I like the music, but I don't like the limited dynamic range masters that are sometimes used for the digital release. A vinyl release forces a different master because physics. It literally requires that you keep some dynamics that are crucial in rock music. The difference is quite stunning with...

I found one specific use for vinyl records. I like some rock albums that were mastered for digital with limited dynamic range (everything close to 0 dB). They sound pretty bad because it really kills any drums/bass impact. However, because of vinyl's physical limitations, you can not put...

Some humans, especially children, can hear to about 20 KHz, maybe a little over. Whether the headphone description says 40 KHz or 50 KHz is pure marketing. Those frequencies do exactly zero to the actual sound quality, and are often not even present in recordings. Ignore the snake oil.

The balanced pads make things slightly u-shaped in a good way. The analytical pads make them very obviously bright.

The notch in the housing is where you start. Get a bit in, and then rotate the pad slowly, keeping it in place. It will slide right on.

The Asus Xonar D2 is a pretty good sound card. The Essence ST/STX would be better, but that might cut the amplifier budget too short.

You need a DAC to go with the HDVA600. Either a good internal sound card, or an external solution. You can also look at integrated DAC+amp gear. There is plenty out there, but you really need to set a budget to get sensible recommendations. Some of it goes for as much as (good) a used car.

That is a lot of information, which to me compresses to these points: Your integrated brick ;) has a good DAC, and a good headphone amplifier. You can get more out of your current setup by disabling all artificial enhancements, which often add distortion. You can improve on that further with a...

Unless you want to jump head first into this hobby, or need something that works away from your home rig, I would not worry about getting a dedicated headphone amplifier. At this level of integrated hi-fi gear, you get good, discrete headphone amps, and the DAC is likely also high quality...

Welcome to head-fi. Sorry about your wallet.

No, they are not for bassheads. But there is plenty of bass in all the right ways when the recording has it -- from the usual hard electronic thump through rock drums and guitars to plain on piano. It does not just play, it hits properly.

FiiO says up to 100 ohm headphone impedance is covered, so yes, at least in theory. But be aware that the A1 is designed for IEMs. You may find it not loud enough, or dying relatively quickly, when running the 80 ohm DT 770s. In terms of sound quality, they made a name for themselves by going...

If you can afford one, always get an external DAC+amp. Whether a device can drive the headphones is one thing. At 80 ohm, most will do fine in terms of volume. The real issue is, you rarely know what kind of output impedance is baked into that integrated headphone out. A phone is actually the...

Beyerdynamic entered some loopy land. The closed-back cans have problems with bass impact while the open ones (DT 1990 Pro) are great in that regard.

My vote would also be Bose QC. They are not audiophile gear, but they work, and the sound should be good enough. I have IEMs from Etymotic (HF2) with extra long foam tips, over 30 dB of isolation. We are talking industrial protection plugs levels. The sound quality is very good, but with pretty...