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Best headphone amplifier for Sennheiser HD600? - Page 2

post #16 of 42
1/26/08 at 4:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
Meaning that version 3 is somehow inferior or what?
No, it's not to say the X-Cans are inferior, but they just sound better with a better transformer.
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post #17 of 42
1/26/08 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
For your price range, the best Sennheiser amp I've heard is the Gilmore Lite/Dynalo. Plenty of power for them, clean, neutral, and detailed. I prefer mine out of the Dynalo to all the other amps, save one. The best Sennheiser amp I've heard is the Zana Deux. More than what you want to spend, but it is transformative and makes Senns sound nearly electrostatic.
Ok cool I'm gonna check up on that
Well on one hand I don't want to break the bank as I'm a full-time student that want to spend my education savings for actual education-related stuff and on the other hand I want a noticeable clear improvement over just plugging my HD600's into my Creative X-Fi soundcard on my PC. And generally speaking how expensive of an amplifier can you buy for the HD600's before the Creative X-Fi soundcard will become bottleneck? I don't want to over-do the amp in that respect. Unless it has a really good performance/value relationship, in that case I could go for somethnig a bit over-the-top for futureproofness sake (in case Creative's next soundcard generation will have even better DAC's and circuits which is pretty likely ).
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post #18 of 42
1/26/08 at 6:03pm
Do a search for HD600 (here on Head-Fi). You will find YEARS of opinions and some great reading.
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post #19 of 42
1/26/08 at 6:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsonad View Post
Do a search for HD600 (here on Head-Fi). You will find YEARS of opinions and some great reading.
Doing that as we speak, there's pretty much material

Still I don't feel bad for asking again because new things come out constantly
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post #20 of 42
1/26/08 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
Still I don't feel bad for asking again because new things come out constantly
New doesn't always mean better it may be the FOTM. Look for trends that people have enjoyed over the years and for peoples comments that really love the HD600 sound.
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post #21 of 42
1/27/08 at 6:43am
Join the Little Dot Family!! Proven combo with the Senn's
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post #22 of 42
1/27/08 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
You mean this one? Meier Audio: Corda Prehead Mk2
Unfortunately at ~1500$ it's well above my budget

Sounds good with the X-Cans though.. I might just find the one store in my country that sells them and ask them for advice, luckily they're not that far away.
Yes that is the one. They used to have a Mk I which is my version i think, maybe you can find someone willing to part with theirs?
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post #23 of 42
1/27/08 at 1:24pm
I think your getting a bit confused with the whole external DAC and sound card business.

If you get a DAC/AMP combo it gets fed from your soundcard via the optical out, this means that the soundcard does not process the sound just merely sends the signal to the external dac. The only way a soundcard can bottleneck (correct me if i'm wrong) this is if it is poor at sending out a bit perfect signal, in this aspect the xfi does very well and should not be a problem.
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post #24 of 42
1/27/08 at 2:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bazs View Post
I think your getting a bit confused with the whole external DAC and sound card business.

If you get a DAC/AMP combo it gets fed from your soundcard via the optical out, this means that the soundcard does not process the sound just merely sends the signal to the external dac. The only way a soundcard can bottleneck (correct me if i'm wrong) this is if it is poor at sending out a bit perfect signal, in this aspect the xfi does very well and should not be a problem.
Having been reading for the whole day today that was is a point I just slowly started to finally realize but thanks for setting this straight
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post #25 of 42
1/27/08 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
Is this is custom build amp? I can't find any info on it at all
Correct, here's one that is available now:

Rockhopper Audio: Quality Headphone Amplifiers
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post #26 of 42
1/27/08 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by headcheck View Post
Join the Little Dot Family!! Proven combo with the Senn's
X2 Your best bet on a budget!
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post #27 of 42
1/27/08 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
X2 Your best bet on a budget!
How so? I thought you were gonna recommend the Zero
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post #28 of 42
1/27/08 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
How so? I thought you were gonna recommend the Zero
Sorry, I couldn't determine if you were still looking for a DAC/Amp or just an Amp now. However, my spaciness aside, I still like the Zero for its quality and low price. It is a perfect stepping stone for a separate amp later, which I would recommend be one of the MK series at LD.
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post #29 of 42
1/27/08 at 5:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
Sorry, I couldn't determine if you were still looking for a DAC/Amp or just an Amp now. However, my spaciness aside, I still like the Zero for its quality and low price. It is a perfect stepping stone for a separate amp later, which I would recommend be one of the MK series at LD.
I'm sorry, I think I have been pretty vague in stating my precise needs but I guess I didn't know enough about how it all worked to begin with and I changed my mind a couple of times also heh

I guess it all depends on how good DAC the Creative X-Fi (Xtreme Gamer) is considered, I mean it's considered very good in the realm of PC hardware / gaming, but how is it's generally regarded in the more more complex world of head-fi I have no idea
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post #30 of 42
1/27/08 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaco View Post
I'm sorry, I think I have been pretty vague in stating my precise needs but I guess I didn't know enough about how it all worked to begin with and I changed my mind a couple of times also heh

I guess it all depends on how good DAC the Creative X-Fi (Xtreme Gamer) is considered, I mean it's considered very good in the realm of PC hardware / gaming, but how is it's generally regarded in the more more complex world of head-fi I have no idea
I have the X-Fi Extreme Music version, with the I/O drive bay thing. I have tested the difference between using the line-out on the X-Fi to one of my amps, vs. the optical/coaxial output to my Zero, then Zero out to one of my amps. The Zero wins big time!! The DAC goods on the X-Fi just aren't that good for music, but the X-Fi makes a good Optical/Coaxial out.
I wouldn't recommend modifying your X-Fi either. Once it is done, it is done and games will not necessarily benefit from it.
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