[krismusic]

I'm surprised at all the portable options being offered to power the 600's, which I would not consider portable. Are we really at a point where portable gear competes with desktops with chunky power supplies and discreet components?

 

[Decommo]

 

Very well noted.. Thank you very much .. I need dac and amp combo so may not fit my need 100%.

While I see the appeal of a combination DAC/amp, I think separates will give you more flexibility if you decided to change parts of your audio chain.  The Modi2uber is a decent DAC for the price, a touch on the bright side but pretty good for the price.  Another DAC/amp combo that my ex-GF and another friend use is the Aune T1 mk2, its a decent DAC and is tube buffered so you have some tube rolling options if you so desire but stock configuration is quite good for the price.  You can use the DAC section along with the Polaris to give you a lot more flexibility.

 
Thank you very much.... I will definitely take that advice and consider separate Dac and Amp as @Brooko also suggested.

 

[Decommo]

I'm surprised at all the portable options being offered to power the 600's, which I would not consider portable. Are we really at a point where portable gear competes with desktops with chunky power supplies and discreet components?

 
Yes, I am surprised too. I am mainly looking for more desktop option and already ordered Grace M9xx which is on its way. However, I was told that it might not a good match for HD600 (my mistake) hence I am looking for alternative option. iDSD and GOV2 are portable and powerful enough to drive HD600 easily as I was told. It looks like Tube amp is way to go for HD600 instead of solid state.

 

[DavidA]

   
Yes, I am surprised too. I am mainly looking for more desktop option and already ordered Grace M9xx which is on its way. However, I was told that it might not a good match for HD600 (my mistake) hence I am looking for alternative option. iDSD and GOV2 are portable and powerful enough to drive HD600 easily as I was told. It looks like Tube amp is way to go for HD600 instead of solid state.

I'm one of those that like tube amps (more specifically OTL design) for most high impedance headphones like the HD-600 (300ohms).  For under $500 I think the BH Crack (currently on sale for $300 including the Speedball upgrade, today is the last day of sale) is one of the best pairings with the HD-600.

 

[Me x3]

I'm surprised at all the portable options being offered to power the 600's, which I would not consider portable. Are we really at a point where portable gear competes with desktops with chunky power supplies and discreet components?

A portable amplifier might be hard to justify when all you need is a desktop device, but that said, I think that the difference among amplifiers is a bit overstated. I've used my HD650 with my FiiO Q1 (USB DAC/Amp) and always enjoyed the results very much.

 

[Brooko]

   
Thank you very much. I will seriously consider iDSD. If I add Tube amp later, do I use iDSD as Dac only and line out to tube amp?

 
Yep - thats how I do it.  Line-out to LD MKIV, or lately its een to the VE Enterprise (review unit)
 
 

I'm surprised at all the portable options being offered to power the 600's, which I would not consider portable. Are we really at a point where portable gear competes with desktops with chunky power supplies and discreet components?

 
On some set-ups yes.  And for me (with the HD600) portable is being able to take it into the back yard on a quiet day, or even just another room in the house if I want some solitude.  If you want to know how good the HD600 can sound on a truly portable set-up, have a look into the L&P LP5 Gold.  Expensive (~ 1300 USD), pretty minimal UI and features, but the sound is glorious. When I took it to a Meet last year, a couple of people tried it with their HD800s and claimed it rivaled their desktops set-ups.
 

  A portable amplifier might be hard to justify when all you need is a desktop device, but that said, I think that the difference among amplifiers is a bit overstated. I've used my HD650 with my FiiO Q1 (USB DAC/Amp) and always enjoyed the results very much.

 
Yep - HD600 is not that hard to drive.  I have found (subjective) that it does respond more to clean voltage than current.

 

[Argyris]

 
A portable amplifier might be hard to justify when all you need is a desktop device, but that said, I think that the difference among amplifiers is a bit overstated. I've used my HD650 with my FiiO Q1 (USB DAC/Amp) and always enjoyed the results very much.

 
I'm getting good results from my Q1 as well. It's probably not an end game aspiration, but for the transportable setup I wanted to create, as well as a nice quick solution to my Nexus 5X's weak audio output, it works perfectly well, with lots of headroom for the HD 600 on the high gain setting.
 
Someday I'll most likely graduate to the typical entry level Schiit stack (Magni/Modi) for desktop use, but I don't see myself going much further than that. I like to live by the philosophy that perfection is not when nothing can be added, but when nothing can be taken away--so far, I can't find any major issues with my current setup that I can see obvious solutions to by upgrading back end gear, and that's good enough for me. It means that I've achieved the threshold of performance I need without expending any more effort or expense than necessary. I'm not willing to worry about the "what-ifs"; I just want to enjoy my music.

 

[yangian]

Yes, I am surprised too. I am mainly looking for more desktop option and already ordered Grace M9xx which is on its way. However, I was told that it might not a good match for HD600 (my mistake) hence I am looking for alternative option. iDSD and GOV2 are portable and powerful enough to drive HD600 easily as I was told. It looks like Tube amp is way to go for HD600 instead of solid state.

As a DAC only, m9xx is good enough. Why not m9xx line out to a tube amp.?

 

[Decommo]

Yes, I am surprised too. I am mainly looking for more desktop option and already ordered Grace M9xx which is on its way. However, I was told that it might not a good match for HD600 (my mistake) hence I am looking for alternative option. iDSD and GOV2 are portable and powerful enough to drive HD600 easily as I was told. It looks like Tube amp is way to go for HD600 instead of solid state.

As a DAC only, m9xx is good enough. Why not m9xx line out to a tube amp.?

Yes. That is the plan.The thing that I am still not sure is which tube amp to go for if I go with this route.

 

[meomap]

Yes. That is the plan.The thing that I am still not sure is which tube amp to go for if I go with this route.

You could try Woo Audio products. I am running my HD600/Cardas + WE-6SE + an Esoteric K-05  ( listening mostly SACD and gold CD ) as source and also QP1R as source sometimes.

 

[Decommo]

 

Yes. That is the plan.The thing that I am still not sure is which tube amp to go for if I go with this route.

You could try Woo Audio products. I am running my HD600/Cardas + WE-6SE + an Esoteric K-05  ( listening mostly SACD and gold CD ) as source and also QP1R as source sometimes.

 
Thank you. It is above my budget and too bulky, too. My budget is $400 for amp and small compact size is preferred if possible.

 

[Midgetguy]

Originally Posted by Brooko /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Yep - HD600 is not that hard to drive.  I have found (subjective) that it does respond more to clean voltage than current.

I've had it sound good out of my iPod Touch 5g in a pinch. Not as good as it could sound and definitely not recommended, but it works if it's the absolute last thing you've got to do in your day

 

[madwolfa]

Dem kids these days...

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4r6d7i/the_hd600_is_ugly/

 

[yangian]

Yes. That is the plan.The thing that I am still not sure is which tube amp to go for if I go with this route.

   
Thank you. It is above my budget and too bulky, too. My budget is $400 for amp and small compact size is preferred if possible.

 
As David siad, OTL should be great for high impedience cans like 600. And I prefer those with 6080 and related tubes amplifier. For your price range, if you like the sound of Valhalla 2, that might be the best choice. V2 is very neutral, detailed, large soundstage, but just too plain. It's up to your taste.

 

[UtopiaB]

I just wish Senny would stop being so boring and release some sort of anniversary edition of the 600, in all silver maybe, or the new in-vogue copper-gold color making it's way onto many modern watches, that would be ace, and I bet it would sell by the truck load. Not such a bad idea, where is the anniversary edition of the HD600, anyone know if there was such a thing ever released?