[Makiah S]

  It looks like the nfb 28 gives some more output power to 50 ohms than the 10se.

 
 

   
It's spec'd to be slightly more powerful than the NFB-10SE. I don't think it's quite enough power for the HE-6

 
well that is good to hear, Honestly I'm using the NFB 10ES2 for well everything running out of solid state. And I do not think I'll be getting a tube powerful enough to drive an HE 6 for a LONG time. Going for a LD MK VIII SE, nice intro to balanced tubes. Will most likely try the HE 4 and HE 5LE and or HE 500 on the Solid State and tube before I upgrade to HE 6 and amps to drive em. Not to mention I'm grabbing a Balanced T90 soon as well, Want to hear her on tubes as well! 

 

[preproman]

Precision 1 = New kid on the block...

 

[LarsHP]

  Huh!  Never would have guessed!  So, to make sure I understand you, the gain is so low on the HM-801 and 901 so as to never sufficiently drive the HE-6?  
 
Well, thanks for clearing that up... Learn something new every day!

I think you misunderstood me. Gain has nothing (or not much) to do with driving a headphone properly or not.
 
Gain is simply the volume adjustment level. It could be 0dB or +20dB or whatever and is a bit like the volume control, but it's fixed while the volume control has a wide range from infinite dampening (no sound) to no dampening (the full gain level). This takes place BEFORE the amplification stage. If the gain is way too low, then you will not reach the maximum power the amp is capable of. If the gain it way too high the volume adjustment will be done in the low settings only and you may struggle finding the perfect volume level. You will also be able to overdrive the amp and cause clipping. The power of the amp will determine how loud you can play undistorted / without clipping.
 
The HM-801 and HM-901 with Balanced amp driving the HE-6 shows me that the gain is at a level where a track with 0dB peaks won't make the amp clip when the volume is max'ed. This will be with any headphone (which can take the power without distoring). The gain could however with some low level tracks have too little to get full output of the amp. This is especially true with the extremely inefficient HE-6, but as I said - it has nothing to do with driving it sufficiently. That part has only to do with the power of the amp and the power supply delivering the needed Ampere and Volts.

 

[nk77]

  Precision 1 = New kid on the block...

 
You getting one?​

 

[preproman]

   
You getting one?​

 
Depends on how big it is.  It should be a pretty good upgrade to the Emotiva mini X.   Just might be to big for the Bedroom though..  I would love to hear one.

 

[Clemmaster]

Depends on how big it is.  It should be a pretty good upgrade to the Emotiva mini X.   Just might be to big for the Bedroom though..  I would love to hear one.

Same size as the M7 I suppose?

 

[elwappo99]

 

  It looks like the nfb 28 gives some more output power to 50 ohms than the 10se.

 
 

   
It's spec'd to be slightly more powerful than the NFB-10SE. I don't think it's quite enough power for the HE-6

 
well that is good to hear, Honestly I'm using the NFB 10ES2 for well everything running out of solid state. And I do not think I'll be getting a tube powerful enough to drive an HE 6 for a LONG time. Going for a LD MK VIII SE, nice intro to balanced tubes. Will most likely try the HE 4 and HE 5LE and or HE 500 on the Solid State and tube before I upgrade to HE 6 and amps to drive em. Not to mention I'm grabbing a Balanced T90 soon as well, Want to hear her on tubes as well! 

 
The little dot MKVIII is meant for high impedance headhones. You should look at the MKVI for orthodynamics. Either way the NFB-28 and NFB-10 won't give up enough power for the HE-6 and a speaker amp definitely sounds better. I had a NFB-10SE, LIttle Dot MKVI+ and Emotiva A-100 all at the same time and did a lot of testing on them. The emotiva definitely sounded better than both with the HE-6 and HE-500.

 

[brunk]

   
The little dot MKVIII is meant for high impedance headhones. You should look at the MKVI for orthodynamics. Either way the NFB-28 and NFB-10 won't give up enough power for the HE-6 and a speaker amp definitely sounds better. I had a NFB-10SE, LIttle Dot MKVI+ and Emotiva A-100 all at the same time and did a lot of testing on them. The emotiva definitely sounded better than both with the HE-6 and HE-500.

 
Agreed. Speaker amps come in a much wider variety too.

 

[Makiah S]

   
Agreed. Speaker amps come in a much wider variety too.

 
But the size and the space :\.
 
I might just stick with the HE 400 and dynamics until I can get some more space and money xD 

 

[brunk]

   
But the size and the space :\.
 
I might just stick with the HE 400 and dynamics until I can get some more space and money xD 

 
Oh there's plenty of TriPath and Class D amps that are way smaller then some of the aforementioned headphone amps. Just let us know your criteria and we can steer you in the right direction.

 

[Makiah S]

   
Oh there's plenty of TriPath and Class D amps that are way smaller then some of the aforementioned headphone amps. Just let us know your criteria and we can steer you in the right direction.

 
welp I need a jack of all Solid State and tube both balanced. and once again... I think I'll steer clear of the HE 6, as I mean honestly... this thread is my planning like 2 years ahead xD
 
I've got the He 400 coming in, I'll have 2 headphones to recable, and when I get my LD MK VIII SE, which apprently has less power than the MKVI+. I'll need to roll tubes into it,  so by the time I run out of things to try... I think I'll have the space for an HE 6 speciliast xD 

 

[potterma]

  I think you misunderstood me. Gain has nothing (or not much) to do with driving a headphone properly or not.
 
Gain is simply the volume adjustment level. It could be 0dB or +20dB or whatever and is a bit like the volume control, but it's fixed while the volume control has a wide range from infinite dampening (no sound) to no dampening (the full gain level). This takes place BEFORE the amplification stage. If the gain is way too low, then you will not reach the maximum power the amp is capable of. If the gain it way too high the volume adjustment will be done in the low settings only and you may struggle finding the perfect volume level. You will also be able to overdrive the amp and cause clipping. The power of the amp will determine how loud you can play undistorted / without clipping.
 
The HM-801 and HM-901 with Balanced amp driving the HE-6 shows me that the gain is at a level where a track with 0dB peaks won't make the amp clip when the volume is max'ed. This will be with any headphone (which can take the power without distoring). The gain could however with some low level tracks have too little to get full output of the amp. This is especially true with the extremely inefficient HE-6, but as I said - it has nothing to do with driving it sufficiently. That part has only to do with the power of the amp and the power supply delivering the needed Ampere and Volts.

 
 
What you seem to be saying above is that the HM-801 and HM-901 have insufficient gain to make the amplifier clip (call me dubious).  How then is it not sufficient for driving the HE-6?
The gain of an amplifier is simply the ratio of output voltage to input voltage (or currents for those rare examples).  
 
If an amplifier has enough gain in the amplifier stage to achieve a target voltage, but it does not have sufficient power to properly drive the headphone, you go into clipping.  Either because the power supply can't supply the required voltage at a given current or because it cannot supply the required current at the target voltage.  Or, of course, a combination of the two effects.
 
Still confused....

 

[potterma]

   
welp I need a jack of all Solid State and tube both balanced. and once again... I think I'll steer clear of the HE 6, as I mean honestly... this thread is my planning like 2 years ahead xD
 
I've got the He 400 coming in, I'll have 2 headphones to recable, and when I get my LD MK VIII SE, which apprently has less power than the MKVI+. I'll need to roll tubes into it,  so by the time I run out of things to try... I think I'll have the space for an HE 6 speciliast xD 

 
For solid state you are hard pressed to do better than a TBI Millenia MG3.  Very small package and you have to spend a LOT more $$$ to best it in sound quality.  It is a high gain speaker amp, so you will most likely need a resistor box to adapt to your headphones.

 

[preproman]

   
For solid state you are hard pressed to do better than a TBI Millenia MG3.  Very small package and you have to spend a LOT more $$$ to best it in sound quality.  It is a high gain speaker amp, so you will most likely need a resistor box to adapt to your headphones.

 
How does the MG3 do with the HE-6s?

 

[SoupRKnowva]

   
 
What you seem to be saying above is that the HM-801 and HM-901 have insufficient gain to make the amplifier clip (call me dubious).  How then is it not sufficient for driving the HE-6?
The gain of an amplifier is simply the ratio of output voltage to input voltage (or currents for those rare examples).  
 
If an amplifier has enough gain in the amplifier stage to achieve a target voltage, but it does not have sufficient power to properly drive the headphone, you go into clipping.  Either because the power supply can't supply the required voltage at a given current or because it cannot supply the required current at the target voltage.  Or, of course, a combination of the two effects.
 
Still confused....

 
From what he has said, since I don't own one, it just doesn't get loud enough. The rails of the power supply aren't high enough. So even at max volume, it doesn't clip, that doesn't mean it has to get loud enough with the HE-6s...