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HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) Proving to be an enjoyable experience in listening.
Apr 19, 2013 at 6:12 AM Post #4,531 of 20,386
Quote:
zoom25 said:
 
Try it out first with the HE-500, if you like it, then keep it. I would still keep the O2. While the O2 isn't the best match for these planars, the O2 is still a great amp for most dynamic. For example D2000 off an O2 is very, very clean and fast. Not quite the LCD-2 or HE-500 performance but still very enjoyable
 
Also, cheap speaker amp would be the best at that price. Look for vintage amps without around 20-50Watts of power. I always see vintage Marantz somewhere for good prices.
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iam totaly new when it comes to speaker amp.... but isnt speaker amp quite big ? i want it to be on my computer desk, thats why i wanted to ask about Audio GD NFB 11.32 or modi/magni.
And iam thinking of only own 1 pair of headphones :p
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 11:50 AM Post #4,533 of 20,386
Quote:
contrails said:
 
Exactly what I am thinking.  I was considering the bifrost/peachtree DAC-iT and somehow I end up at the ordering page for a Metrum Octave... 
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I planned to finish the journey with the QuteHD to upgrade my Octave; ended up with a Lampi instead 
mad.gif
. Window shopping and demo/meet is dangerous.
 
I guess end game for head-fi is something like the dCS stack/Audio note CDT 6/uber vynil rig + 007/009/He60. But then I'm sure people will get the "expansion" called speakers 
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oopeteroo said:
 
 
iam totaly new when it comes to speaker amp.... but isnt speaker amp quite big ? i want it to be on my computer desk, thats why i wanted to ask about Audio GD NFB 11.32 or modi/magni.
And iam thinking of only own 1 pair of headphones :p
 
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If your desk can support it, you can put the speaker amp under your monitor - still classified as "on computer desk" :p. I guess the only better remaining bang for the buck solution, while having the small footprint of an O2 stack is to assemble your own T-amp board, with decent power supply - but then it'll probably be as expensive as the speaker amp while not having the the versatility/elegance. The 11.32 will be better, but not 150 bucks better than the o2/schiit stack imo, if value for money is first priority.
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 2:54 PM Post #4,535 of 20,386
oopeteroo said:
iam totaly new when it comes to speaker amp.... but isnt speaker amp quite big ? i want it to be on my computer desk, thats why i wanted to ask about Audio GD NFB 11.32 or modi/magni.
And iam thinking of only own 1 pair of headphones :p
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Well sometimes they can be big. I personally use a emotiva mini x a 100 at university and keep it at my desk. It's actually smaller than my cd player.

"Thinking of owning only one headpone"...hahahahaha yea good luck with that. You're on head-fi.

Get a speaker amp for he-500. Also it can double as amps for speakers. Win win.
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 3:02 PM Post #4,536 of 20,386
Quote:
tuna47 said:
Are any of use ever satisfied I am afraid this is a never ending quest for what we no not
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LOL not satisfied with headphones. Although I get satisfied by speakers.
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 3:56 PM Post #4,537 of 20,386
BTW, Every DAC you guys are talking about will be obsolete in 3 years. In fact in 5 years Schiit will build a $99 DAC that sounds just like the Perfect Wave MK II.
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There is no "End" because we're still developing quite fast in the headphone world. It's like five years ago, building around "the best heaphone" HD650 and spending $20k on amps and dacs/tubes would have been silly with the LCD-3/HE-6/HD800 just around the corner. Not to mention the SR-009. Think what we'll have in five more years. More Planars, More Electrostats, and More Amps/Dacs then we can count and things will just get cheaper. I look forward to the day when people talk about the HD800 as "mid-fi" LOL
very_evil_smiley.gif

 
Apr 19, 2013 at 4:06 PM Post #4,538 of 20,386
Quote:
m-13 said:
BTW, Every DAC you guys are talking about will be obsolete in 3 years. In fact in 5 years Schiit will build a $99 DAC that sounds just like the Perfect Wave MK II.
wink.gif

 
There is no "End" because we're still developing quite fast in the headphone world. It's like five years ago, building around "the best heaphone" HD650 and spending $20k on amps and dacs/tubes would have been silly with the LCD-3/HE-6/HD800 just around the corner. Not to mention the SR-009. Think what we'll have in five more years. More Planars, More Electrostats, and More Amps/Dacs then we can count and things will just get cheaper. I look forward to the day when people talk about the HD800 as "mid-fi" LOL
very_evil_smiley.gif
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DAC's will continue to get upgraded because of their nature themselves. The digital realm is still not there, improvements in clock management system, jitter, transparency, phase coherency, non-linearity issues.
 
Amplifiers on the other hand are usually on the better side of future value. Vintage amps being used today with good results in itself is a statement for that.
 
I am personally hoping for the day HD800 drops to the mid-fi price.
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 4:14 PM Post #4,539 of 20,386
Quote:
m-13 said:
BTW, Every DAC you guys are talking about will be obsolete in 3 years. In fact in 5 years Schiit will build a $99 DAC that sounds just like the Perfect Wave MK II.
wink.gif

 
There is no "End" because we're still developing quite fast in the headphone world. It's like five years ago, building around "the best heaphone" HD650 and spending $20k on amps and dacs/tubes would have been silly with the LCD-3/HE-6/HD800 just around the corner. Not to mention the SR-009. Think what we'll have in five more years. More Planars, More Electrostats, and More Amps/Dacs then we can count and things will just get cheaper. I look forward to the day when people talk about the HD800 as "mid-fi" LOL
very_evil_smiley.gif
Click to expand...

 
I just don't think that's really going to happen. If you really get the chance to compare DACs, there hasn't been that much of a change over the last few years. The technology is still the same, same parts, same circuits, and really same designs for the most part. You need to dig a little deeper into this topic. DACs and amps aren't like computer processors where there is a substantial gain every few years. 
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 4:46 PM Post #4,540 of 20,386
Even in computer world where things move pretty fast, an old i5 2500k will spank whatever mid end/low end chip currently and in the next few years.
 
Good dacs cost a lot mostly because the components/implementations are expensive. Transformer, good i/v stage, quality capacitors aren't cheap. And to look back the technology hasn't improvedall that much. Mark Levinson 360s for example is still a remarkable DAC to this day standard, even though it's built in 1999 or so. The TDA1541 is still one of the best Dac implementation despite the obvious limitation that it only runs 24/96khz max. FPGA stuffs show some promises though (Concero/Invicta; Playback Designs; Chord QuteHD/QBD). And I'm really excited to see how the Schiit statement DAC will perform.
 
On the other hands, headphones are interesting. The Hd800 is pretty much a marvel among dynamic cans. If the trends continue (i.e leaps from hd6xx -> 8xx), one can only hope that a kidney is enough to buy the upcoming Senn stat and gotten a similar improvement 
very_evil_smiley.gif
. Unfortunately, I don't see how the Hd800 can really drop to mid-fi price; unless someone can find a genius way to mass-produce headphones of similar quality and sell them for 500 bucks.
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 4:47 PM Post #4,541 of 20,386
I think a great exercise would be to try to imagine yourself in 2008 and build the best possible money is no objective headphone rig, anything that was out back then. Now are you happy with that rig today in 2013?
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 4:51 PM Post #4,542 of 20,386
Let's see:
 
Stax 007mk1 + KGSS + a ML 360s. I'm sure I would be happy to this day (even to this day I can't really afford said rig =p)
Quote:
m-13 said:
I think a great exercise would be to try to imagine yourself in 2008 and build the best possible money is no objective headphone rig, anything that was out back then. Now are you happy with that rig today in 2013?
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Apr 19, 2013 at 4:57 PM Post #4,543 of 20,386
khaine1711 said:
Even in computer world where things move pretty fast, an old i5 2500k will spank whatever mid end/low end chip currently and in the next few years.
 
Good dacs cost a lot mostly because the components/implementations are expensive. Transformer, good i/v stage, quality capacitors aren't cheap. And to look back the technology hasn't improvedall that much. Mark Levinson 360s for example is still a remarkable DAC to this day standard, even though it's built in 1999 or so. The TDA1541 is still one of the best Dac implementation despite the obvious limitation that it only runs 24/96khz max. FPGA stuffs show some promises though (Concero/Invicta; Playback Designs; Chord QuteHD/QBD). And I'm really excited to see how the Schiit statement DAC will perform.
 
On the other hands, headphones are interesting. The Hd800 is pretty much a marvel among dynamic cans. If the trends continue (i.e leaps from hd6xx -> 8xx), one can only hope that a kidney is enough to buy the upcoming Senn stat and gotten a similar improvement 
very_evil_smiley.gif
. Unfortunately, I don't see how the Hd800 can really drop to mid-fi price; unless someone can find a genius way to mass-produce headphones of similar quality and sell them for 500 bucks.
 
Click to expand...


 
The HD800 won't ever drop to mid-fi. How much do you think that headphone costs to produce? A few hundred, at most. Most of what you are paying for is profits for sennheiser and the retailer. They know their market and keeping the prices high is profitable for them. Within the last year they tightened up the price on the HD650 and people are still buying it. How old is that headphone? 
 
 
 
Quote:
m-13 said:
I think a great exercise would be to try to imagine yourself in 2008 and build the best possible money is no objective headphone rig, anything that was out back then. Now are you happy with that rig today in 2013?
Click to expand...

 
In 2008-ish one of the popular high end rigs for dynamic headphones was the Audio-GD Reference 1 and Audio-GD Phoenix. This rig will easily compete with the same priced DACs and amps in today's market. 
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 5:42 PM Post #4,544 of 20,386
Quote:
khaine1711 said:
Even in computer world where things move pretty fast, an old i5 2500k will spank whatever mid end/low end chip currently and in the next few years.
 
Good dacs cost a lot mostly because the components/implementations are expensive. Transformer, good i/v stage, quality capacitors aren't cheap. And to look back the technology hasn't improvedall that much. Mark Levinson 360s for example is still a remarkable DAC to this day standard, even though it's built in 1999 or so. The TDA1541 is still one of the best Dac implementation despite the obvious limitation that it only runs 24/96khz max. FPGA stuffs show some promises though (Concero/Invicta; Playback Designs; Chord QuteHD/QBD). And I'm really excited to see how the Schiit statement DAC will perform.
 
On the other hands, headphones are interesting. The Hd800 is pretty much a marvel among dynamic cans. If the trends continue (i.e leaps from hd6xx -> 8xx), one can only hope that a kidney is enough to buy the upcoming Senn stat and gotten a similar improvement 
very_evil_smiley.gif
. Unfortunately, I don't see how the Hd800 can really drop to mid-fi price; unless someone can find a genius way to mass-produce headphones of similar quality and sell them for 500 bucks.
Click to expand...

 
MONSTER!!!!
 
Apr 19, 2013 at 6:39 PM Post #4,545 of 20,386
With every ceiling it becomes the floor eventually.  It's like the tower of babel and with the more chatter the floor gets put in which creates a new ceiling.  It goes on and on with the help of our retail friends more than happy to show us the new floor to build upon… So good luck stoping on any ceiling ;p
 
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