[Face]

Quote:

Oh dear. Just got my HE-6 and I don't have anything (even remotely) up to the task of driving it.
 
Are there any USB DAC/amps that can power the HE-6 well? Would like a single solution if possible, no particular budget limitation. Anything like that out there?

Wyred 4 Sound mINT will drive it from either the headphone output or speaker output, but they will sound better from the speaker output. 

 

[preproman]

Looking for some Pros and Cons here:
 
Trying to decide between the two to drive the HE-6 for about the same price.
 
Threshold T 400 Class A Power Amp.  150wpc into 8ohms
 
or
 
Custom Made βeta24 Pure Class A edition (not made yet).  Standard configuration is 30wpc into 8ohms but can be configured to be 40wpc into 8 ohms.
 
I love the flexibility of DIY I'm just not sure the βeta24 will have enough current and swing reserve.

 

[jcx]

@ 50 Ohms they draw ~ 1/6th the power from a given speaker amp than the 8 Ohm power rating of the amp
 
so any audio power amp > ~ 20-30 W/ch 8 Ohm rating will be quite "listenable" with little chance of constant clipping
 
this would include many chip amp powered "home theater in a box" amps with at least 2 working channels - can be found at dumps/recycling centers, off the street... most will have better distortion specs than the Dark Star

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

Looking for some Pros and Cons here:
 
Trying to decide between the two to drive the HE-6 for about the same price.
 
Threshold T 400 Class A Power Amp.  150wpc into 8ohms
 
or
 
Custom Made βeta24 Pure Class A edition (not made yet).  Standard configuration is 30wpc into 8ohms but can be configured to be 40wpc into 8 ohms.
 
I love the flexibility of DIY I'm just not sure the βeta24 will have enough current and swing reserve.

 

Hmm, are they the same price? the B24 is like 15-1800 just in parts i thought?
 
Did you give up on the idea of the Audio-GD Master 3?

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 

Hmm, are they the same price? the B24 is like 15-1800 just in parts i thought?
 
Did you give up on the idea of the Audio-GD Master 3?

 
I was advised against the Master 3 by a pretty good source on here.  Oh well.
 
I'll go Threshold before the Master 3 anyway.  The B24 is about $2.5K (New).  The J2 is about $3K (Demo)  And the Threshold is about $2.2K (used)

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

 
I was advised against the Master 3 by a pretty good source on here.  Oh well.
 
I'll go Threshold before the Master 3 anyway.  The B24 is about $2.5K (New).  The J2 is about $3K (Demo)  And the Threshold is about $2.2K (used)

 
do you routinely check the popular used places like the 'Gon and the used section here? If i were you id just keep what you have till an awesome deal pops up for something. I wasnt intending to grab the F1, but it was too good to pass up.
 
still need to get back together again so we can compare the F1 to the rest of the crew. I think it still sounds pretty awesome

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
do you routinely check the popular used places like the 'Gon and the used section here? If i were you id just keep what you have till an awesome deal pops up for something. I wasnt intending to grab the F1, but it was too good to pass up.
 
still need to get back together again so we can compare the F1 to the rest of the crew. I think it still sounds pretty awesome

 
 
Yep, That's where I saw the T400 - on the 'Gon..

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

 
 
Yep, That's where I saw the T400 - on the 'Gon..

 
if i was looking to spend that kind of money i would seriously be looking at something like this or this one . Im still convinced that the OTL circlotron amps from atmasphere will be magical on these bad boys. the downside would be how large those mono blocks are...
 
Thats why im on the lookout for a used S-30 to give a shot

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Thanks for the suggestions guys!
 
As I keep looking I realise I am actually OK with separate DAC and amp, but ideally two that are easily integrated - the Schiit Mjolnir and Gungnir being an example of something like that. I see a few mentions of them here in relation to the HE-6, but haven't yet come across any really indepth reviews (it looks like it meets the power requirements into 50ohms though). Anyone able to weigh in on those and the HE-6, or alternatives?

 
I forgot but the DACmini PX has a 24 watt speaker amp built into the DAC that has enough voltage swing to drive the HE-6.  Same DAC and headphone amp in the original DACmini CX.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

 
I forgot but the DACmini PX has a 24 watt speaker amp built into the DAC that has enough voltage swing to drive the HE-6.  Same DAC and headphone amp in the original DACmini CX.

 
Thanks for that, I was looking at that earlier today and wondering if that had enough power.
 
Just noticed another contender for my use - the Audio-gd Reference 10.32. 
 
Fits the bill as an all-in-one DAC/amp, does 6W into 50ohms, and has a lot of versatility in its favour (in particular balanced and SE outputs as opposed to either/or).
 
Does anyone have any experience with this unit and the HE-6?

 

[grokit]

The Audio-GD headamps aren't much discussed here, but many of their models seem to have sufficient power for the HE6.

 

[dleblanc343]

Sure this may not drive the HE-6 to potential, but it sure drives them well to me! I think the bha-1 is a level above the mojo in performance, and it does take better control of the HE-6 surprisingly. (i.e: fuller sound, more airiness, better bass extension and especially extension in the highs).
 
With all due respects, these two amps sound better than many speaker amps I've tried, and I've tried the HE-6 through speaker taps of rotel integrated's, vintage quad's, audiolab, rega, roksan, cambridge audio, vela audio and other lower end stuff like denons and yamahas.
 
 

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

Sure this may not drive the HE-6 to potential, but it sure drives them well to me! I think the bha-1 is a level above the mojo in performance, and it does take better control of the HE-6 surprisingly. (i.e: fuller sound, more airiness, better bass extension and especially extension in the highs).
 
With all due respects, these two amps sound better than many speaker amps I've tried, and I've tried the HE-6 through speaker taps of rotel integrated's, vintage quad's, audiolab, rega, roksan, cambridge audio, vela audio and other lower end stuff like denons and yamahas.
 
 

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
 

 

 

I'm going to disagree here. I've heard many speaker amps that the Mjolnir sounded better than as well. So
to me that means there are a few using speaker amps that aren't driving the HE-6 to its potential either.
 
I think regardless it's a combo that needs to be heard.

 

[Happy Camper]

Sure this may not drive the HE-6 to potential, but it sure drives them well to me! I think the bha-1 is a level above the mojo in performance, and it does take better control of the HE-6 surprisingly. (i.e: fuller sound, more airiness, better bass extension and especially extension in the highs).

With all due respects, these two amps sound better than many speaker amps I've tried, and I've tried the HE-6 through speaker taps of rotel integrated's, vintage quad's, audiolab, rega, roksan, cambridge audio, vela audio and other lower end stuff like denons and yamahas.

Prepro had a BHA for a while. Ran the 6s out of balanced outs.

 

[dleblanc343]

Quote:

I'm going to disagree here. I've heard many speaker amps that the Mjolnir sounded better than as well. So
to me that means there are a few using speaker amps that aren't driving the HE-6 to its potential either.
 
I think regardless it's a combo that needs to be heard.

I'm just saying that you don't necessarily have to get a speaker amp to make the HE-6 shine; for many, it really is overkill. Of course the HE-6 are power hungry, and speaker amps do drive them easier than almost all head amps; but I don't want to discourage people in the community from getting HE-6 because they want to use a headphone amp. I also heard the best out of these headphones on speaker amps, but I would not want a beast of an amp to drive my headphones and not have speakers...