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Essence ST -> ? -> HD600 - want some suggestions. $200 or less.

post #1 of 7
10/15/11 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 

Felt it was time to upgrade from my 555s, so I picked up a pair of HD600s the other day.

 

HD600 sounds great already just hooked up to the Essence ST, but I think it can do better with an external amp. Preferably $200 or less.

 

I'm also curious about how good the DAC in the soundcard is.

 

 

 

 

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post #2 of 7
10/15/11 at 12:11pm

The Essence ST has a good amp already for high impedance headphones.. You won't find much better under $200, if anything.

 

The DAC is very high quality.

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post #3 of 7
10/15/11 at 1:43pm

Remove the "-> ?" and you should be good to go.  Costs $0 too, and it works better than most amps under $200 for such a load (worse into low impedance headphones maybe).

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post #4 of 7
10/15/11 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 

:) okay guys.

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post #5 of 7
10/17/11 at 5:24am

using stx with hd600, superb ;)

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post #6 of 7
10/24/11 at 4:48am

I'm considering this upgrade path as well (Essence followed by an external amp when I can find the budget).

 

Has anyone listened to the HD600 from both the STX amp and a decent budget amp (say, the M-Stage)? I have a feeling I'm going to be going down that route regardless but I was wondering how competent the Essence would be as an interim upgrade. I've searched for a relevant thread but have not found anything more than hearsay.

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post #7 of 7
10/30/11 at 12:36pm

Why not just upgrade the 3 op-amps (operational amplifiers) on the Essence ST.

The two matching I/V 2114 op-amps and the single buffer LM4652 op-amp are easy to replace.

You can get 3 LME49860NAs for $13-$15 off eBay.

The LME49860NA is the cherry pick of the LME49720NA.

The LME49720NA is the LM4652, just with a newer model number.

 

The AD797 op-amps have really good reviews, but are around $10-$12 per op-amp.

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