Amp/DAC for Sennheiser HD 598 for ~$200

e10 maybe?

Don't bang your headphones against a wall. It is not supposed to be used as a hammer to hang pictures and hammer in shelves. Although I suppose the M50 could be used as a hammer.

Do you have warranty?

You should check out the iBasso D7.  I don't actually own it so it might seem a silly recommendation but from it features and it's reviews it seems to be a pretty good value.  I have a fiio E7 right now which I really like but I think I'll be getting the D7 within a month or two.  In the future you could also use it as just a DAC if you decide to upgrade to another amp.  Just my two cents but it seems like a pretty safe way to go. 

I really like the E7.  It's my first entry into the portable DAC/AMP world.  The E17 was just released and looks like it might be the successor to the E7, though it's so new I'm not sure how many people have put it through its paces yet.  I've been really happy with the E7 and for the price you really can't go wrong.  I believe I read that the E10 has a better amp section than the E7 and should sound better but I don't think it has a battery so maybe not a portable solution (the D7 doesn't have a battery either).  I think you can order the D7 directly from iBasso on their website right now. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by IIIIIIIIIIIIIII 

Don't bang your headphones against a wall. It is not supposed to be used as a hammer to hang pictures and hammer in shelves. Although I suppose the M50 could be used as a hammer.

 

Do you have warranty?

Wut.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepperjinks 

Is the e10 better than the e7/e9 combo? Is it better than those two by itself? What about the Asgard?

 

Also... sorry, hammers?

 

Edit: Thanks, Foxjam! How did you like the e7? I Googled for the iBasso but it sounds like it's not out yet or something... I assume it's worth the wait?

The E7/E9 combo would be a bad match with the HD598s, the output impedance of the headphone jack on the E9 is too high (10 Ohms) and could colour the sound you get in a way that might not please you (or you might like it, but either way it's altering the sound you get). The E10 has more than enough power for the HD598s and a better quality DAC than the E7 anyway and is cheaper than the E7/E9 combo. The E9 is really an amp for high impedance headphones/hard to drive headphones like the HD650, not medium impedance headphones like the HD 598. I'm running HD 598s off an E10 at the moment and the volume level and sound quality is perfectly fine. Only problem I have with the E10 is that it doesn't play nice with my IEMs (Ety hf3s).