The All Purpose Advice Thread

Yeah, true that. I suppose there's no sense in using a $500 AMP+DAC to power $200 headphones. I'm really not looking to spend $1000 right now.

I've never had anything other than this Oppo HA-2, or these headphones I have. I kinda feel like the Magni+Modi stack and the Senny HD600 are almost like a rite of passage for audiophiles. So I'm strongly considering just getting a Magni 3 + Modi 2 and a pair of HD600s to try and own.

Of course, in the past I heard that the Philips Fidelio X2 is basically a better version of the HD600. Maybe I should look into that headphone again, heck they might have an X3 by now...

Being honest - I have no idea what I'm doing really. There's all these new headphones now, compared to the last time I was looking which was around 2014/2015. I'm seeing all this stuff from Mr. Speakers and HiFi Man and Focal stuff now.

It's too bad I live in rural America and there's nowhere nearby that I could try any of them out before buying.

I do think I hear the "Sennheiser veil" in their products. It's what makes me so apprehensive on them

 

As for AMP/DAC, I wonder if anyone here has any opinion on the Magni+Modi vs the Objective 2 + OL DAC. Both are pretty much the same cost, and it seems JDS has some more fans than the Schiit do.

That said, I think most of the Schiit reviews came before the Magni 3.

 

No, not really. Shortly owned X2 before. X2 is pleasing in some area, but not for enthusiastic to hardcore audio hobby (doesn't scale well). 600 is way more superior as well as safer starting point imho. Recommend you to go through the dedicated threads of hd600 and 650 here (note: there are many). I prefer other headphones (hd800 or elex) to 600 but 600/650 are de-facto references in this community and worth playing with.

PS. For dac and amp, suggest you to consider magni 3 + modi 2 "multibit". Or include this combo on your shortlist. Also avoid Objective 2 any day...

 

Ah, thanks. Yeah I'm considering getting the HD600 just to be able to understand what people are talking about with it. Like I said, it sounds like a rite of passage almost - and it's become everyone's point of reference for comparisons as well.

Difficult to understand people's explanations when you haven't heard the headphone everyone's using as the point of reference. I certainly hear that Senny Veil people harp on about though.

In the same price range, there's also the HiFi-Man HE400S, and possible the Sundara if I can find a good deal somewhere. Any opinions on those, maybe? I've been wondering if maybe Planar Magnetics might be good for me.

 

It's simply not possible to get everything that you've listed with a $500 budget, so you're going to have to make some compromises. You've also made the (fairly common) mistake of demanding 'true neutrality' and the kitchen sink without really understanding what that approximation of neutrality will require you to sacrifice at the $500 level. At that price point, a 'neutral' headphone will not give you phenomenally deep bass extension and impact, holographic soundstaging and impeccable detail and resolution. There are some headphones that do a couple of those things really well for the price, but people here spend thousands of dollars on each pair of headphones and still don't get everything that you're looking for.

In short:

- Go visit your local shop and try different headphones to see if 'neutrality' is actually what you want, because tons of new people think they want it based on what they've read, and then realize what that actually means when they try headphones out in person.

- If you haven't tried higher-end Sennheiser headphones in person, don't rule them out based on what children parrot on the internet.

- If you can't increase your budget, that's fine, just try several headphones out and figure out what you're willing to compromise on. What newbies think they want and what they actually like can be completely different.

 

Unfortunately it's rural America and "the local shops" are pretty much all Wal-Mart and Best Buy. What they have on display are all low-grade Sony, Bose, Beats, and Skullcandy headphones, lmao. And even then, usually the display case electronics for playing back music are either dysfunctional or totally broken. I don't think people around here usually buy headphones that cost more than a hundred dollars so they're never on display (plus the risk of them getting stolen - big problem around here). In fact I don't think they even carry any that cost more than $200.

If you want to try out high-end headphones you're gonna be driving a good 100 miles or so to the nearest actual city-proper to do so, probably.

You've seen what I said I like though, you can kinda base what I like on that. AKG K7XX and Shure's SRH Studio headphones are quite nice to me. I figured you won't get perfection without high-end electrostatic headphones, and I know I can't afford that so I'm not going to fret over that.

 

Based on what you've said, I'm not sure if you like those headphones because that's the type of sound signature you truly prefer, or whether you like them because they're some of the few headphones you've had experience with.

Having said that, try the HD600 at $200ish, or save up a little bit for a used HD800 at $600-700. They're both great starting points and excellent value picks.

 

Weren't there complaints about the HD800 which led to users modifying their HD800, and the result was that Sennheiser took that feedback to create the HD800S?

Anyway, well I've tried some Sennys and all but mostly stuff like the HD598.

 

Having an issue with my amp (iFi iCan Pro) in my headphone listening setup. There is a low-level static, droning background extraneous sound. iFi support has asked me to capture an audio clip of this but I confess, I have no idea how to capture an audio clip from the iCan Pro headphone out jack. I don't even have a mic on this rig, which runs Win PC --> iGalvanic --> Singxer SU-1 --> Matrix X-Sabre DAC --> XLR balanced out to the iCan Pro. However, simplifying the chain with PC audio line out directly to iCan pro RCA in did not eliminate the noise (but did add a lot of other noise, not surprisingly!).

Is there a straightforward method for capturing the requested audio clip from iCan HF out jack? Other troubleshooting suggestions appreciated as well. Thanks.

 

What do y'all think of the HiFiMAN Sundara? Sounds like a fine headphone with great reviews.

There's also the HE400S which is $200 cheaper, or even much less if I'm cool with eBay.

Both are planar magnetic, which I've been curious about.

 

I have what many would consider to be a very synergistic setup for the HD650. The HD650 sounds nothing like the HD598 and below. Sennheiser does have a house sound, but the detail and resolution of the HD650 isn't in the same universe as the 598. On my setup there is no veil. Jotunheim takes whatever veil may have been there and tears it to shreds.

Long story short, don't discount the HD6X0s. Most people haven't heard them properly driven, and they scale further than most headphones costing considerably more.

And yeah, I'm in indianapolis and even in the heart of the state there's nowhere to audition headphones.

 

People use $10k setups to drive $300 HD650s. It your only discriminating data point is price, you're going to make some bad decisions. Hifiman loves people like you.

 

Hm... I'm driving a $200 headphone with $1500 of amp and DAC. I never thought about it that way before.

Driving a hundred miles really doesn't seem a massively onerous undertaking. Especially in the context of spending five hundred dollars or whatever the budget is.

 

Maybe because it's not a terribly informative way to decide? You probably matched components that you felt worked well together within your budget, rather than using the Head-Fi algorithm (obsess over price tags, slam head on desk, repeat).

 

If you don't mind hunting around ebay or Head-Fi classifieds for a while you should be able to find a Stax SR-207 and SRM-252S set for less than $500. Super clear and resolving with an above average sized soundstage.

 

@Alexander I didn't see any musical preferences in your posts, that will be a big factor in the headphones you enjoy.

 

Well I didn't state anything because I think my music tastes are so wide and abstract that it wouldn't really be helpful - it'd need to be a great all-rounder. All I can say is that I don't listen to a lot of Country or Rap/Hip-Hop. I've always been the type that knows what he doesn't like a lot more than what he actually does like.

Most of my application for it would probably be movies, anime, and games really. Music too but typically I play music out of my phone with my SRH 940s. If I'm at the computer it usually means I'm gearing up to watch or play something, honestly. That's not always true though of course - I do listen to music at the computer occasionally.

Anyway, I just want it to be as multi-use as possible I guess.

Yeah I've been curious about STAX, though their headphones are just expensive.

I can't find any SR-207. eBay doesn't have it and Head-Fi only has old "SOLD" listings.

I CAN find SR-407 (for $500), and I've found SR-5 and SR-44 as well. I'm gonna guess all of these are old models that they no longer carry, yeah?

I could try to just save-up and buy their cheapest current over-ear model - the SR-L300. I'll definitely need to look for an affordable electrostatic amp though.

 

I'm looking for a solid state preamp to control my headphone setup and Genelecs. I'm looking for one that (i) is dead silent, (ii) I can leave on 24/7, (iv) has both RCA and XLR, (v) is under $700 msrp (preferably much less). Please no Schiit. It's time to try something new.

Thoughts?

 

I think you’re getting lost in the weeds here.

Here’s my basic recommendation.

If you want to save money and simply want an open back headphone that is fun to listen to, get yourself something like a Fidelio X2 and move on. For closed, something like the Senn 598Cs.

If you want a “rig” get something like a Modi Multibit and a Vali 2 and a HD6XX. After a few weeks you can try modding it. It’s hard or impossible to beat the HD6XX’s performance / price ratio (it’s a 650 on Massdrop for $199). Boom. You are in the 90th percentile already.

 

I think I've decided that I'm just going to get a Magni-Modi stack and HD600.

Not an HD650 as I understand it's warmer and there's all the controversy about "the veil". I know I tend to like things on the cooler side so the 600 is probably the right one.

Like I said, it sounds like it's a rite of passage for audiophiles. I need to know what all the fuss is about and understand these headphones in order to have a point of reference when talking about audio equipment.

Seems like every audiophile is just expected to have a Magni/Modi and HD600 somewhere.

I will ask two things though:

1) Should I really go for the Magni 3 + Modi 2 Uber, or rather the Objective 2 + OL DAC?
2) Has anyone listened to the HD660S? Apparently it's supposed to be an improved 650. I might go for it over the HD600 if it's basically just an improvement on the HD600.

I think after I save-up some money, I'll start getting into electrostatic headphones - STAX and such. But for now, it seems literally everyone should own an HD600 and one of the entry-level AMP/DAC stacks.

I'm now just debating which of the entry-level stacks I should get, and whether I should get the HD600 or the HD660S.