically not one to take a gamble on chinese electronics but certain items I have ordered and been actually blown away by (outside the realm of audio and hifi stuff) so I am not as apprehensive these days. I wish they didn't flood every single industry possible with an excess of crap and just kept it relatively easy to keep track of the guaranteed bad products and the good ones. I am too busy to test just the p2 out with my dt770 80ohms I'm "working" which kinda explains the super rushed and unorganized posts initially. Surely swapping in 2 riverstone 5654W tubes would improve things notably if I am not getting what I feel is worth keeping a $40 workflow enhancer as it came out of the box. I'll hopefully remember to post back when I get off and can dick around for a while. I need to setup a Linux distro dual boot on my W10 Desktop also when I'm off so we will see.

I mean so just being 100% clear, you haven't tried this exact PBR layout in form similar to the fosi I have?? Or have you? Can't tell if you mean you've tried the riverstone 5654W tubes before on some similar board before or what

 

[AndreRitter]

I have used a similar product with a similar pcb.
I tried various tubes with it.
I have not used riverstone 5654.

 

[500sd]

I have used a similar product with a similar pcb.
I tried various tubes with it.
I have not used riverstone 5654.

gotcha thanks for the clarity. here is a nice unbiased video I just found in my synced bookmarks on chrome regarding fosi tube preamp, I have a feeling those riverstones will take it to a deceptively high-tier competitor level if the normal 6K4s aren't enough:



it's been about a month since i believe i saw that video and remember it being promising regarding the fosi p2 potential. i am stoked to give it a try hopefully either before i embark on the dual boot biz or if not then not long after

Edit: I have been absolutely inundated with work obligations so it took me a bit to post my findings but wow. I got a chance to try it out, I must say I am actually thoroughly surprised how my apprehension drove me to consider returning them with no question for a brief moment without even trying it out. Goes to show some of these Chinese type devices should never be written off due to their negative connotations. I heard absolute zero, how should I say this, “fuzziness” as I imagined you meant it would create, also it seems as if swapping the riverstones will actually turn it into quite a monstrous piece of gear. However, I must say I wish I had a stack like in the video so that I could adjust bass and treble, as the sound was a bit too harsh on the ears. This is on such a low knob increase too, not to mention how I have never heard my dt770 80ohms sound so…ear piercing I guess. It was not comfortable to listen to due to the how bright they sounded. It was such a positively remarkable experience while simultaneously being remarkable negatively since I never would have imagined them to be able to be driven to such a harsh sound profile. No song on full blast regardless of how high end heavy the song may be could ever recreate such a sensation. I hope this makes sense regarding me being hands down impressed.
This is what leads me to think with upgraded tubes (as many have posted online with high praise l) it could indeed be a monstrous addition to my 770’s, but now I am terrified of trying to use it with my HD6XX’s since those are already essentially polar opposite’s of my 770 80ohm cans. It would be like getting flash banged I would imagine. Not going to attempt. Ouch. I am now experiencing a massive tinnitus psychosomatic type of thing going on just by thinking about that.