[cradon]

I did that (maybe not well enough) but I'll try again. I also find the Audeze Lamdskin leather earpads take away from the bass and highs, so I put back on the stock velour pads.

 

[cradon]

Are the Audeze velour pads better than the stock ones sonically? I know they're more comfy.

 

[ohhgourami]

Are the Audeze velour pads better than the stock ones sonically? I know they're more comfy.

Yes

 

[cradon]

How so? Is it really worth $80?

 

[ohhgourami]

  How so? Is it really worth $80?

It would make a bigger difference than spending $80 on anything else. Actually it will be the cheapest, big upgrade you'd ever make.

 

[Happy Camper]

I'm still awaiting the 560 pad conclusions.

 

[NZtechfreak]

NZ, have you done any mods on the 6s yet? That brightness smooths out with the felt mod. I also like best the open grill. It does make the 6 a different animal.

I don't particularly think they are bright, but I do think the Meraks played that up a bit. I have some high frequency hearing loss from playing guitar and going to gigs, so some brightness is an asset to me personally.

 

[gcannon]

I got Emo UPA->200 some time back, used it for few month and move to Krell KAV-400xi (probably my end game as I am very happy with this setup). I would rate Emo as good and very neutral sounding, I was running it with DC-1 till I got PWD II.

I had mixed feeling with  UPA->200,

+ there was no background noise
+ lot of bass quantity
+ Soundstage massive
- Suffers on imaging, sound more or less flat across the spectrum. You may not notice it unless you compare with better amps.

Krell, does everything UPA->200 does and immensely improves on Imaging and placement (day and night difference here).

So, UPA-200 was good for money I paid, but you cannot get an end game feel with that setup.

Thanks for the info.. I got the EF6 and HE6 and out of the box tthey didn't wow me vs the HD650 straight into the DC-1. 48 hours into the burn-in and they are a bit better. The Emo is coming on Tues so we'll see how that goes. I've got plenty of time to try them before I have to decide.

 

[ohhgourami]

Thanks for the info.. I got the EF6 and HE6 and out of the box tthey didn't wow me vs the HD650 straight into the DC-1. 48 hours into the burn-in and they are a bit better. The Emo is coming on Tues so we'll see how that goes. I've got plenty of time to try them before I have to decide.

 
The EF6 is supposed to be a pretty mediocre amp. Not surprised if it didn't wow you. Actually the HE-6 generally doesn't have that wow factor, but it just does everything so well (details, imaging, texture, etc) it surpassed almost all the other headphones.

 

[SDMAN]

I am currently in the process of obtaining a pair of the HE-6 phones. I got the amp Thursday via FEDEX. A Ray Samuels Dark Star. For now I have LCD-2's and T1's.

 

[Silent One]

 
 
The EF6 is supposed to be a pretty mediocre amp. Not surprised if it didn't wow you. Actually the HE-6 generally doesn't have that wow factor, but it just does everything so well (details, imaging, texture, etc) it surpassed almost all the other headphones.

Lacking the WOW factor is precisely why I'm drawn to the HE-6. My focus is long-term listening and gears that excite at first blush could quickly find themselves on the sideline as time goes by.

 

[Xenophon]

Thanks for the info.. I got the EF6 and HE6 and out of the box tthey didn't wow me vs the HD650 straight into the DC-1. 48 hours into the burn-in and they are a bit better. The Emo is coming on Tues so we'll see how that goes. I've got plenty of time to try them before I have to decide.

I only auditioned the EF-6 twice with my HE-6 and can't say I was impressed with it on either occasion to be honest.  For the cash asked for it imo there's a lot better to be had.  Your HE-6 need their burn-in time first of all, they do change (was sceptic about this myself in the beginning, live and learn I guess).  Once again, in the beginning I was very sceptical about this 'they need a speaker amp' argument but after giving it a try I've become a convert.  The only thing is you need to select the amp with care to avoid hiss and distortion but then this thread (which I read end to end) and the HE-6 thread will provide ample inspiration.

 

[Happy Camper]

So many felt the Hifiman amp would be the best possible amp for the HE lineup. For that price, you can get much better sound.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

The EF6 is supposed to be a pretty mediocre amp. Not surprised if it didn't wow you. Actually the HE-6 generally doesn't have that wow factor, but it just does everything so well (details, imaging, texture, etc) it surpassed almost all the other headphones.

 

[erikfreedom]

even the manual that comes with the he-6 when new, has instructions on how to hook up the he-6 to a speaker amplifier. the ef-6 was only made to facilitate life to a guy like me who was not interested in connecting the he-6 to a speaker amplifier. it is a no hassle solution with compromise on sound quality. and while other headamps may have better sound quality than ef-6, they still fail.
 
he-6 needs speaker amplifier for best results. the only reason I did not do it on the first place is because I am too busy or either I am just too lazy. I was gonna do it, but I always end up chasing something else while knowing all too well that he-6 connected to endgame speaker amplifier= endgame headfi rig.