[jordannn15]

I am looking for a good amp + dac combo to pair with my HD600 for $700. Will obviously be using these at home so no portable options please. The first two combos that I thought of were either the Schiit Bitfrost + Schiit Asgard 2 or the Schiit Modi (optical) + Schiit Valhalla 2.

 

[tomb]

JMHO, but I would stay away from the Valhalla or any other OTL amp.  Tubes + output transformers are noticeably more transparent than the "fog" of output coupling capacitors.  OTL's are OK for a start (BH Crack) but long-term, not the best pairing you can get if you're pursuing tubes.  With solid-state, look for something that has a wide voltage swing, not necessarily the latest-greatest-ultra-low-output-impedance transistorized swizzle-sizzle-sounding amp.

 

[jordannn15]

  JMHO, but I would stay away from the Valhalla or any other OTL amp.  Tubes + output transformers are noticeably more transparent than the "fog" of output coupling capacitors.  OTL's are OK for a start (BH Crack) but long-term, not the best pairing you can get if you're pursuing tubes.  With solid-state, look for something that has a wide voltage swing, not necessarily the latest-greatest-ultra-low-output-impedance transistorized swizzle-sizzle-sounding amp.

 
Okay, thanks for the information. Which one would you recommend since you say the BH Crack is a starter? I'm new to this, usually just buy schiit.

 

[inthere]

HD 600 doesn't need that much power, instead of getting a stack get in Aune T1 mk2 Tube DAC/amp for about $165 and get an AWESOME tube. (I got a Phillips E188CC=7308) 

 

[jordannn15]

  HD 600 doesn't need that much power, instead of getting a stack get in Aune T1 mk2 Tube DAC/amp for about $165 and get an AWESOME tube. (I got a Phillips E188CC=7308) 

 
How does your tube influence the sound?

 

[inthere]

Better clarity and separation, but slightly less bass, still very warm though. I'm thinking of getting a Telefunken 6922. Look up the Aune T1 Mk2

 

[jordannn15]

Better clarity and separation, but slightly less bass, still very warm though. I'm thinking of getting a Telefunken 6922. Look up the Aune T1 Mk2

I looked it up and it is surprisingly cheap (price), there isn't something better I can get for a budget of $700? Does the aune T1 Mk2 come with a usb cable? I have a nice optical cable that I was going to use to connect the dac to my pc. Thanks!

 

[tomb]

 

Better clarity and separation, but slightly less bass, still very warm though. I'm thinking of getting a Telefunken 6922. Look up the Aune T1 Mk2

I looked it up and it is surprisingly cheap (price), there isn't something better I can get for a budget of $700? Does the aune T1 Mk2 come with a usb cable? I have a nice optical cable that I was going to use to connect the dac to my pc. Thanks!

 
Is there something better you can get for $700?  Of course.
 
The Aune has a great following, but give me a break.  It's a toy compared to how much you're willing to spend.  The HD600 was once among the world's greatest headphones.  It can take ever-increasing quality of amplifiers and respond with improvements.
 
The problem is your question in the first place.  It's like saying you have $30K and then asking anyone in the world what kind of car you should buy.  The responses will run the gamut.  I suggest you do more research on your own.  Read the amp section here in Head-Fi, look at innerfidelity.com, etc.
 
BTW, you may have better results using SPDIF rather than an optical cable, but that's a digression better served over in the Source section of Head-Fi.

 

[inthere]

Well, you can definitely spend more money. Whether you get better quality is debatable. 
 
For instance, you can get a Woo WA6 for $699, but with the stock tube would you trust it to sound better than a Aune with a $300 Telefunken tube? I wouldn't. I don't even trust it to sound better than an Aune with a nice Phillips. My $1200 Silver Anniversary Earmax Pro uses 3 tubes, but if I use stock tubes the Aune sounds better. 
 
Bifrost is double the price of my Aune, but for my preferred stack I'll use the Aune in front of the Asgard 2. For playback, I even pass up my $6995 Metric Halo ULN-8 and my $5000 Prism Orpheus Audio interfaces in favor of my tube options. Of course those are pro interfaces but if you want to spend money just to do it go ahead. 
 
Just saying quality lines are not so clear cut in the amp/DAC market because of across the board improvement. EVERYTHING sounds really good now. 
 
Headphone market you still get a noticeable jump in quality at about the $600+ mark. 
 
Amps everything under $1000 is very competitive

 

[adtrance]

Meier Audio Corda Jazz & Modi 2 Uber (using optical) pairs perfectly for my HD600's.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/574391/review-of-meier-audio-corda-jazz 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/schiit-modi-2-uber