[New Yorker]

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!

 

[nordkapp]

Bypass receiver altogether. WA3 would be an upgrade for sure from Vali. Done. BTW, your needs are not too unusual imho.

 

[PopZeus]

If I was looking for a fully balanced amp with an XLR balanced out for more headroom with the HD6XX, I'd start with either the Monoprice Liquid Platinum if you're into tubes or the Audio-gd NFB-1 for a solid state. Hard to beat those for price/performance.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

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??

WooAudio WA6se

 

[New Yorker]

I bet that would be the ultimate. Alas, a bit over my budget for a $220 pair of headphones.

 

[Law87]

what do you like your sound to be? more forward and in your face or laid back and relax?

Tube amp can make your music laid back and relax

Solid state CAN make your music more forward, but tend to be closer to source

 

[New Yorker]

Thanks for the reply. Definitely tube amp! 'Cause I've read that HD-600/6XX/650 headphones sound significantly better when driven by certain OTL tube amps. The question is… which one?

As you can see, most of my music is acoustic, orchestral and vocals. Symphony orchestras, jazz combos, Original Broadway Cast albums, male and female jazz vocalists. No metal, rap, grunge, hip-hop, rock, blaring electric guitars or vocalists literally screaming into a mic just millimeters away from their mouth. (I get to hear that stuff - every day - just by leaving my apartment and visiting any Starbucks, shopping center, casual restaurant or beach.)

 

[Law87]

Thanks for the reply. Definitely tube amp! 'Cause I've read that HD-600/6XX/650 headphones sound significantly better when driven by certain OTL tube amps. The question is… which one?

As you can see, most of my music is acoustic, orchestral and vocals. Symphony orchestras, jazz combos, Original Broadway Cast albums, male and female jazz vocalists. No metal, rap, grunge, hip-hop, rock, blaring electric guitars or vocalists literally screaming into a mic just millimeters away from their mouth. (I get to hear that stuff just by leaving my apartment and visiting any Starbucks, shopping center, casual restaurant or the beach.)

that is very subjective, what sounds better to one person does not mean it will sound better to you. This hobby is more subjective than politics. My suggestion to you is to try them do not let anyone tell you which sound better hey, you never know, some of these company will pay user to write good reviews about them, I see some of the Chinese companies are already doing that.

 

[New Yorker]

^ That is most unfortunate! I've followed a number of reviewers, on and off, for years, so I can usually find some trustworthy reviews.

 

[Law87]

we all gotta make a living, forums is the best free publicity a company can give out.

I would follow the recommendation of your reviewers, because you know how they like their music.

 

[tomb]

Direct to headphone amp is always better. Headphone listening naturally focuses on micro-detail. The source switching circuitry on a receiver clouds the signal, even in the very best of receivers and pre-amps.

As for an amplifier, I don't want to be accused of being a shill, especially since it's against the rules. Let's just say there are some people who make end-game amplifiers for the Senns (and HD800s). You can even go beyond that and talk to some custom builders. The possibilities are numerous, if you are willing to spend some money. I say that because it sounds like you are not going to find what you want for a few hundred dollars. Those amps you mentioned in your original post are only slightly refined over the initial "Wow" experienced by someone listening to a headphone with basic amplification for the first time.

JMHO, but the amps you mentioned either suffer from a cloud over the music signal, due to the circuitry or tubes themselves, or they suffer from a fairly high level of background noise - better than no amp at all, but not nearly end-game quality.

Don't give up your Sennheiser HD580. Spare parts are still available and it's still an excellent headphone (re-cabling with a balanced XLR cable can do wonders).

 

[New Yorker]

Hey, thanks for your very thoughtful response. You’ve given me some stuff to think about.