I guess since I brought it up I should clarify a bit. Solid State amps use circuits with semiconductor components (like your phone, computer, or pretty much any other space age do-dad). As such their goal is simply to amplify the analog signal as cleanly as possible.   Tube amps use vacuum...

IMO the Magni/Modi is a price-per-performance champion. It does not color the sound at all, to my ear, and it will drive pretty much anything you can throw at it. Headphones that I have run through this without problem: AKG K7xx, Sennheiser HD 600, Hifiman HE-400i, modded Fostex T50RP, and...

I am sorry to say I can compare the HE-400i with the ath-msr7, having not heard the latter. If you want a good price then you may be able to find them used here. Also since Black Friday they have gone on sale several times for $299, so patience may be your friend here if you wanna go new.  ...

1. IMO I think the dragonfly would be plenty for the IEMs mentioned. I've auditioned the Momentums as Best Buy, I thought they sounded fun but I preferred my Dunu DN-2000s (Really great hybrid IEMs BTW). Can't speak for the Grados though. My personal bias for a work setup is IEMs. They have good...

HE560 is definitely going on the short list then. Hopefully I can find some to audition in the future.

That's good to hear. I don't think I would immediately spring for custom cables, but that would be something to keep in mind for the future. Just looking at the specs of the HE-560 it looks like they do well with a lot of power, would the Magni be up to the task?

I've used the EPH-100 as my work IEM for a while, with the double flange tips and the way it's body is designed it fits really well into my ears and isolates me pretty well from my NOISY coworkers. They replaced my Dunu DN-2000 (stolen, sadly) which were much more technically adept than the...

Thanks for the recommendations!   I can't believe I blew off Hifiman like that after praising the HE-400i. The HE-560 looks to be a pretty solid candidate, do you know if they still come with those awful proprietary connectors the old HE-400i had? If they got rid of those then it may become...

I've traveled with both the DT770 and M50X. While both performed well when powered by my Galaxy S5 and isolated airplane sounds decently, I found myself preferring the M50x for reasons of portability, even though I preferred the sound signature of the DT770. If you find the M50x sound signature...

I ended up getting a pair of LCD-2 as an early Christmas gift for myself (more like Thanksgiving gift) and have absolutely loved them. As much as I love them; however, they aren't the perfect pair of headphones and I think I would like to start collecting a set of complimentary headphones. I am...