I know this is slightly old, but I have had a pair of 7506s since 1997, definitely my second pair of great cans. My first good cans were the MDR-V6s, which my brother happily uses.   I have to agree with the years of use for the burn-in, my 7506s are a glorious 18 years old at this point, and...

Hi all… I just recently bought the HE-500, Bifrost (No USB), and an Asgard. Best investment ever. I temporarily have the Schiit on a small table underneath my desk, and I can feel the Asgard's heat hardcore. Class A amps are known to run hot. It's fine. It's more than fine. :-)

Believe it or not, I read a review at, I believe The Absolute Sound, which stated the Asgard was the better amp overall. And that's what I went with. Asgard and Bifrost for my HE-500s. Best. Decision. Ever.

Hi hodgjy, thank you for your reply.   I currently have an optical cable going out from my Mac Pro into a splitter, so another optical cable shoots to the NuForce Icon HDP, and the other goes to my main stereo's DAC.   Optical is my preferred output.  I can totally work with a combo...

Hi again.   So I bought the HiFiMan HE-500s. and since this is coming out of a Mac pro with optical out, I needed an amp with at least one optical in.  I bought a NuForce Icon HDP, but I'm not really feeling the love from this amp.   I'm looking for a somewhat powerul headphone amp with...

This question is rather ironic, because I have been debating the exact same thing.   I just bought the HE-500.  We'll see how well they rock out with a NuForce Icon HDP.