Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › [LIST][OPINION] Amp recommendations for Fostex/Denon Headphones.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

[LIST][OPINION] Amp recommendations for Fostex/Denon Headphones. - Page 5

Poll Results: What do you think of amp recommendations in general?

 
  • 12% (15)
    Disgustingly not thought out, just recommended from the single amp they have tried
  • 11% (14)
    Poorly thought out, mostly blind brand loyalty
  • 40% (48)
    50/50, a lot of zealots but about the same number of helpful recommendations
  • 10% (13)
    Mostly people here know what they are saying
  • 16% (20)
    WiR3D is a zealot.
  • 7% (9)
    I disagree with you most things, people can recommend from there own experience, even if it is just the one amp that they own.
119 Total Votes  
post #61 of 401
8/2/12 at 8:29pm

I guess I should clarify that it (E9) has been recommended a lot for Denons.  It is a lot better with 80+ ohm headphones.

Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #62 of 401
8/2/12 at 9:17pm

Another vote against the Little Dot I+, which, no matter what the tube/op-amp combination I used, it could not control the D7000's bass. NOT RECOMMENDED.

 

My results with EF95 russian tubes and the following op-amp's in the Little Dot I+ are as follows:

 

OPA627BP = Bass overwhelmed the whole frequency range, too much boooooom, causing the mids to be masked, although the high's were smooth, they did not sound 'right'. As though someone pushed them to the back of the stage behind the rest of the instruments.

 

LT1358 = Even more overwhelming Bass compared to the OPA, the high's were much more lively as well, but never got to the point of being uncomfortable.

 

LME47920HA = I'd classify this op-amp as 'dry' sounding and was the best match for the 'warm' Denon sound. Least bloated sounding bass of the bunch. High's were also most lively out of the 3. On certain recordings the high's could become uncomfortable.

 

At this point (and for the last 6-8 months) the D7k's have been paired with a 1977-79 Hitachi HA-330 stereo amp (pure Class-A). It's truly the best combination I've found for the Denons, aside for the higher than I'd like noise floor (minimal static can be heard in quiet passages but mostly during gaps between tracks).

The bass sounds 'perfect' and the best I've heard it. Its punchy, never boomy (unless its a poor recording or the engineer called for moar bass, eg. Kalmah/Metallica). The high's are never piercing, regardless of recording and yet still have that toe tapping liveliness to it. Diana Krall, Whitney Houston and Roberta Flack sound as though they are right in front of me on stage. Oh the staging, its my most favorite part of this headphone. Instrument placement is superb and allows me to visualize the venue. The wood cup resonance adds nice ambiance and is not intrusive. Denon's could use a bump in the midrange though as certain electronic music (eg. Stendeck) lack that mid-range detail, where as the K240's have the detail in spades (but lack the bass, hahha, can't win).

 

I will follow this thread closely as I would like to find an amp that sounds like my vintage amp but with a smaller footprint.  Keep on with the search/re-search WiR3D. beerchug.gif


Edited by rezolver - 8/2/12 at 9:19pm
Reply
post #63 of 401
8/3/12 at 1:50pm
Thread Starter 

E9 completely slipped my mind.... that and the LD1+ are probably the most annoying ones that keep popping up.

 

Thanks guys :) contribution helps everyone.

Reply
post #64 of 401
8/8/12 at 10:11am
Benchmark DAC1
Fostex HP-P1
Matrix CUBE

All are great with the any of the Dx000 series and will drive them with authority.
Reply
post #65 of 401
8/13/12 at 2:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magick Man View Post

Benchmark DAC1
Fostex HP-P1
Matrix CUBE
All are great with the any of the Dx000 series and will drive them with authority.

Thanks, I did get some conflicting information on the HP-P1...

Reply
post #66 of 401
8/13/12 at 2:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by WiR3D View Post

Thanks, I did get some conflicting information on the HP-P1...

How so? It does just as good of a job as the O2, I have both, only the Fostex is smaller, has superior ergonomics, better connectivity, and lasts longer on a charge.
Reply
post #67 of 401
8/13/12 at 3:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magick Man View Post

How so? It does just as good of a job as the O2, I have both, only the Fostex is smaller, has superior ergonomics, better connectivity, and lasts longer on a charge.

You can never find that one post you remember reading when you need to. 

 

Anyway Google tells the odds are the other person was the monkey.

 

So, I'm more convinced, but I would still not feel comfortable recommending it, I'm quite busy right now, and can't do the digging on my own, I will do so later to confirm properly. But if you want you can provide links to credible sources to back up your statement. If you don't want to wait for me that is.

Reply
post #68 of 401
8/14/12 at 6:51am

I got pm'd by WiR3D, but don't really have the time to slowly write down my thoughts. There's one amp that really stood up against my others, and that is the Darkvoice 336.

 

Bad pairing, and I doubt any other OTL tube amps would pair well too

Reply
post #69 of 401
8/14/12 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrAdrian View Post

I got pm'd by WiR3D, but don't really have the time to slowly write down my thoughts. There's one amp that really stood up against my others, and that is the Darkvoice 336.

 

Bad pairing, and I doubt any other OTL tube amps would pair well too

Another surprise, will need more information on that one, thanks for the input.

 

LATE EDIT: was confused, thought you thought it was good, I expected it to be bad.


Edited by WiR3D - 8/15/12 at 6:14am
Reply
post #70 of 401
8/14/12 at 5:03pm

Oh is it a surprise? I quite expected the results

 

There are output caps which act as a high pass filter in the DV, I think they are 30uF --> which is too low for Denons (24? ohm) especially when they have so much to present at those 20~80Hz. Bad pairing, except for the soundstage I guess, mids might have become more present but the loss of bass was not worth it. Denon without subbass sounds nothing like what a $300 msrp headphone should sound.

Reply
post #71 of 401
8/14/12 at 5:45pm

Wired you can have a look at this thread too, seeing you really want a low output impedance amp

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/615140/full-sized-amps-with-low-output-impedance

Reply
post #72 of 401
8/15/12 at 3:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrAdrian View Post

Oh is it a surprise? I quite expected the results

 

There are output caps which act as a high pass filter in the DV, I think they are 30uF --> which is too low for Denons (24? ohm) especially when they have so much to present at those 20~80Hz. Bad pairing, except for the soundstage I guess, mids might have become more present but the loss of bass was not worth it. Denon without subbass sounds nothing like what a $300 msrp headphone should sound.

Actually you phrased it kinda badly, I thought you meant it was a GOOD pairing. Thats why I was surprised, the only tube exception so far is the WA6SE, and possibly the Lyr but thats only tentative.

I expect the DV to sound quite dismal, too flabby bass, and too coloured. 

Reply
post #73 of 401
8/15/12 at 8:42pm

Oh sorry :P

 

Yeah it sounds quite to what you would have guessed, except it was a flabby midbass (not that bad actually) but no subbass, so all bass notes sounded artificial without any natural reverbs.

Reply
post #74 of 401
8/16/12 at 6:12am

My D5K and D7K pair very well with both CEntrance DACport, O2 amp (aka Objective2) and JDS Labs CMoyBB 2.03R 18v.

 

The Little Dot I+ unfortunately is a no-no with Denons, lovely with Grados though ;-)

 

Edit: The ODAC-O2 combo is amazing, very resolving with tight impactful bass response.


Edited by willmax - 8/26/12 at 5:13pm
Reply
post #75 of 401
8/16/12 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by willmax View Post

My D5K and D7K pair very well with both CEntrance DACport, O2 amp (aka Objective2) and JDS Labs CMoyBB 2.03R 18v.

 

The Little Dot I+ unfortunately is a no-no with Denons, lovely with Grados though ;-)

getting lots of votes for the O2.

 

The Centrance though, do you notice any difference in bass response between the Dacport and the O2? 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphone Amps (full-size)

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › [LIST][OPINION] Amp recommendations for Fostex/Denon Headphones.