Amp/dac for a bass addict

M-Stage. It's slightly warm nature (very slight) will do wonders for the Pro 900s, whereas the E9 would do no favors with their piercing highs, ime. A very musical but neutral amp with plenty of punch and dynamics. Unless you wanna spend a grand...I'd LOVE to hear a V200 with the Pro 900s because it sounds like it could make an absolute perfect pairing if there ever was one...

-Daniel

I can't comment on either the E7 or the STX. I believe the warm sounding Music Streamer 2 would make a very good pairing for the Pro 900. It's somewhat warm but musical natue should make for a great match with the Ultrasones I'd think. I owned one for a while, but sold it before I got my Pro 900s unfortunately. I might buy one again just for them...plus it is only $150.

-Daniel

If you want more bass, get an EQ.

A used KICAS amp may do.  It has a jumpers inside to enable bass boost.  The Caliente version is a regular KICAS with the bass boost already enabled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SennheiserHD 

ooooo thanks for the suggestion! Where can I buy this amp new?

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Purity Audio discontinued the KICAS some time ago.  Doesn't mean you can't find it used, though.  I've never heard it, but impressions were always interesting.

As an aside, you may want to find something with built-in bass boost circuitry.  I pretty much keep it planted at half way as that's what has sounded "neutral" with most headphones to my ears, but the one built into my PPAv2 is quite impressive indeed.  It's tough to describe the effect, but it's different than EQing as the enhancement sounds more smooth and integrated rather than the false-processing type of sound I personally perceive with EQ.  Also, it took something like the Terminator V4 from being a bass-monster to being a bass-tyrannosaurus when the mood struck. ;)

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Heya,

Get the PRO 900's before you bother changing amps. It's an easy to drive headphone. It's not going to drastically change with a different amp. I listen to mine on a solid state and on my tube and it's not piercing or too bright for me on either, so I can't even say the tube warms it up so much to recommend a tube. You'll find the E7 will power it just fine. You'll find the E9 does it too. If you A-B test them, I'm not sure you'd even know which was the E7 and which was the E9 on the PRO 900. This is merely my opinion of course. But I don't think you'll find a $250 amplifier doing anything different for a PRO 900 to be worth that extra cost, compared to something simple like a uDac2 or PA2V2 or your already Fiio E9 which is a great amp. I've read several reports that claim that A-B with the Matrix M-Stage and the FiiO E9 were too similar to even accurate discern between the two. So again, get your PRO 900's first. If you don't like what you hear, then start exploring options. And I would not suggest a big expensive amp. These headphones are not power hungry and do not get better with more and more power. A little amping is definitely good, it will make them richer and tame the highs, but a lot of amping just doesn't give you a return. So save your money--get the PRO 900's first.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by SennheiserHD 

so where can i buy an amp with the PPAv2?

It's a DIY amp, so either you can possibly commission one through a builder or build one yourself if you're savvy enough.  Personally, I scooped mine up off of the FS forum.

I believe that there is at least one M3 listed for sale currently, but have no idea if it's anything with a variable bass boost circuit.  Some have them, some don't.  It's also supposed to be more robust in the bottom-end overall than the PPAv2 but also more bloated and less articulate from what I've read.  Still, it could be exactly what you're looking for and, given that I thought the PRO-900 was on the more harsh/edgy/trebly side, the smoothness and warmth it reportedly injects into the overall presentation may be desirable.

Gotta love the boundless options in this hobby, eh? ;)