[LIST][OPINION] Amp recommendations for Fostex/Denon Headphones. - Page 9

After spending a week listening to the Beta22 with my Denons I think I can say that I would put them on the list.  The B22 has lots of detail, especially in the low end and has showed me that the bass on my Arietta is slightly boosted, which didn't sound bad or bloated, it just lost some of the detail down there.  The amp doesn't sound cold at all and it has a totally black background with the Denons (mine was built with 2x gain for my Denons).  I guess it has the Class A transistor amp sound that you may have read about elsewhere.  It is usually described as having all the detail of an SS amp, but with a sort of vinyl warmth to it.  It isn't overly warm or anything, I think it is just right.  I suppose it may color the sound slightly to achieve this sound, but I prefer it far more than my O2 or my Artietta.  I know I mentioned this before, but there is no congestion when I turn the volume up on songs.  On my other amps things sound kind of congested at higher listening volumes, but not on the Beta22.

I didn't have a "wow" moment with this amp, even the first time I listened, but after extended listening I have a hard time finding anything the amp doesn't do well with my Denons.

Since this is now linked to on the first page I though I would add that my Beta22 is a 2 channel passive ground build with 2x gain and a single Sigma22 PSU in a seperate case.

Got my Asgard and D5k's today. Obviously I would need a few weeks to really get good impressions here, but i'll keep it brief. 

First off, I feel stupid for not amping sooner, low end=unlocked. I thought the Essence ST amp would be fine, but it's not terribly loud at 100% at least on normal gain and the bass wasn't quite there.

So after a few hours my asgard arrived and I bought some FAIL BUY Rocketfish rca cables to use with it. Well after trying just two tracks I could tell what I was missing for a very very long time with my old denons and most headphones: raw power.

Seemed to help the soundstage a lot more, but it's still denons and not a huge soundstage. The low end is earth shattering though and almost effortless, I'm shocked the 5k's can handle all the power that the asgard gives them at 2 o' clock, that's a ton of low end to keep up with and I didn't know the denons had it in them!

With the amp turned all the way up I hear like maybe 1% hiss it's nearly impossible to hear, but oddly when I get up there I can hear some random-ish crackling that goes away and comes back randomly. I expected something like this, just not sure what it is. I have the asgard pluged into a power conditioner but it's plugged into the same outlet as my PC.

All in all killer amp, it screams build quality and seems to pair very nicely with these cans, now I have to go through my whole music collection again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RushNerd 

 

Got my Asgard and D5k's today. Obviously I would need a few weeks to really get good impressions here, but i'll keep it brief. 

 

First off, I feel stupid for not amping sooner, low end=unlocked. I thought the Essence ST amp would be fine, but it's not terribly loud at 100% at least on normal gain and the bass wasn't quite there.

So after a few hours my asgard arrived and I bought some FAIL BUY Rocketfish rca cables to use with it. Well after trying just two tracks I could tell what I was missing for a very very long time with my old denons and most headphones: raw power.

 

Seemed to help the soundstage a lot more, but it's still denons and not a huge soundstage. The low end is earth shattering though and almost effortless, I'm shocked the 5k's can handle all the power that the asgard gives them at 2 o' clock, that's a ton of low end to keep up with and I didn't know the denons had it in them!

 

With the amp turned all the way up I hear like maybe 1% hiss it's nearly impossible to hear, but oddly when I get up there I can hear some random-ish crackling that goes away and comes back randomly. I expected something like this, just not sure what it is. I have the asgard pluged into a power conditioner but it's plugged into the same outlet as my PC.

All in all killer amp, it screams build quality and seems to pair very nicely with these cans, now I have to go through my whole music collection again.

congrats on the buy! hope u like it!

Doesn't the Matrix M-Stage have a 5ohm headphone out, and not <1ohm...?

Fostex HP-A8C and HP-A3 also both seem to have 32ohm output, according to their brochures...

For those who have the Arietta amp, is the listening volume still very loud even when the volume is set to minimum? I also have Arietta, just waiting  for D7000 to arrive :D

It isn't really loud.  It is at a low-comfortable listening level when the volume is all the way down.  It still works very well driving the Denons, just not the best option if you want to listen really really quietly.

Thanks.

I'm looking to buy a JDS Labs c421 amp and a Audinst MX1 amp/DAC, was wondering if anyone has experienced these amps with their Denons D5000/7000 and whether they are a good match for these headphones.

Any opinions are appreciated, thanks.

Hum interesting, sorry for the newbie question but is there a way to lower the output impedance on the c421, let's say by 50%?