The All Purpose Advice Thread

Went to canjam london today though i wanted to listen to the 2170, only the stax 09 was there. Obviously i am not going to buy that which liked what i was hearing & there is a big difference between the 2. But is the 2170 worth upgrade over my beyerdynamic t1 2nd gen which has bothered me everynow and then about it's mids.

 

So today I just ordered a Modibit, and I am wondering what the next step in my setup should be. Currently, the chain is going to be Modibit -> Asgard 2 -> HE-400i. I am going to be a senior in high school next year so I don't have much disposable income. I'm 100% open to DIY. I do not want to upgrade DACs until I can afford an Yggdrasil. (or w/e is current in a few years) The only viable short term upgrade path is ditching the HE-400is for a pair of HD6X0's or an HE-560, not sure which one I would go for. I also am intrigued by the HD800, and HD800s, but that would not be for a few years. For an upgrade to an amp I generally prefer solid state, but the ECP Torpedo III has caught my attention. I read Jason's book and saw that triode tubes are actually more linear than most solid state designs, so that's very interesting. I value soundstage and imaging. Another odd issue I've had is when the music gets "intense" at the peak of a passage, it sounds a bit too overwhelming compared to my speaker setup. (Just Pioneer SP-BS22-LR's) For vinyl, I have a Uturn Orbit with the stock cartridge and a cheap Pyle phono stage, the sound does not come close to my digital setup, and vinyl is a bit of a pain, so I don't see any upgrades on that route being viable for me. Anyways, I probably won't buy anything too soon, I just want to see what you guys would upgrade. I am excited to hear the Modibit once it comes in, I wasn't too impressed with the Modi 2 Uber 4490.

 

I haven't spent enough time with the HE560, but as an owner of both the HD600 and HD800S, I think you'd be happier with the latter. I love the HD600, but it definitely doesn't have the best soundstage and sometimes struggles with instrument separation (I believe this is what you mean by "overwhelming," too much going on at once for the headphone to accurately distinguish individual voices so everything gets muddled together). The HD800S does much better on both fronts, but it's a very bright sounding headphone as well, so you'll want to pair it with a warm sounding amp. I'm in the process of exploring new amps and sources, so I can't make a recommendation on that front yet.

 

Any ciem that has the same tonality of hd600?

 

Alternative opinion here. You're a junior in high school and should be focusing on saving for college. You likely won't be able to use your vinyl rig and any speaker system really for that matter to full effect unless you're willing to place it in a common living area and let your future roommates use it. Save up for a used HD600 if you must, but remember that you may have a roommate that won't want to hear sound transmission from an open headphone.

I would spend some time in this thread. My advice is on page 3, but I can't link directly to it on my phone. Your focus now should be on your education and minimizing your future debt. It's not as exciting, but if you're working now, I would start putting some money away for retirement as well considering your ability to take full advantage of compound interest at your young age.

 

- Then for hp-s you'll want modded HD800. And tubes. Asgard probably won't cut it for HD800 and what you are looking for in sound. Not cheap option, no matter how you look at it.
- In your current situation I'd look for a HD650 first and mod it. Much cheaper. Imaging is great, soundstage size is average. It is still upgrade from HE400i in every direction save for bass linearity and slightly more distortion in bass. Overall a higher tier hp. Different tonality too, most but not all prefer the 650 take on this.
- There are also the Paradox Slants. Closed, but still great imaging and soundstage is as expansive as on HD650.

 

@zonto, you f'ing downer. @pandather should save money but still have fun. High school is the time for measured foolishness, exploring absurd hobbies, and if at all possible, sex.

I would say don't chase the hd800, go for a used 650. The price difference between 650 and 800 is significant, and while the 800 is stunning in many ways, it is f'ing exhausting, and not worth the cost risk. Better still, ask for an hd650 for bday / xmas / Hanukkah / whatever. I would recommend against the he560 at this point. It is a fine headphone, but suffers from treble weirdness. I have owned all of these headphones, and currently have the 650. There is a reason nearly everyone recommends the 650: after a long journey with a lot of different hp, it turns out the 650 has an amazing balance of tonality and technical capabilities. The best advice I never got and didn't think I could follow at your age given limited funds is get a 650, let yourself get normalized to it, and use it as the yard stick to compare others going forward.

I agree that the asgard2, while a good all-around amp, is better geared for planes as opposed to traditional dynamics like senn or Beyer.
If you dig DIY, and can get someone to fund the BOM for a torpedo 3, awesome; if not, build a bottlehead crack first, or something from garage 1217.

 

This. Get the Project Ember (IMO). You will not need anything else for now.

 

Okay guys, I like all of your comments, really helpful. I feel the HD800 and a good tube amp would be an amazing setup for sure, but I just can't justify spending that amount of cash right now. I feel as if I could sell my HE-400i for a pretty good price and get the HD650 though. In all honesty, I had the HD650 before and was not the biggest fan, but I was driving it from a rockboxed clip plus and had not modded the headphones. For a question, I am hearing that there are multiple ongoing revisions to the HD650, so should I buy a new one off Amazon/newer used one or should I just buy the cheapest used one in good condition I see? I love the for sale forum here, super cheap. I can't believe I didn't see the Bifrost Multibit for $300! Another question, how do most of you compare the HD650 and HD600, prices aside? About the amp, I probably would be upgrading the amp in around a years time, and the Torpedo may still be a tad expensive, however, I could still save up for it if the Asgard 2 pairs modestly well with the Sennheisers. If not, the Crack and the Ember seem pretty nice too. I don't know how I feel about the tube sound though, which is one reason I've been eyeing the Valhalla 2 and the Torpedo III.

EDIT: I also have a Tread linear power supply, similar to the AMB Sigma 25. I got the kit from Maxvla at the last ATX head-fi meet, and built it. I just don't know what to do with it now, could I get a 6-7 volt DC wallwart and regulate it down to 5V and splice it to the power leads of a USB cable to help provide cleaner power to the Modibit? Anyone have an idea of what to use it on?

 

> how do most of you compare the HD650 and HD600, prices aside?

The HD600 is brighter by a small but easily perceptible amount. If you're on a budget and open to doing a little (easy) modification work, a used HD580 is a fantastic price to performance ratio. See this thread for more: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/hd580-mods.1766/

> If not, the Crack and the Ember seem pretty nice too. I don't know how I feel about the tube sound though, which is one reason I've been eyeing the Valhalla 2 and the Torpedo III.

There's basically three points on the spectrum of "tube sound":

1. Thick, slow, poorly resolving, not very dynamic, very colored, bad soundstage
2. Thick, not so slow, medium resolving, dynamic, somewhat colored, closed or 2-dimensional but otherwise good soundstage
3. Neutral, fast, highly resolving, highly dynamic, not very colored at all, massive immersive 3-dimensional soundstage

I haven't heard all of the amps you mention, but almost every impression I read puts the Ember close to category 2, the Valhalla and TIII squarely in #3 and the Crack squarely in #2.

 

Lots of useful info there, @philipmorgan. I'd probably challenge any impression of the T3 as having a "massive immersive 3-d soundstage", though. Something like MicroZOTL2 bested* the T3 in terms of 3D soundstage rendering, when I had both. And, I can certainly hear the T3's soundstage expand when I put the ZDS in front of it as a preamp.


*Note: The T3 bested the MZ2 in every other way, and my MZ2 is long gone now.

 

Please tell me you only did this for experimental purposes. That might be the most overkill, and worst most jealousy inducing use of a ZDS in a headphone chain!

EDIT: see changes that reflect a more honest and less judgemental expression of my reaction to the quoted passage.

 

You live in/near Austin!? Your top priority with disposable income needs to be GO SEE LIVE MUSIC! Live shows from the musicians you like are the best comparison for what good headphones should sound like. I'm sure you know this already, but if you grew up in/near Austin you have no idea how spoiled your are for choice when it comes to live music. This is not meant to sound authoritative or commanding, but excited. And excited.

 

No, I did it just to get a reaction from you. Thanks for your feedback.

 

Can anyone recommend me any open headphones under $500 for me that I can drive with my HTC 10?

I've given up on my desktop set up completely.

Was looking at the TH-X00 purple hearts but i'm not sure that's for me...

Any recommendations?

 

Good point. I over-simplified a bit in my "tube sound" spectrum. Reminds me of how my Mjo2 doesn't fit squarely in #3, also being held back a bit by its soundstage capabilities.

 

Seems like I have this part down. A few of my other hobbies are my computer, (overclocking, building, playing, etc.) skateboarding, (Just started, finally starting to get my ollies repeatably while moving, not 100% there yet though) movies, (Sausage Party was ubsurdly hilarious, loved the references and such) and programming. (Won state in our states' academic conference 2 years in a row!

This seems like the path I'll take, I should be able to sell my HE-400i for around $300 fairly well and purchase the HD650 without loss, seems like the easiest path for me right now.

Okay, so it seems as if the Asgard 2 would have to go fairly soon. If it pairs with the HD650 well enough I may wait to save up for the Torpedo III, as it looks as good as I'll be able to get in college, of course, if I get a 6 digit job as a programmer or something I may upgrade later, or get a ZDS purely as a pre-amp. If the HD650 doesn't like the Asgard 2, I may sell the Asgard and buy the Valhalla 2, however, that would most likely prohibit me from getting the Torpedo III. I am not one to constantly side-grade, and I would rather spend $200 more upfront for a better amp than deal with an inferior amp for a few years and be out another $100 after selling it.

Great post! I have no clue if I would pick the HD600 or the HD650, maybe I'll have to see if anyone is up for a mini-meet in Austin, I'm sure there are some super friends around. #3 definitely is the bullet point I'm looking for, and not close to what I previously thought of when I heard tubes.

I lie about an hour out from Austin actually, in the town of Blanco. I would love to go see live music more, but I don't have any friends as interested in live music as I am. :/ However, I have a car and am definitely thinking about going to UT for Comp Sci. UT seems the most appealing to me, but I will also apply to MIT and CMU - though I have to take my SAT subject tests first.

 

Looking for a small'ish amp to use with a portable DAC and HD600, doesn't need to be portable. Leaning towards Project Polaris or Asgard 2; which would be better suited to the HD600? (Might also use with misc. low-impedance cans.) Would either be comparable (or better) than my Liquid Carbon for single-ended HD600?

 

I'm guessing you don't want anything with tubes? Otherwise vali comes to mind, as does ember.

 

To date I have stayed away from tubes, though I was strongly considering the Ember several months ago (before I received the LC), even emailed Jeremy @ Garage1217 a few questions, but read that the Polaris is somewhat similar sounding. I wouldn't be rolling tubes anyway, if I went that route.

Will read through the Vali 2 thread(s) for general impressions.

Maybe not so clear-cut to answer, but what is the best < $400 amp recommended for the HD600 that's also good with low-z 'phones? And would that be better than the Liquid Carbon single-ended + HD600, for those who have compared?