[rodweb]

   
The one I'm currently selling .

 
 
 
More Seriously. The HE-4 need 0,7W to give all dynamics you need at 90db.  I powered mine successfully with an O2 ... That been said , the best result I heard is with my Old MG Head.

hahaha Nice! But that would force me to rob a bank 

 I don't really want to spend more on an amp than on a headphone. The O2 is on my price range
 
--edit
An Aune T1 would do the job?

 

[kenshinhimura]

  hahaha Nice! But that would force me to rob a bank 

 I don't really want to spend more on an amp than on a headphone. The O2 is on my price range
 
--edit
An Aune T1 would do the job?

see if you can find a good cheap vintage receiver for speakers like the pioneer sx-650 and higher. they definitely give you enough power for the he-4. they can go from $80+ in the USA, dont know about Brazil.

 

[Thujone]

The Schiit Vali is a great companion to the HE-4. I'm sure the O2 and Magni will work great as well.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Oh hell no. The HE4 with an O2? You're kidding me. I wouldnt do anything I ess than something that can feed the HE4 at least 2 watts at its impedance. The O2 is crazy. Ive paired the HE4 up with an E9 (similar to the the O2 at the low impedance), Lyr (around or over 4 watts at the HE4s impedance), and SA-31 (nearly 10 watts). The HE4 sang its best with the SA31, and didn't even come remotely close to sounding half of its potential with the E9 (and I like the E9 a lot). It struggled in dynamics and fullness, whichwas never a problem for the other two.

I dont care how technically clean the O2 is, saying it powers the HE4 well sounds like a stretch.

 

[Thujone]

The HE-4 needs 125.8mW to get to 105dB. If you are listening to the Lyr, E9, Vali, Magni, O2, ANY OTHER AMP with the HE-4, it will only fuel them 125.8mW to get to a 105dB SPL. The headphone doesn't care/know that the amp has all that overhead power if you don't use it (i.e. turn up the volume even more). If you don't like the sound, it has nothing to do with the power output quantity of the amp.
 
As long as you have enough overhead to compensate for your low volume recordings and dynamic swings, 700mW vs. 2W vs. 4W vs. 20W doesn't matter.

 

[modulor]

   
The one I'm currently selling .

 
 
 
More Seriously. The HE-4 need 0,7W to give all dynamics you need at 90db.  I powered mine successfully with an O2 ... That been said , the best result I heard is with my Old MG Head.

This is a great amp, too...a friend of mine has it actually (I thought the name looked familiar 

 GLWS!) Though I'm not as experienced as some, it's one of the best OTL amps I've heard to date and it looks like you've got some good tubes in there.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The HE-4 needs 125.8mW to get to 105dB. If you are listening to the Lyr, E9, Vali, Magni, O2, ANY OTHER AMP with the HE-4, it will only fuel them 125.8mW to get to a 105dB SPL. The headphone doesn't care/know that the amp has all that overhead power if you don't use it (i.e. turn up the volume even more). If you don't like the sound, it has nothing to do with the power output quantity of the amp.

As long as you have enough overhead to compensate for your low volume recordings and dynamic swings, 700mW vs. 2W vs. 4W vs. 20W doesn't matter.

I have heard various times how many headphones sounded thin and lifeless on the O2.

And just because a headphone gets loud enough doesnt mean it doesnt have all the dynamic potential coming out of them with a certain amp. The E9 drives the HE4 to screeching levels and then some. Still sounded convincingly stressed and lacking in dynamics, which isn't something the E9 lacks with many other headphones.

But sure, you can putnup numbers and charts and what have you, but saying the HE4 is driven well off the O2...well, I'll jist go ahead and stop here. Enjoy that if you thknk that gets you anywhere near it's potential.

 

[Thujone]

Notice how I say power quantity doesn't matter (as long as you have enough to reach listening levels). If you don't like the O2, don't go around telling everyone it's because of the low power output, that's just plain wrong.

 

[moriez]

  The Schiit Vali is a great companion to the HE-4. I'm sure the O2 and Magni will work great as well.

 
Hey Thujone, remember our PM's from a few months back? Well, it's my turn. A HE-4 will be here next week

 
I've been interested and eyeing Vali but put off by the ringing phenomenon, it's tiny size and that it's said to sound similar to the Asgard 2. Now that you mention it pairs up nicely with the HE-4 I feel like grabbing one. Do you have first hand experience with the combo? Also, your profile returns a Project Ember. Any comparisons or just impressions that you can share?

 

[Thujone]

   
Hey Thujone, remember our PM's from a few months back? Well, it's my turn. A HE-4 will be here next week

 
I've been interested and eyeing Vali but put off by the ringing phenomenon, it's tiny size and that it's said to sound similar to the Asgard 2. Now that you mention it pairs up nicely with the HE-4 I feel like grabbing one. Do you have first hand experience with the combo? Also, your profile returns a Project Ember. Any comparisons or just impressions that you can share?

Glad to see you chose the HE-4!
 
The Vali is probably the best bang/buck that I've found in an amp and I've sat down with it and the HE-4. Compared to the Ember I find it a little more intimate and definitely more smooth on the bottom end (tubey-er, if you will). The Ember just has a lot more features with tube rolling, adjustable gain, adjustable output resistance, and optional capacitor jumpers. I've also read a lot of people having good luck using Ember with some of the world's hardest to drive cans (including the K1000 and HE-6), so it's a little more versatile.
 
The only thing I like to caution with the Vali is that, if you have a lot of really quiet recordings, you may have to push it pretty hard. I was listening to a lot of tracks and the highest I got on the volume knob was about 2:30-3:00. For what it's worth, I was trying to see how well it did at loud volumes, you may not even get that far on the knob. At $120 though, you can't go wrong. It works so well with so many cans, dynamic and ortho.

 

[moriez]

Gotcha. Thanks. Depending on how the upper register of the HE-4 treats my ears I might jump on the Vali to smoothen it out a bit. Just a bit. Wouldn't want too much of that A2 warmth.

 

[Thujone]

I would see how it works with what you got first, then decide if you need a different amp. As far as the treble goes, the HE-4 is more natural sounding than the HE-400 and it's also a little less pronounced (IMO). Some find the HE-400's treble easier to listen to but, for the most part, it's the other way around.

 

[moriez]

You're exactly right. I'll do just that. Looking forward and am to post back my findings soon.

 

[Thujone]

  You're exactly right. I'll do just that. Looking forward and am to post back my findings soon.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

I took the $100 plunge and have a Vali coming in on Monday which I'll test with the HE4. I bought it out of curiosity and the fact that it got praise for 2 of my headphones.

I'll report next week.