I'm sporting a xonar essence stx with grado 325i. The level of detail with this setup is absolutely incredible, however i'm tired of the piercing and fatiguing highs. I want to move to a warmer sound without losing too much detail. Should i upgrade the card with opa627's (close to 100) or spend a little extra on a tube amp and keep the essence a a dac? I am considering the little dot mk 1 + which i understand works excellently with Grado's. However, I am also considering the mk III because of its flexibility and its potential to drive furture higher impendance headphone purchases (akg k701 or senns) ... so, out of the 3 choices, and feel free to add others, which would maximize an excellent warm sound while staying under 200$. I realize the answer is probably a tube over solid state, but i'm curious whether the difference between the supposedly stellar opa627 and entry level tube amps is going to be substantial.
