Umm you might wanna try a full Sony combo, like the 1ADAC with a Walkman. I'd personally go for the Oppo PM3 and HA2. If you wanna go for broke, get the HD630VB and a Peachtree Audio Shift.

The amp that apparently gives it the most life and energy is the Bottlehead Crack with the Speedball upgrade, yes, if you don't mind building it yourself. The amp other infamous pairing for the HD6-- series is the Schiit Valhalla+Bifrost, thought I'm guessing that's out of your budget since you...

Personally I'd have just gotten an LCD-X and a Schiit Bifrost + Valhalla 2 and let that be my endgame, or something like a HE400i with an m900 or a K712 with the Aune X1S (wow I'm getting lower and lower) I'd never go past like $2.5k tbh, but if you really wanna spend all your money then get the...

Try the V-Moda ZN. They have basically all positive reviews (that is to say, I just haven't found a negative one), and V-Moda's CEO himself claimed that they've been 'benchmarked to outclass models ranging from $300 to over $1000', despite the fact that they're only $180. EDIT: Here ya go...

I found that with the O2, low frequencies were nowhere to be found, and mids felt like they were extremely distant. Only higher frequencies seemed to be portrayed with any accuracy. With the LittleDot MK II, note that I am using Voshkod's 6ZH1P-EV tubes burned in four about 100+ hours, the...

So I don't know, I own an ODAC+O2 combo from Massdrop that's great with my K7xx's, and my Little Dot Mk II is brilliant with it, but I got these T70's a while ago for free off a friend. With the OCombo, it sounds tinny as anything, the mids are sooo far out there, but with the LD, everything...

Refund get the HD558 buy an Antlion Modmic. If you don't think it sounds better, try listening to good tracks and not expect huge quality breakthroughs with games? With the Game One, not much point to a DAC. If you get the HD558's, get a FiiO E10K (anything else isn't worth it).  For the...

The VModas are distorted in the mids but have great bass. The Sennheisers here are very punchy and nice with their bass but it's also an unbalanced headphone. The M50x's are an okay choice for beginners, the quality isn't too bad and the bass is tight and clean for it's price. In comparison to...

The HE-400i is a favorite of mine, and its predecessor, the HE-400's, are also exceptional. The DT990's (especially the 600 ohms) are indeed exceptional in their own right as well - I think they sound amazing, but for you (and myself personally) I'd recommend the HE-400's. For rock and rnb...

P.S. I personally set mine at 50%. The reason is because, I've read up (and heard for myself) that the AKG K7-hundred series benefits greatly from turning up the gain and having more 'power' flowing through the headphones. The high gain option on my ODAC+O2 would be too loud to control...

So to me, I think it's always best to turn your computer volume to 80% (or even 50%) and then control the rest from your amp. There's this harsh sibilance that can occur when at maximum volume. As an example (though maybe not a great one), try playing music from your phone's speakers and...

From you mentioning how you have a small amp/DAC, I'm already thinking that's the issue. Certain headphones, for example, Sennheiser's HD6xx and AKG's K7xx lineups, have extremely good scaling, and (more so with the AKGs) they are rather amp-dependent.  For example, if you bought Phillips...

If you want earbuds and want to listen to your environment, you can buy Apple Earbuds. Jkjk, all jokes aside, Bose has a good lineup of Earbuds oriented towards sports (they still sound great), meaning that they're open so you can hear a car coming at you if you're on a jog.

Without a doubt, the HD600 has a more refined sound in every aspect. People would only choose the HD598 for lighter sound, or due to budget restraints. HD600's are far more full-sounding.

Either get the Sennheiser HD600 with a Schiit Modi 2 and Magni 2, or get a HiFiman HE400S with Focus Pads and an ODAC.

To be honest, when people say that the HD598 is bass-light, its generally those people getting a 'first taste' of an 'audiophile headphone'.  The HD598 will have light bass in comparison to those headphones tuned for regular people that don't have a care in the world about audio, but it is by...

They're both really nice, but for you, the X2 would be better. The AKG K7 series needs a lot of power to bring out its best. They're pretty much 'amp-reliant' for their sound. Particularly the K712, it's known for being extremely picky with amps. The X2 shouldn't really have that kind of...

The Amp with the most recommendations I've seen for the K70x series is the Matrix M-Stage series.

The M50x's are great, but the X5 from FiiO are overkill for them (in my opinion) thought, that does give you an upgrade path in a portable build in the future. You can plug the M50x's straight into anything (except maybe, a super high power system that would blow it out immediately, but I doubt...

Yeah that's pretty much what I meant with the HD650 and Nighthawks. When it comes to other suggestions, a standout in my mind is the DT880 600 Ohms.  The 250 Ohms and 32 Ohms will sound much, much different, but the DT880 600 Ohms is known for being flawless (apart from its detachable cable)...

I rarely hear of the Q1, but for its price and based on reviews, I'd say it'll do you a solid for a while.

While Sennheiser's series are known to be amazing with tube-amps, the HD650's are ones where I'd 'generally' recommend a solid-state due to it's inherent warmth. If you want to spend 200-300, I'd say get the Schiit Modi 2 Uber/Magni 2 Uber, or go look for a JDS Labs Element. The on-board sound...

  The headphones are probably not faulty at all. AKG's K7 series is famous for needing lots of burn-in and is very picky with amps. You could even say they're amp-reliant. The K701/02's for example, are said to need anywhere from 150-300 hours of burn-in. The K712 is no exception, so of...

The Nighthawk is definitely a great pair of headphones (and I assume that price drop is your referring to is $749 to $449 CAD right??), but I can't really recommend it to you. It'd require a nice amp, and even then, it's not the kind of sound you'd like.  It's been described like a Durian...

I'm sorry that nobody is replying..... It's probably due to the budget: it's quite difficult to recommend something and feel happy about recommending it unless you spent more. Personally, I wouldn't look into an amp for the price range. I'd get the AKG MKII and avoid an amp, but if you want an...