[zibra]

Thats what Im talking about all the time.

 

[Dr. Roberts]

Quote:

  I'm also anxious to find out what that BAT 55SE sounds like from the good DR.

 
Update on the HE-6/BAT VK-55SE combo.
 
A gorgeous pair of the aforementioned HiFiMANs are now in house and resting comfortably in their zippered bag. The Mills resistors are scheduled to be delivered by UPS on Monday. Brian from BTG ordered some bananas which should arrive at his shop within the next few days, so it's still looking like a couple more weeks before I can begin the process of running in. Wish I had more excting news to report but "good things come to those who wait". In other words, I am attempting to excersize a degree of patience.
 
Go Cards!

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Though if you're looking at Nelson Pass amps, the general consensus I've heard from people I generally trust is that First Watt is a better proposition for the HE6 than Pass Labs.
 
Does the Dark Star not sound good with other headphones?  That's a shame.  I would have thought it would be awesome with all orthos.

I use my DS with my HD800 and T1 and it sounds great. I also tried my friend's LCD-3 and also sounds great.

 

[Elysian]

Quote:

I have a question.
 
If the first watt is so important and much more important than the rest of the watts.  Why is pure class A more desirable?  Why not just get a good quality Class A/B amp.  With these amps at least the first few watts are class A.  Also much more affordable (at times).

 
There's some interesting discussion on Audio Asylum and other communities about the portion of an class AB amp operating in its class A region.  That said, overall, it seems like a lot of people say the class A amp has better linearity and lower distortion than class AB.  I can't recall ever hearing or reading a single person say that they preferred a class AB amp over a class A, given relatively even design and component quality.  Class A is a better way to go if you want a no compromises approach, as the HE6 is not about the quantity of power (beyond a reasonable point), but quality of power, hence the positive commentary associated with Threshold, Aleph, and First Watt amps.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
There's some interesting discussion on Audio Asylum and other communities about the portion of an class AB amp operating in its class A region.  That said, overall, it seems like a lot of people say the class A amp has better linearity and lower distortion than class AB.  I can't recall ever hearing or reading a single person say that they preferred a class AB amp over a class A, given relatively even design and component quality.  Class A is a better way to go if you want a no compromises approach, as the HE6 is not about the quantity of power (beyond a reasonable point), but quality of power, hence the positive commentary associated with Threshold, Aleph, and First Watt amps.

 
 
Got it.  Take a look at this amp.  The guy Kingwa said in a email it's a pure Class A amp.  
 
This is what he said.
 
"In the old standard they are class AB. The Master 2 working at 16W class A and Master 3 working in 8W class A
In the new standard since 2001 , they are without switch distortion so they are class A.
Kingwa"
 
 
But nowhere on the spec sheet does it say that.  I was wondering if I overlooked it.  I don't understand what he means - because they are with out switch distortion they are class A.  
 
Any thoughts.
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Master/Master-3/Master-3EN.htm

 

[Happy Camper]

Update on the HE-6/BAT VK-55SE combo.

A gorgeous pair of the aforementioned HiFiMANs are now in house and resting comfortably in their zippered bag. The Mills resistors are scheduled to be delivered by UPS on Monday. Brian from BTG ordered some bananas which should arrive at his shop within the next few days, so it's still looking like a couple more weeks before I can begin the process of running in. Wish I had more excting news to report but "good things come to those who wait". In other words, I am attempting to excersize a degree of patience.

Go Cards!

I like this guy. Nice toys and good choice of teams .

Ppm- I think he's referring to the switch between A and B when the crossover happens. If you are listening at a volume that is in that area, you would hear the action.

 

[rawrster]

Has anyone tried pads other than the ones from Head Direct? I've been thinking of using the D7k pads for these for some added comfort as the D7k was one of the most comfortable headphones I've owned.

 

[drez]

Quote:

 
 
Got it.  Take a look at this amp.  The guy Kingwa said in a email it's a pure Class A amp.  
 
This is what he said.
 
"In the old standard they are class AB. The Master 2 working at 16W class A and Master 3 working in 8W class A
In the new standard since 2001 , they are without switch distortion so they are class A.
Kingwa"
 
 
But nowhere on the spec sheet does it say that.  I was wondering if I overlooked it.  I don't understand what he means - because they are with out switch distortion they are class A.  
 
Any thoughts.
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Master/Master-3/Master-3EN.htm

 
I think it is to do with different definitions of class A, the one that matters IMO is that the amplifier uses class A switching for the whole power output, but apparently there was an older definition was based on the amount of current at the output?
 
:"In around 2001 the international electric define the class A is without switch distortion.
Before this define , the old standard is the output stage have enough high current for the output."

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
There's some interesting discussion on Audio Asylum and other communities about the portion of an class AB amp operating in its class A region.  That said, overall, it seems like a lot of people say the class A amp has better linearity and lower distortion than class AB.  I can't recall ever hearing or reading a single person say that they preferred a class AB amp over a class A, given relatively even design and component quality.  Class A is a better way to go if you want a no compromises approach, as the HE6 is not about the quantity of power (beyond a reasonable point), but quality of power, hence the positive commentary associated with Threshold, Aleph, and First Watt amps.

 
Lyr is heavily biased class-A.....my SS A/B-s sound a lot better on HE-6.....just saying...

  (Though I will say that Lyr does a lot better with HD800 than I'd have expected given my HE-6 experience with it.  It's a lot more detailed an amp than HE-6 would make it appear to be...so the power proposition comes to play with Lyr more than the quality proposition.)
 
I've seen lots of folks complain about Lyr being a bottleneck for HD800 but I found it extremely pleasant to listen to.  In some ways more pleasant than the 6004, though the 6004 still resolves a bit more detail in the HD800 to the point of being unable to pick which one I like more.  The 6004 uses the main speaker amp section for the HP out, so it's on the whole an excellent amplifier.  The Lyr is in many ways more musical with the 800's.
 
Lyr + HE-6....I think it does indeed run out of dynamic peak capability despite sounding relatively good. It sounds good, sounds musical, but ultimately sounds like an HE-500

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

 
 
Lyr + HE-6....I think it does indeed run out of dynamic peak capability despite sounding relatively good. It sounds good, sounds musical, but ultimately sounds like an HE-500

So what your saying is, is that it sounds better?  

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

So what your saying is, is that it sounds better?  

LOL.
 
I'm saying compared to my power amp, it ends up lacking details even though it still sounds musical.  But I'm also saying that it's not what I originally theorized that Lyr is undetailed and that it was a performance issue rather than a power issue.  The fact that HD800 reveals Lyr to be pretty detailed after all shows that the odd missing details with HE-6 is purely a power equation after all.  It has sufficient power to keep the bass up and not sound thin, but insufficient power to handle the sustained current + the voltage swing reserves for the dynamics, ultimately smearing over detail in the process.....however if there's nothing else available to run it on, Lyr does actually sound pleasant with HE-6...it just doesn't bring it to it's strengths over cheaper models as well as more power does.

 

[.Sup]

Has anyone tried pads other than the ones from Head Direct? I've been thinking of using the D7k pads for these for some added comfort as the D7k was one of the most comfortable headphones I've owned.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/572327/mission-replace-the-hifiman-ear-pads-with-other-brand-ear-pads

they work

 

[Happy Camper]

LOL.

I'm saying compared to my power amp, it ends up lacking details even though it still sounds musical.  But I'm also saying that it's not what I originally theorized that Lyr is undetailed and that it was a performance issue rather than a power issue.  The fact that HD800 reveals Lyr to be pretty detailed after all shows that the odd missing details with HE-6 is purely a power equation after all.  It has sufficient power to keep the bass up and not sound thin, but insufficient power to handle the sustained current + the voltage swing reserves for the dynamics, ultimately smearing over detail in the process.....however if there's nothing else available to run it on, Lyr does actually sound pleasant with HE-6...it just doesn't bring it to it's strengths over cheaper models as well as more power does.

Hmm. This was correctly identified early on but no one would except it. The great majority of even new and improved headphone amps are just polite performers with the 6s, but when we reach for the volume knob, we're listening at deafening levels.

We know marketing "hype" is much more credible. :rolleyes:

Before the sniggerds start flaming, it's always been said that quality power is needed for the 6s. Not massive 5kw monos that the sniggerds like to embellish but more than 4-5 watts. Less power can be used but it better be a quality amp with a beefy power supply. The reason the larger amps were used is because they do have the power supplies to handle the demand without breaking a sweat. If you don't want to provide for a world class headphone, don't buy it or accept the 6s at a reduced but still enjoyable musically pleasant experience.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Has anyone tried pads other than the ones from Head Direct? I've been thinking of using the D7k pads for these for some added comfort as the D7k was one of the most comfortable headphones I've owned.

Yes, I have tried the D7000, JMoney, Beyerdynamic (leather, velour and gel) and the Audeze veolur. I am currently the Audeze since they provide great sound and comfort. Other have also used the Stax from the SR-007 too.

 

[rawrster]

Thanks for the link. I want to try out some leather or pleather pads. The old velour pads squeak with my glasses for some reason so I'm going to try some different ones. I'm buying the D7k pads and if they don't work out I'll get the angled Lawton Audio ones but hopefully the D7k works since they are much cheaper.