I reviewed the Bravo V3 amp with these headphones here , which in part ended up being a review of these headphones. I recommend reading that review as well. Here I will elaborate on how they sound outside use with the Bravo V3.

Before the V3 arrived in the mail I was using the Fiio E5 to drive the headphones. I found that while they can be driven without them well enough from my laptop, they needed a boost in order to open up the soundstage and give the bass proper impact. This is likely due to them being 63 ohm headphones, meaning they take a little more power to drive well compared to common headphone impedances like 32 ohms. I did not find that I needed the FiiO when using them with my desktop, as it has a fairly high end sound card more than capable of driving them. 


As for the sound, the frequency response is amazing. Previously the two pairs of headphones I used were the Panasonic RP-HTX7 and Sennheiser HD202s. The Sennheisers are the superior of thos two headphones all around, but the Sennheiser is a little lacking in the high end. These headphones have a powerful high end. Some have found it overbearing and report sibilance, but with my set up and to my ears I heard no such thing and it did not sound overbearing, although the Fiio E5 can exaggerate the high end a little much. When using the bass boost with the E5 it can help that, however, anything bass heavy will be very distorted. This is a problem with the E5, not the headphones, which led to me buying the tube amp mentioned at the beginning of the review. In short, when using with the Bravo V3 I found these headphones to have completely wonderful sound quality. 


I have read that these do not have a good sound stage. I have even read that if you try those 3D sound/binaural videos like the virtual barbershop that they won't give you the 3D illusion. This is not true. When being properly driven they have a good sound stage which replicates 3D effects. 


As always, the quality of the headphones in part depends on the sound sources. I went into detail on my set up in my Bravo V3 review, so I suggest examining that in order to get an idea of how these might sound with your set up and musical preferences. However, considering I have used these with a laptop both with and without the FiiO E5, desktop, and from my AT-LP120 w/ART DJ pre ii preamp with the Fiio E5, and finally, a Sansa Fuze Mp3 player with and without the FiiO E5, I believe I have ascertained that these headphones have superior sound quality and are quite versatile, but need a little more "juice" than lower impedance headphones in order to get the best quality. 

These are also very comfortable to me. The only downside is that the ear pads seem kind of thin. However, replacement pads are cheaply and easily available, and Beyerdynamic offers more expensive but nicer pads to upgrade/replace the stock ones. In time I likely will get some of these. 

I purchased this tube amp on eBay for 75 dollars in new condition. This is my first tube amp of any kind. The only other headphone amplifier I have owned is the Fiio E5.

First of all, I will state the entire listening set up I have that I use with this in order to provide a more solid frame of reference for the review:
 
 

1. My turntable is an Audio-Technica LP-120 turntable with the green stylus that came with it. It tracks at 1.5 grams.
2. I use a dedicated phono pre-amp rather than the internal one. The pre-amp I use is the Art DJPpre II Phono preamplifier.
3. For CDs I use my LG blu ray player's RCA outputs. When I listen to CDs I do have to turn the volume down as the CD audio is louder than what the vinyl set up outputs, but this is not a problem.
4. Finally, the headphones I use with this are Sony MDR-V6 headphones. They have an impedance of 63 ohms.
5. As different set ups can be better or worse for different genres, I'd like to state that my listening preferences largely are made of blues, 60s rock (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Animals, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, etc), blues-metal/blues-rock (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath), heavy metal spanning from the 80s to now (ie, I like Iron Maiden, but also recent bands like Rammstein, Tyr, and Alestorm), and to a limited extent some electronic music (Kraftwerk). I also like a few punk bands, such as The Ramones, Buzzcocks, and The Undertones. I also like some miscellaneous other groups like R.E.M. and Rush. I have in fact listened to music from all of these genres since owning the amp & MDR-V6 headphones to get an idea of their versatility. 

 
Overall, I absolutely love this pre amp. Compared to my FiiO E5 pre amp I feel like this provides a more natural and less harsh sound. Granted, these differences are marginal and not night and day, but I do notice the difference a bit. I also notice that CDs with more modern mastering sound better. CDs with clipping sound like the clipping is softened a bit which makes them more listenable. CDs & vinyl mastered with good dynamic range sound VERY lively. Loud sounds hit hard, and softer sounds are noticeable but not overbearing -- just the way good mastering should be. 

I don't really use the EQ settings. I find that a flat setting gives the best sound. Do note that if yours arrives and the sliders are all at the bottom you need to move them up to the middle. Mine were at the bottom when it came and I thought that must be the flat setting (which I found odd), and quickly figured out my initial intuition that they ought to be moved to the middle were correct. In my set up, the bass notes hit hard and accurately. They don't rumble like those "beats" headphones. It's very precise. Some may not like this, but I enjoy the accuracy. After all, this amp DOES have an EQ if you want more bass. In any case, when listening to Kraftwerk's "The Mix" and "Minimum-Maximum" I found the bass impact more than enough. The mids sound great and natural to my ears, and the highs are not harsh, but clear and precise. 


Inevitably, this review also ended up being partially about my headphones, as one cannot listen to a headphone amp without headphones. I can't really compare this to other tube amps since I have never had another tube device, nor can I state how it will sound on other set ups, but for me this is just perfect. I love it, and understand why others love tub amps (again, it's not a night and day difference, it's subtle, but there). If you have similar headphones, a similar set up for your turntable, or similar musical preferences, you may enjoy this. Do keep in mind that this is an open design so you will have to have a can of air to keep dust out of it, and make sure pets stay away. Another possible downside is that I noticed if I leave both the red/white RCA cables and the auxillary input plugged in the volume takes an audible drop by around 2-3 decibles, even if the other device plugged in is completely off. For this reason I only keep one device plugged in at a time.