[DefQon]

Typically what you get with more expensive DAC's in my experience is more details, better soundstage and texture, more natural vocals and timbre, less of a "flat presentation".

But there are still some really cheap DAC's around $200-300 that can have a great sense of pace, rhythm and involvement and they can definitively be fun to listen to.

I think the key factor when choosing an inexpensive DAC is to err or the forgiving and warm side. A $200 screecher makes no one happy.

Definitely. Personally myself I always buy used given the appropriate pricing to the condition its worth and never new unless its something exquisite and expensive and don't want it to break down without reliable warranty such as my 009's on order or my $8.5k ATC speakers coming in from overseas, given the hifi Dom is always at changing pace and new stuff coming out everyday, being early adopters of new gear sucks for 1 major reason and that is gear depreciation. Buy used for few hundred or thousand less and you'd have no problem making that money back when you off load it to its new owner.

I also second the rave and craze since the dawn of ESS Sabre IC based dac and even before, the industry has moved onto MOAR detail is better forgetting about music itself. I mean who here has gone to a concert or live performance and paid insane detail to the ambient surroundings from the performers such as breathing and whispering rather than enjoying the music performance itself from the live play?

 

[Stapsy]

The problem is that you can't separate ambient sound and breathing from other low level details that are important to the music. If you want to accurately reproduce the sound of an instrument you need all that detail and resolving power.  Losing all the subtleties and nuance of live instruments makes listening to music incredibly boring.

 

[SoupRKnowva]

 If you were happy with the 007 then, I would gueas you still will be. If it aint broke...

 
Best advice so far I would say, right up there with "go to a meet"

Would it be possible to recreate the ES-1 but with proper build quality this time?

 
Wasn't the Megatron born of an attempt to remake the Singlepower ES amps as good as they could have been? 
 
 
Though in the spirit of the thread id say Master 7 as the dac, buy a used KGSSHV and then get a set of 009s and be done...though maybe I'm biased 

 

[rgs9200m]

I wouldn't be so sure about just sticking with SR007s since you liked them once upon a time. 
There are many new choices and technological improvements since about 15 years ago when these were introduced,
and I think you owe it to yourself to expand your horizons. 
 
Dynamics and orthos have come a long way since the late 1990s, so don't just cut yourself off here.
You don't need to party like it's 1999...
 
At least spend some serious time researching head-fi forums to find comments from people who seem to share your taste, and can write intelligently.
Head-fi is a great resource and you will get a feel about the phones that have large numbers of fans and you will get a good feeling for what the most
popular phones are and the majority impressions of the sonics of each.
It takes a while, but you will gain great understanding from taking the time to plow through things here.
 
It's just as important as hearing the phones, because you are reading people's impressions who have lots of experience and have all sorts of upstream equipment.

 

[DefQon]

  The problem is that you can't separate ambient sound and breathing from other low level details that are important to the music. If you want to accurately reproduce the sound of an instrument you need all that detail and resolving power.  Losing all the subtleties and nuance of live instruments makes listening to music incredibly boring.

 
Either 1, you lack comprehension skills and failed to connect the dots with what I was saying or 2, you failed to read my post properly. So if you wanted to listen to music or was at live performance you wanted to hear the conductor fart as well to make your music experience more enjoyable? 

 

[Stapsy]

I think you have misinterpreted what I said. I want to be able to hear things that are more subtle than breathing, farting, or ambient noise.  Things like definition in drums or cymbals, accurate note decays, and transient response.  If you gloss over some details that are less important all of those things get lost.  What I am saying is that you can't have one without the other.  If a fart is on the recording, not being able to hear it means you are losing other important details that relate to the music.

 

[DefQon]

  I think you have misinterpreted what I said. I want to be able to hear things that are more subtle than breathing, farting, or ambient noise.  Things like definition in drums or cymbals, accurate note decays, and transient response.  If you gloss over some details that are less important all of those things get lost.  What I am saying is that you can't have one without the other.  If a fart is on the recording, not being able to hear it means you are losing other important details that relate to the music.

That greatly depends on the source, most marketing for DAC and manufacturer objectivity is to bombard the listener with overgrossly executed detail while forgetting about adding aspects of musicality and Prat (hate using this term). Some people want to be drawn into the music itself having it sound natural and seductive, while others just want boring earth flat neutral. Neutral is not natural sounding, one is getting close to flat sound from the source and sound itself on the recording and the other is having sound executed and produced realistically to mimic real life as if the live performance is in front of you. I've heard DAC's and spinners in the 5 digit range that while it produced detail from the background that you would only hear if you were close to a live performance, it failed to impress when it came to the pure musical enjoyment factor as it sounded boring and sucked out. My TDA1541A double crown IC based vintage spinners may not be on par with pure detail retrieval against my ESS Sabre Buffalo or AN dac but it does good that most ESS Sabre based DAC's have failed to do and that is getting my feet tapping, my body moving, my head bobbing, enjoying the music itself.

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
 
Though in the spirit of the thread id say Master 7 as the dac, buy a used KGSSHV and then get a set of 009s and be done...though maybe I'm biased 

I wouldn't say biased...I'd say bang on. 

 

[SoupRKnowva]

I wouldn't say biased...I'd say bang on. 

I would say the dac could change from the master 7, I just approve of the roughly 2k limit and that's the best I've heard. But yeah the HV and the 009s...great option. Though you could always build the HV yourself, it'll cost less and you can learn a lot on the way.

 

[rgs9200m]

I would just start with regular old cd or dvd player (or cable box) analog outputs if I were starting from scratch with a headphone system.
There are enough variables to deal with just with an amp and the phones. Judging 3 at once is too confusing.
Just skip the DAC entirely at first.

 

[rawrster]

For the SR009 I really would attend one of the bigger meets that has it there. Based on the HD800 and how much I loved it I thought I would naturally like the SR009 but that was not the case and I surprised myself by liking the SR007 much better. This was done over multiple meets which had either Justin's BHSE or a KGSSHV or some sort. The dac's were different but both are competent ones.
 
I really would look at getting the SR007 again. I enjoy it even though there are newer headphones out there such as the HD800, LCD3, etc. Those totl dynamics or orthos are still good but newer doesn't automatically mean it is better. 

 

[kothganesh]

  For the SR009 I really would attend one of the bigger meets that has it there. Based on the HD800 and how much I loved it I thought I would naturally like the SR009 but that was not the case and I surprised myself by liking the SR007 much better. This was done over multiple meets which had either Justin's BHSE or a KGSSHV or some sort. The dac's were different but both are competent ones.
 
I really would look at getting the SR007 again. I enjoy it even though there are newer headphones out there such as the HD800, LCD3, etc. Those totl dynamics or orthos are still good but newer doesn't automatically mean it is better. 

+1. I spent most of the weekend listening to the Fostex, Audez'e and HD 800. On Sunday, just shut them all down and put on the 007 mk1 (paired with th Stax 717 amp). Never went back the rest of the day to any of the other cans. 

 

[DefQon]

A good HD800 setup will complement a 007 mk1 (or even mk2.5) + KGSSHV or BHSE very nicely. Polar opposites in sound. Both TOTL performers of it's class. 

 

[David1961]

I once had the SR-007mk1 and the amp I had to drive it was the SRM-007t, and to what I recall, that amp made the 007mk1's sound veiled.
I've since heard the SR-007mk1 ( not the one I had ) with my BHSE and I found that amp turned the 007's into completely different sounding headphones. My point being, I'd probably get another pair of SR-007mk1's , but I'd never get another Stax amp.

P.S. I've also heard the 007mk1 with the SRM-717 to which I heard at the same time my SR-009 with that amp, and I preferred the sound coming from the 009's.

 

[En_R]

I once had the SR-007mk1 and the amp I had to drive it was the SRM-007t, and to what I recall, that amp made the 007mk1's sound veiled.
I've since heard the SR-007mk1 ( not the one I had ) with my BHSE and I found that amp turned the 007's into completely different sounding headphones. My point being, I'd probably get another pair of SR-007mk1's , but I'd never get another Stax amp.

P.S. I've also heard the 007mk1 with the SRM-717 to which I heard at the same time my SR-009 with that amp, and I preferred the sound coming from the 009's.

 
Yup, the 007 and original Omega are the hardest to drive. Both sound amazing if given the proper amount of juice, otherwise they are just average. @OP-  I'm not sure your ES-1 did the 007 justice. If that's the case I'd try to audition the BHSE+007 combo somehow, or buy a one secondhand. The wait time for a new one can turn into a test of one's resolve..
 

  A good HD800 setup will complement a 007 mk1 (or even mk2.5) + KGSSHV or BHSE very nicely. Polar opposites in sound. Both TOTL performers of it's class. 

 
First you berate someone for reading comprehension then you do this. Kind of like slapping yourself in the face eh? What's the point of recommending multiple headphone setups when the OP stated he only has a budget for one?