New Yorker
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2013
- Posts
- 25
- Likes
- 27
Hey everyone, looking for headphone amp advice. (Mods, I know there's already lots of advice here, but the music and hardware I prefer are not what most of you roll with, so I thought that might warrant a new thread.) Perhaps some of you can help steer me to the right amp.
Where I'm at now…
Music sources: CD and vinyl only. Mostly CD now (including lots of SA-CD), as my vinyl collection/turntable is in storage. No streaming, no Tidal, no Pandora, no downloads, no bitrates, etc.
Headphones: new Sennheiser Massdrop HD6XX phones (replacing my vintage HD 580s after 25 years). These are the only phones I'll be using, so I have no need to drive other types of headphones in the future.
CD player: Oppo UDP-205 w/dedicated stereo output
"In addition to the 7.1-channel surround audio output, the UDP-205 has a stereo audio output powered by a dedicated ES9038PRO DAC chip and specially designed buffer and driver stages. The stereo output offers both XLR balanced and RCA single-ended connectors. The balanced output features a true differential signal path all the way from the DAC to the 3-pin XLR connector. By transmitting a pair of differential signals, the balanced output provides better common-mode noise rejection and improves signal quality."
Current headphone amps:
• Oppo UDP-205 built-in headphone amplifier:
"For a more intimate listening experience, headphones can be connected directly to the UDP-205’s built-in headphone amplifier. The headphone amplifier is connected directly to the ESS SABRE PRO DAC and offers a unique performance advantage over standalone headphone amplifiers. Compared to the built-in headphone amplifier in our previous generation BDP-105/105D players, the new design offers more power and higher performance."
• Schiit Audio Vali (original Vali, not Vali 2)
Comparing the Oppo and Vali amps with my HD-580s, the Vali sounds ever-so-slightly better. A bit more open and alive. But, to my ears, the difference is quite small.
Music I listen to:
I'd say three words best describe what I enjoy: acoustic, orchestral, dynamic.
• Orchestral with wide dynamic range. Well-recorded symphony orchestras playing Prokofieff, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky, Gershwin, etc.
• A lot of classic jazz from the '50s-'60s. Some contemporary jazz as well. Also small jazz ensembles playing '20s-'40s jazz (ragtime, The Beau Hunks, Raymond Scott, Leroy Shield, etc.) Also classic Sinatra, Nelson Riddle style.
• Original Broadway Cast Albums, mainly featuring orchestras and lots of vocals. (Musically, rather like "opera light," with smaller orchestras and smaller voices)
• Lots of acoustic stuff. Especially female vocalists: Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Nellie McKay, Suzanne Vega, etc.
Music I generally don't listen to:
• Pop music with compressed dynamic range mixed for iPhones, Beats and other inferior musical devices.
• Rap, punk, hip-hop, metal, rock. No music with vocalists screaming into a mic from 1/8" away. I'm a writer; I prefer music with clearly intelligible lyrics. No music featuring overbearing, overmodulated electric guitars. I like some music quite loud, but it's typically a crescendo from an orchestral piece, purely acoustic. Or the climax of a Sinatra and the band playing behind him.
So… given all that - and yeah, I know I'm weird - what do you folks suggest for a headphone amp? Keep what I have? Schiit Valhalla 2? Woo Audio WA-3? Bottlehead Crack 1.1? With Speedball upgrade??
Bonus question: should I do my headphone listening with headphone amp running through my NAD T-758 A/V receiver? Or would it be better to run the Oppo outs DIRECT to the headphone amp and bypass the receiver altogether? I wonder.
Thanks for your patience and any suggestions!
Where I'm at now…
Music sources: CD and vinyl only. Mostly CD now (including lots of SA-CD), as my vinyl collection/turntable is in storage. No streaming, no Tidal, no Pandora, no downloads, no bitrates, etc.
Headphones: new Sennheiser Massdrop HD6XX phones (replacing my vintage HD 580s after 25 years). These are the only phones I'll be using, so I have no need to drive other types of headphones in the future.
CD player: Oppo UDP-205 w/dedicated stereo output
"In addition to the 7.1-channel surround audio output, the UDP-205 has a stereo audio output powered by a dedicated ES9038PRO DAC chip and specially designed buffer and driver stages. The stereo output offers both XLR balanced and RCA single-ended connectors. The balanced output features a true differential signal path all the way from the DAC to the 3-pin XLR connector. By transmitting a pair of differential signals, the balanced output provides better common-mode noise rejection and improves signal quality."
Current headphone amps:
• Oppo UDP-205 built-in headphone amplifier:
"For a more intimate listening experience, headphones can be connected directly to the UDP-205’s built-in headphone amplifier. The headphone amplifier is connected directly to the ESS SABRE PRO DAC and offers a unique performance advantage over standalone headphone amplifiers. Compared to the built-in headphone amplifier in our previous generation BDP-105/105D players, the new design offers more power and higher performance."
• Schiit Audio Vali (original Vali, not Vali 2)
Comparing the Oppo and Vali amps with my HD-580s, the Vali sounds ever-so-slightly better. A bit more open and alive. But, to my ears, the difference is quite small.
Music I listen to:
I'd say three words best describe what I enjoy: acoustic, orchestral, dynamic.
• Orchestral with wide dynamic range. Well-recorded symphony orchestras playing Prokofieff, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky, Gershwin, etc.
• A lot of classic jazz from the '50s-'60s. Some contemporary jazz as well. Also small jazz ensembles playing '20s-'40s jazz (ragtime, The Beau Hunks, Raymond Scott, Leroy Shield, etc.) Also classic Sinatra, Nelson Riddle style.
• Original Broadway Cast Albums, mainly featuring orchestras and lots of vocals. (Musically, rather like "opera light," with smaller orchestras and smaller voices)
• Lots of acoustic stuff. Especially female vocalists: Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Nellie McKay, Suzanne Vega, etc.
Music I generally don't listen to:
• Pop music with compressed dynamic range mixed for iPhones, Beats and other inferior musical devices.
• Rap, punk, hip-hop, metal, rock. No music with vocalists screaming into a mic from 1/8" away. I'm a writer; I prefer music with clearly intelligible lyrics. No music featuring overbearing, overmodulated electric guitars. I like some music quite loud, but it's typically a crescendo from an orchestral piece, purely acoustic. Or the climax of a Sinatra and the band playing behind him.
So… given all that - and yeah, I know I'm weird - what do you folks suggest for a headphone amp? Keep what I have? Schiit Valhalla 2? Woo Audio WA-3? Bottlehead Crack 1.1? With Speedball upgrade??
Bonus question: should I do my headphone listening with headphone amp running through my NAD T-758 A/V receiver? Or would it be better to run the Oppo outs DIRECT to the headphone amp and bypass the receiver altogether? I wonder.
Thanks for your patience and any suggestions!
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