HifiMAN HE-6 Planar Magnetic Headphone - Page 483

Yea, I know, I know. For some reason I am skeptical. And I really want to believe the speaker amp rumor mill isn't true. (I don't wanna be broke, ya know).

Keep hearing such good things about the HD800 and Mojo. So I'll be interested in hearing those direct impressions.

I'd also be interested in how you find Mojo and HE-6 to fare. Since you also found Lyr to be "adequate" or something. 

Also, honestly not a fan on these stupid filter things. Just look at the PWD. But if you're enjoying it and finding improved quality, then more to ya!

Quote:

Originally Posted by paradoxper 

Yea, I know, I know. For some reason I am skeptical. And I really want to believe the speaker amp rumor mill isn't true. (I don't wanna be broke, ya know).

 

Keep hearing such good things about the HD800 and Mojo. So I'll be interested in hearing those direct impressions.

I'd also be interested in how you find Mojo and HE-6 to fare. Since you also found Lyr to be "adequate" or something. 

 

Also, honestly not a fan on these stupid filter things. Just look at the PWD. But if you're enjoying it and finding improved quality, then more to ya!

LOL.  Jason has punishment to deliver to every wallet....

Yeah, I'm very interested to see what the HD800 can really do on a well matched amp.  And yeah, there's definitely some testing with HE-6 to do.  Lyr was indeed adequate, but HD800 showed that the power limitation was indeed the limitation with HE-6. (I.E. HD800 revealed more detail through Lyr than HE-6, meaning that the detail loss of HE-6 wasn't simply due to being an undetailed amp but because it was short-changing it's current reserves or not swinging enough voltage.)  MJ doubles that power at 5W so it should be more even ground.  Should be an interesting test.

Regarding filters, for the most part the idea is silly, however being able to select it does have value.  Normally a DAC should have a sharp filter (steep drop in the treble) for 44.1 to get rid of the ultrasonics from the D/A process.  However upsampling DACs have a slow filter because the upsampling process actually has the effect of treble attenuation to begin with.  So it more slowly rolls off.  Theoretically that's the advantage of an upsampling DAC, smoother sound due to a slow filter rolloff rather than a brick wall filter.  So on paper it shouldn't be a filter toggle to "play with it and change the sound" so much as toggling it to the appropriate setting for how your upstream source is processing the signal.  If your transport/EQ/PC is doing upsampling (or oversampling) slow is the right match, otherwise if it's all native, sharp is the appropriate setting.

Personally I tend to prefer sharp whether I'm upsampling or not with HE-6, despite that slow + upsampling should be a bit more analog sounding. If you're not doing any processing upstream, sharp is the only valid setting. Maybe because HE-6 is a bit over-excited in the upper treble to begin with, well outside the fatigue range, but I'm guessiing that means the sharp rolloff isn't causing as much rolloff as on a speaker without as strong an upper-end.

At first I thought it was a silly feature until I started playing more with processing and conversion and realized it's nice to have two filters to match with the upstream signal.  FWIW, the filters are a function of the TI chip.

I got my Stratos.  It is...h u g e.  At least 20% bigger than my F3 clone.  

Really want to try an HE-6 on it.

No pix? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

I got my Stratos.  It is...h u g e.  At least 20% bigger than my F3 clone.  

 

Really want to try an HE-6 on it.

Did you get any upgrades or is it stock?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent One 

No pix? 

This is the only Stratos amp that I know of, from Odyssey Audio.

http://www.odysseyaudio.com/products-stratos-stereo.html

Unless he has the Hovland Stratos monos.

http://gizmodo.com/244051/hovland-stratos-amp-sell-your-house-kids-and-organs-for-rocknroll

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuwhere 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent One 

No pix? 

 

This is the only Stratos amp that I know of, from Odyssey Audio.

 

http://www.odysseyaudio.com/products-stratos-stereo.html

 

Unless he has the Hovland Stratos monos.

 

http://gizmodo.com/244051/hovland-stratos-amp-sell-your-house-kids-and-organs-for-rocknroll

Thanks. Yes, the former is a rather big block. Hope a local HE-6ixer hops the train for a mini mini-meet with sphinxvc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

I got my Stratos.  It is...h u g e.  At least 20% bigger than my F3 clone.  

 

Really want to try an HE-6 on it.

That is pretty beastly then. I thought that clone was pretty huge already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent One 

No pix? 

I'll post some later.  

It dwarfs the table I usually keep my audio gear on.    Need new table/rack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

Did you get any upgrades or is it stock?

It's got better caps, bigger/better transformer, better fuses, and beefier connectors & wiring.

Here's a picture of my head-fi rig in it's heyday.  With the neat and abiding F3 visible.

Here's the Stratos on the same table:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

Here's a picture of my head-fi rig in it's heyday.  With the neat and abiding F3 visible.

 

 

Here's the Stratos on the same table:

 

It that a Teddy PSU under the DAC?

Correct.  It had quite an effect, at least compared to the wallwart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

Here's a picture of my head-fi rig in it's heyday.  With the neat and abiding F3 visible.

 

 

 

Here's the Stratos on the same table:

 

 

Something on that table looks awfully familiar.....

Geez that Stratos is huge!  I hadn't realized now big the clone was (glad I didn't buy it!) but that Stratos....  I can only imagine what kind of heat it throws, too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMCrazy 

(glad I didn't buy it!)

Trust me, you're not.