Quote: The Magni is a pretty solid, neutral amp with more power than the 500's need (or just the right amount according to the specs). I don't really think about the Magni as good or bad, but reasonably transparent for the price. Offers plenty of power when I need it for (for example) the...

I'll see if I can make it again. He-500s, Beyer DT770 600s, Magni (and maybe a Modi), Laptop w/ Mog in tow.

Quote: I went through the same upgrade path myself; M50 to MadDogs with Dog Pads and a Magni (although I have since upgraded from there). I'm certain you'll appreciate the upgrade, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll like the MDs (not that they are bad, but not to my taste, hence the...

Quote: There's many variables that could cause effects here beyond what has been mentioned... for example, I've seen anecdotal evidence that the he-500 efficiency can vary widely from one set to another (at least the resistance can, I'm assuming the efficiency would change as well). While...

Quote: The little brochure that came with mine says to "allow 150 hours of constant use for proper break-in of your new headphone." I enjoyed them from minute 1.    As a side note, the brochure also says this (which seems to get missed by many when it comes to making them comfortable)...

I I have experienced signal levels from sound cards that are higher than expected input parameters for the amp and this distort.

Quote:   Quote: Thanks. Below are the specs for the Schiit Magni, an amplifier I'm using for my HE-500s and which, to my ears, has no particular issues driving the 'phones. Based on what you have said and what I think I know about various specifications, this should be a pretty...

Quote:   Quote:   I'm very interested in learning to hear something as close as possible to a neutral baseline to help me judge what I'm hearing, both with amplifiers and headphones. How would I best go about judging a clean/neutral amplifier from one less so?

Quote: Thanks for this answer, you've at least given me some baseline from which to consider much of the opinion going on around here. Do you personally prefer more or less signal "tuning" in an amplifier?

I frequently read about how different amplifiers change the sound of headphones in different ways... shouldn't a really great amplifier do NOTHING to the signal except increase the amplitude of the signal to make it louder?    If there are changes to the signal, since this isn't a headphone...

Quote: I'm with you there. I initially liked the Mad Dogs and then I grew to dislike them very quickly. I can't seem to mention not (personally) liking them without someone saying they're hard to drive and that's the reason. Eh, I just don't care for them. That's me. The best amp in the...

Quote: Cool, totally agree with you.

Quote: Right, although there seems to be some implication from what you're saying that you don't feel it is possible to reach equivalent quality out of great headphones with a cheap amp as medium headphones and a great amp (regardless of the value of scalability)? Assuming the amplifier...

Quote: To be frustrating... it depends. If my objective is to get the most out of the Mad Dogs, then I must consider the amplifier, source, DAC, etc. However any purchasing decision takes one's economic factors into account. If we were all independently wealthy it wouldn't matter (and we...

Quote: At the risk of being controversial: sure, the Mad Dogs are not easy to drive. I've tried them on a variety of amplifiers including the Lyr, Asgard, Magni, Pico Power demo, a variety of amps I can't even remember the names of at a local meet recently, my Denon amp's headphone outs and...