I have a question about optimizing the Bartok APEX headphone output setting with volume level, but first I purchased a new pair of headphones that I had learned about and was intrigued - the Austrian Audio The Composer and they are phenomenal! I’m thrilled.
I love the Meze Elite, but had become disenchanted with the DCA Stealth. They were really great in many ways, but at least to my ears were a little too intense to wear for long. Perhaps it’s the closed back nature. I can’t say exactly what it was, but I started to research headphones that could give me some of the qualities of the Elite but with more detail–a blend of the best of both worlds.
Perhaps The Composer is it. They are relatively new and feedback is a little mixed, but what I read of the positives intrigued me. Glad I made the purchase. They are very fun and very interesting to listen too.
Moving on to my question: the Elite and The Composer are both efficient (which BTW was a quality I was looking for). Both appear to benefit from the balanced connection, especially The Composer.
I’ve read that some prefer the dynamics of the 0 dB output of the Bartok even if they have to dial back the volume - which the manual states is optimum between -10 and -30 dB.
Output level varies album to album, but in general with both headphones I have to set the headphone output to -10 dB, -20 dB or -30 dB, to achieve the “ideal” volume setting. With 0 dB I often have to go below -30 dB, but sometimes I can go as high as -26 dB.
To summarize the question - do you lose dynamics when you set the Bartok headphone output to something less than 0 dB or am I making a big deal out of nothing? Should one optimize for volume setting or output level?