The All Purpose Advice Thread

I am for sure stuck on the HD600. There is a chance that I might could do the $20 a month. I think I am most worried about the amp not being powerful enough. A comment I read somewhere about the HD600 sounding slow and veiled without elite amplification has scared me! Haha

 

Maybe I could use lossless TIDAL with an iPod Touch. That would work well, right?
And it wouldn't require a third-party app either.

 

It would.

You're definitely going to want an amplifier (in some form) to drive the HD600 properly.

There are pure amplifiers you can use straight out of the headphone jack with most phones that'll do a nice enough job, without lots of extra complexity and without having to switch phones though.

Just out of interest, I grabbed my HD650, plugged those into an AudioQuest Dragonfly Red and then into my iPhone 7, and it's not bad at all. It'll go louder than I'd care to listen ... but certainly the Sennheisers are not being driven to anywhere near their maximum potential here, and authority and dynamics are notably compromised, but it's entirely listenable.

The Mojo has more than double the drive capability and fares quite a bit better in this regard, but it has it's own issues. Can't comment on the Oppo ... never heard the HA2SE, and haven't heard the HA2 with Sennheisers either.

 

My two cents of the HA-2 and HD 650... flat and uninspiring, only better than the phone because it could just get loud enough. I wouldn't do it as a permanent solution, liked the HA2 a good bit with stuff that's already portable (like PM3)

 

Anyone heard the Schiit Asgard 2 and also this Little Dot MKIII?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/littledot-tube-amp

I have less then 1 day to decide if I wanna pull the trigger on the Little Dot but dunno how it compares to the Asgard 2 I already own.

 

You won't find much talk about Little Dot here. Made in China gear gets knocked for difficulties in getting stuff serviced. If you are looking at tubes, why aren't you looking at the Vali 2? Or wait for a used Valhalla 2, which is a crisp and very immersive amp.

 

I still have a Little Dot ii+ that is over 10 years old and it works a preamp but unfortunately the headphone jack on it developed an issue and the right channel is out of balance. Just figured people might have heard the MKIII

 

@svperstar , 10 years with a Little Dot, cool! Sorry I can't be of more help. I am only 5 months into this hobby, so I've got a lot of listening and learning to do.

 

The cheap Little Dots don't even come close to the Valhalla 2. Trust me, I had the MK III and IV SE.

 

@svperstar - the gunner will not steer you wrong

 

That is such a pretty purple cable! Very cool looking setup. It could be that if amps around $300 won't get the job done, I might have to give up on the whole thing. I don't want to buy the HD600 and not hear them at their full potential, you know?

 

hehe I figured. I got the Asgard 2 so I didn't have to worry about tubes but now I find myself wondering how a Valhalla 2 would sound with the LCD-2 and 650. Bleh. Always more money to spend. Always.

 

@svperstar , the Valhalla 2 and HD650 is a well-established pairing at SBAF. I am very happy with mine.

 

Hey all, I'm looking for some cans for the office where I can't have any sound leakage. I was about to pull the trigger on these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SL2ZYFU/ref=twister_B00X958NF2?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

I haven't found many measurements on the 2.0's. @Tyll Hertsens measured them (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserMomentumM2.pdf) but I don't see an article with it. They show a far amount of bass roll off that I didn't expect to see, as the original verison (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserMomentum.pdf) has a much flatter response in the bass and sub bass. Do you guys think they really have that much less bass then the originals? Or maybe there wasn't a good seal for the test?

 

@cskippy I'm really glad for the recommendation but I already have a Yggdrasil and the Campfire Audio Vega in the Mail. Thanks for the recommendation! It actually played a huge part in my decision. I stayed away from the Yggdrasil for a long time because I heard it took two weeks to live up to what it does, which sounds absurd to me. I was looking at the MyTek Brooklyn, some PS Audio DACs, and the tier 3 kitsune tuned Spring Dac.

When you said that it sounded good from the start that was enough to get me to buy one. At least to try. It seems to be a bit of a gold standard on the forum so I'm excited to have it coming in. I'm looking at getting a ZMF closed back headphones after the debut in Feb. They appear to be at least semi closed which I should be able to make work.

Thank you!

 

Don't follow me blindly though . I have my own preferences and it's best to know my preferences when interpreting my advice or suggestions.

 

@IndecisiveLemur What amp are you going to use?

 

That is good to hear. The SA5000 were a "30 minute headphone". I thought they were absolutely amazing..................then I listened to more tracks and realized my ears hurt even on low volumes and they sound totally unnatural with about everything.

No amount of EQ or "tube warmth" could tame those things.

 

I am contemplating getting the Oppo PM-3's for portable use. I am a happy owner of HD650, Fidelio X2's at home and have the Meze 99 as my office phones. The Meze are nice headphones, but feels too bulky for portable use. The Oppo 3-s seems to be a very good all rounder without to much boost in any freq and good isolation for public transport. Could also use them for gaming with a V-Moda boom mic. Not sure how well the Oppo PM-3 would do for movies and gaming (classical music, Soundtracks, etc. My previous portable was the V-Moda M100, but that was simply to bassy in the end. The Focal Spirit Classic/Pro I like but that damn clamp simply was to crushing, sounds wise I reall liked them - Fast, dynamic and not very harsh. So the Oppo's might be my thing.Sources would be straight out of my Note 4 or Sony NWZ-A15. Any thoughts about this?