The All Purpose Advice Thread

Start with the HD650. Mod them. You may find that it is all you need.

If you find the HD650's lacking detail the HD800 could be an option. If you are looking for a more neutral (but less detailed) the PMx2's are great.

 

I have the Alpha Dogs, 325e, and 400i. The HD650 bests them all. The Alpha Dogs in particular sound distant and thin in comparison (not that they are bad -- the 650 is just that good). I highly recommend the 650.

The Alpha Dog sound is also ear cup seal dependent and the 650 is not (for my ears).

The best way I can explain the difference is that the 650 sounds "full" across the entire spectrum whereas other headphones have places that are over and under emphasized and the overall 650 tone is so engaging.

 

@GTABeancounter - you're welcome to come over sometime and try out my HD-650 or 800's (Anax modded). I'm in Milton, feel free to message me. (I would also recommend the 650's, based on your genres...)

 

Cut out the inner seam on the pads to expose the foam and let it expand a bit, and the treble smooths out considerably.

 

So I have a tube question. I recently aquired a EC 2A3 and with old Sylvania output tubes the tubes emmit slightly annoying high pitched noise, i'm guessing around 10kHz. None of it comes from hp-s but from the tubes themselves. Russian and chinese tubes are quiet. What do you think?

edit: The noise went away when I swaped left and right tube. Buzzled.

 

This says it very well.

 

Add stuffing the ear cup behind the driver to tame the resonances.

 

Well, after poking around for modding materials, I found a box full of T50RP parts that I had packed up to sell a couple years ago, including a pretty decent experiment that I had forgotten about. I'm good on closed headphones now!

 

Ok, here's one for you...

Is there an amp that's good with both the HD600 and the TH-X00?

I currently have the HD600, and will likely go for a Valhalla 2 to go with it. There's a small possibility that I might try to pick up the TH-X00, but what I've read suggests that it's not a good pairing with the Valhalla.

So, is there an amp that's good with both?

Thanks,

Dave.

 

maybe project sunrise III from garage1217

 

Numerous impressions state the ECP Torpedo III (w/ Cinemag transf.).. which has a high Z & low Z switch.. sounds terrific with the high Z Senns and the TH-X00.

 

I have the HD650 modded, Crack speedball and Bifrost Multibit.

I felt my modded HD650 has reached end game for me, now I am thinking if I should upgrade the amp or dac first. The mod upgrades for bottlehead crack can get expensive and could very well be spent on selling it and buying a better amp. I like the direction of going towards higher resolution for the amp and dac.

For amps: I like the microzotl2 that I heard from canjam and I am also curious about torpedo III. should I get a better dac instead maybe Gungnir Multibit?

 

If you like the crack but are looking for more resolution, I am not sure the microZTL is the way. Most reviews say it is drier and a bit funky in the bass. Very different sound than the crack. DAC will not significantly upgrade is going to a Gungnir Multibit, better yes, but it won't make the difference an amp will. Torpedo III will be money better spend IMO. Fantastic reviews, could be end game clarity amp.

 

Both the HD650 and TH-X00 sounded great out of my Torpedo III

 

How difficult is the build for torpedo III kit? I only have experience building the crack.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out.

 

Black Widow.

 

Thanks for the offer, it's very kind of you. I haven't even been to a meet yet and figure I should take the time to do that before imposing.

Based on all that I've read I think 650s make the most sense for now. I know I can always sell them down the road when the upgradeitis hits.

 

Do neither of the Mjolnirs have switched headphone sockets like the Valhalla/M2U? Do switched 4-pin sockets actually exist on headphone amps? Something like this I think
http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/a-series/nc5fav-sw

I'm still on the lookout for something I can stick on top of my DAC2 that has a balanced preamp so I can have my monitors fed by it and not have to deal with the volume control/muting outputs/lowering volume on one box nightmare every time I want to switch from my headphones to my speakers.