[lsamod]

  Well , I have the Valhalla 2 and I find the improvements from my Xonar Essence STX minuscule , there you go ...

well, it's 350$...can't go for that, may be in 3 years....have you used any cheaper amps with it?

 

[liamstrain]

O2 or Bottlehead Crack - nothing else comes close in the sub $500 price range. 

 

[Billheiser]

Has anyone paired vali with hd600?

Yes! I have, and many others have too. Excellent pairing, beautiful sound! I like it better than the Magni.

 

[lsamod]

Yes! I have, and many others have too. Excellent pairing, beautiful sound! I like it better than the Magni.

Glad to hear you like it!thanks!

 

[TsukiNick]

I think amps are sort of just over-rated I mean my $40 Xonar DGX and Schiit Modi/Magni pretty much sound the same.  Played back volume matched with two separate cables plugged into each ear.  But the Magni And Modi do look pretty cool so yeah Maybe I'm just keeping them because of that.

 

[VTHokie83]

My choice for a headphone amp would be the Schiit Magni. I own one and use it to drive Sennheiser HD-558 and Grado SR80i cans, and even though I can afford it...I have never been tempted to upgrade. The Magni truly is one of the great bargains in our hobby.
 
The DAC is a different animal all together for the Schiit Modi., which I used for a time (the optical version). At time of order you choose whether you want an optical or USB input stage, and that is what you live with forever....also the Modi does not make it easy to upgrade opAmps. Many of the other amps recommended or suggested in this price range will have this same draw back for the most part.
 
I decided I could no longer make those sacrifices, and started looking at more full feature DACs, there are many....Schiit comes to mind. After months of research and (borrowing equipment from friends) I ended up with with a Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2 DAC for too many reasons to mention here....I use this DAC for my headphone amp and to drive my stereo Bob Latino VTA ST-120 tube amplifier as well. The feature sets and quality on Maverick products is without compare.
 
If you are open to an "all in one" unit, the Maverick D1 is a terrific option....with amazing features: 2 output sections (one standard analog output and one analog tube driven), USB/optical/coaxial digital inputs, analog inputs.....here is the link http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/d1p/hw_d1p

 

[TsukiNick]

Meh I say as long your computeral's DAC isn't noisy just connect a Magni. Or get a Xonar DG or DGX. The Xonars will be less than 50 bucks and drive them just fine. Not to mention you can turn on things like dolby headphone and have a lot of fun with games and movies.

 

[krelianx]

Cheapest would probably be an Aune T1. I have one and the cans sound very good out of it.

 

[splandifers]

What would you say are the most significant differences between the two? I currently own 880s.

 

[VTHokie83]

Splandfers,
 
For part of my response, please see post #21 in this thread.......the same applies here. I auditioned the Aune and several other units versus the Maverick (and I assume you are referring to the Aune T series as it has a tube output) unit is a USB only input with no other digital inputs. Here are some differences:
 
(1) Both units have replaceable tubes for audio output
(2) Both units have analog input
(3) Prices are comparable
(4) Aune has only USB digital input....the Maverick has USB, digital coax, and digital optical inputs
(5) The Aune has analog output and headphone ouput....the Maverick has an analog output from standard DAC as well as a tube output
(6) Aune is a train wreck in customer service, Maverick has the best customer service response in this market....same as (or better than Schiit)
(7) Aune has soldered DACs, the Maverick uses socketed DAC chips for easy swapping
(8) Aune has 32Ohm/1000MW, 120Ohm/400MW, and 300Ohm/150MW outputs, while the Maverick has 32Ohm/1000MW, 300Ohm/500MW, and 600Ohm/300MW outputs ....so you can see that the Maverick has much more reserve power
(9) Both units have 24bit/96 kHz digital input, though the Maverick upsamples the data if needed
(10) The Aune has a 6922 tube, which can be tube rolled....but the tubes are more expensive than rolling the Maverick 5670 tubes. Also as mention previously.....the Aune does not have socketed DAC chips.
(11) Build quality for the Maverick is much better than the Aune
 
In the end I ended up replacing the Maverick D1, with the Maverick D2 dedicated DAC and a Schiit Magni headphone amp. This gives me the ultimate solution, though I like the D1 for an all in one unit. I think that is about it.

 

[icemanh]

I got a amp from a China shop for my HD800, it works great and very close to my HDVD800 performance, I believe it can drive the HD600 well.
 
I hope you can understand the Chinese, price is aroud USD 295 only
 
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-1262341734.54.7ZdGSZ&id=12990641995

 

[icemanh]

I got a Chinese brand amp to drive my HD800, it performs very well and quit close to HDVD800.
 
I believe it works well with your HD600 too
 
I will have detail comparison later as I just got the Chinese amp.  The price of the amp is only USD 295.... cheap enough?

 

[krelianx]

  Splandfers,
 
For part of my response, please see post #21 in this thread.......the same applies here. I auditioned the Aune and several other units versus the Maverick (and I assume you are referring to the Aune T series as it has a tube output) unit is a USB only input with no other digital inputs. Here are some differences:
 
(1) Both units have replaceable tubes for audio output
(2) Both units have analog input
(3) Prices are comparable
(4) Aune has only USB digital input....the Maverick has USB, digital coax, and digital optical inputs
(5) The Aune has analog output and headphone ouput....the Maverick has an analog output from standard DAC as well as a tube output
(6) Aune is a train wreck in customer service, Maverick has the best customer service response in this market....same as (or better than Schiit)
(7) Aune has soldered DACs, the Maverick uses socketed DAC chips for easy swapping
(8) Aune has 32Ohm/1000MW, 120Ohm/400MW, and 300Ohm/150MW outputs, while the Maverick has 32Ohm/1000MW, 300Ohm/500MW, and 600Ohm/300MW outputs ....so you can see that the Maverick has much more reserve power
(9) Both units have 24bit/96 kHz digital input, though the Maverick upsamples the data if needed
(10) The Aune has a 6922 tube, which can be tube rolled....but the tubes are more expensive than rolling the Maverick 5670 tubes. Also as mention previously.....the Aune does not have socketed DAC chips.
(11) Build quality for the Maverick is much better than the Aune
 
In the end I ended up replacing the Maverick D1, with the Maverick D2 dedicated DAC and a Schiit Magni headphone amp. This gives me the ultimate solution, though I like the D1 for an all in one unit. I think that is about it.

 
Is the Maverick a DAC as well? Price? I ask this because he asked for the cheapest amp to drive the hd-600s.

 

[VTHokie83]

Ireland,

Yes the Maverick D1 has a built in DAC., and the D1 Plus is $209. I did see that you asked for the cheapest unit, and if that is what you want, you can find several for under $100.....Fii0 comes to mind. But with amazing $400 HD600s, is cheapest the best for you? Only you can decide that. I have HD558s, and I did not like the sound with cheaper units.

 

[gradofans]

I used to have a NA6 Amp to drive my HD600 . It does a good job for the 100 bucks I spent ... 
Although it is a little hard to buy .