[MohawkUS]

I've always been a little intimidated of the amp section here, there are so many amps out there, and there is always going to be that feeling that there may have been something better once you get one, so I'm just going to trust headfi, and hope for the best. 

 I don't know anything about amps except the stereotype tube = dark and fun, SS = bright and analytical, so I'm going to need to be treated like a noob here.
 
Basically about half a month ago I got Ultrasone PRO 2900s, I've been considering an amp since I bought them, but I wanted to give them a chance to burn in before I decided on anything. I think they are burned in enough now, so I'm going to just go for it.
The highs are just a little too harsh, I don't want to cut the extention, but I do want to tone them down a bit. I've found on some songs they manage to hide the vocals in the brightness. The midrange is good, but could use a bit more energy, out of my Xonar Essence card it sounds lacking just a little, which I'm assuming is because they are not getting enough power. The tone of it is really natural and I don't want to lose it. One of my biggest disapointments with these has been the soundstage, it is no where near as airy as the AD900s I had and I didn't expect it to be, but I would like an improvement here as well. 
 
I have been running them off my Xonar Essence card with the amp set to high gain, putting it to very high gain compresses and distorts the sound a little, making me again think that they are not being sufficanty powered.
 
I do like these headphones. a lot; it may seem like I hate them from above, but I'm just looking to improve upon their sound, I love the Ultrasone sound.
 
My budget is $350, 400 max, but if I can get something amazing cheaper I'm all for it. 
 
And one last thing, I'm a gamer, not competivly, but I like having Dolby headphones on to help get immersed in game, is there a way to keep using my Xonar's Dolby features while amping?

 

[MohawkUS]

I forgot to mention I listen to mainly metal: black metal, folk metal, a lot of drone/stoner/doom with long drawn out bass lines. I don't want something too harsh, my Ultrasones are just on the edge as it is. Also I'm pretty sure some of the music I listen to was recorded on tube guitar amps(SunnO(((, Electric Wizard), would this mean tubes would work better with such music or would I just hear the tube sound x2?

 

[mikeradio]

Bump, I'm also in the same situation, would love if a Pro 2900 owner would answer this!

 

[MohawkUS]

Huh, I had forgotten about this thread. I'm actually looking for the complete opposite right now, a bright or neutral amp. I've pretty much picked out the Audio GD C2.2 .
Make sure to give these plenty of burn in before you go amp hunting, the sound signature goes through some major changes during 200-300 hours. You might want to look at the amp I listed above and the Matrix M-stage, they seem to be the go-to amps for the 2900s.