[PiNa.cz]

  l guess, to have both possibilities? 

BINGO!

 
I was so curious how the SABRE DAC chips sound that I decided to buy the ODAC with the ES9023 chip couple of months ago. It was cheap (approx 100Eur) and it was fun ... for a few days. Bought the version with RCA output and used my Reference 10.32 as amplifier. There was slightly more details, slightly more dynamics and slightly speedier bass - for just 100Eur it was not bad at all. But overal sound was slightly brighter and lacking fullness - more analytical and with some emotions missing. When I got back to Reference's DAC everything was there. So I sold the ODAC and I am just wondering how Kingwa's ES9018 implementation sounds. That's it.    

 

[nigeljames]

 
BINGO!

 
I was so curious how the SABRE DAC chips sound that I decided to buy the ODAC with the ES9023 chip couple of months ago. It was cheap (approx 100Eur) and it was fun ... for a few days. Bought the version with RCA output and used my Reference 10.32 as amplifier. There was slightly more details, slightly more dynamics and slightly speedier bass - for just 100Eur it was not bad at all. But overal sound was slightly brighter and lacking fullness - more analytical and with some emotions missing. When I got back to Reference's DAC everything was there. So I sold the ODAC and I am just wondering how Kingwa's ES9018 implementation sounds. That's it.    

 
Much better than the ODAC with the inferior ES9023 chip, but whether it's to your taste only you know.

 

[holyindian]

hi all,
 
I am decideing between the master 9 amp and reference 10 for the HD800 headphone.
Is the Reference 10 amp better than the master 9 for this headphone, or should i settle with the master 9. I realize that the ref 10 has a inbuilt balanced dac.. is that good for these kinds of headphones, i already have a Schiit Bifrost Uber gen 2 dac.. however if the above amp/dac combo is good, i can sell the one that i have.
 
Your response is very critical to the state of confusion i am in right now to get a new amp.
 
Please guide.

 

[i019791]

  hi all,
 
I am decideing between the master 9 amp and reference 10 for the HD800 headphone.
Is the Reference 10 amp better than the master 9 for this headphone, or should i settle with the master 9. I realize that the ref 10 has a inbuilt balanced dac.. is that good for these kinds of headphones, i already have a Schiit Bifrost Uber gen 2 dac.. however if the above amp/dac combo is good, i can sell the one that i have.
 
Your response is very critical to the state of confusion i am in right now to get a new amp.
 
Please guide.

Which amps have you tried with the Bifrost + HD800 ?
Are you willing to reterminate the HD800 cable to 4 pin xlr or buy a balanced cable for the HD800 ?

 

[holyindian]

Which amps have you tried with the Bifrost + HD800 ?
Are you willing to reterminate the HD800 cable to 4 pin xlr or buy a balanced cable for the HD800 ?

hi there, I haven't tried any of the amp yet. I have just received the headphone yesterday and today I am shopping for amp and dac

 

[xxxfbsxxx]

  hi all,
 
I am decideing between the master 9 amp and reference 10 for the HD800 headphone.
Is the Reference 10 amp better than the master 9 for this headphone, or should i settle with the master 9. I realize that the ref 10 has a inbuilt balanced dac.. is that good for these kinds of headphones, i already have a Schiit Bifrost Uber gen 2 dac.. however if the above amp/dac combo is good, i can sell the one that i have.
 
Your response is very critical to the state of confusion i am in right now to get a new amp.
 
Please guide.

logically theres no chance agd would make the amp in ref10 better than m9 given the price of ref10~m9
i have asked some ppl and it seem the amp in ref10=70%-80% of m9 and the dac section is about 70-80% m7
so the p/p is very good but theres no way ref10 can beat m9

 

[i019791]

hi there, I haven't tried any of the amp yet. I have just received the headphone yesterday and today I am shopping for amp and dac

If you have not really heard the HD800, you are taking a risk bigger (depending on the type of music you prefer, your sensitivity to brightness etc) than most other headphones IMO. If so, I would think to check things with an inexpensive amp (preferably a tube one) and not commit to expensive gear.

 

[holyindian]

  If you have not really heard the HD800, you are taking a risk bigger (depending on the type of music you prefer, your sensitivity to brightness etc) than most other headphones IMO. If so, I would think to check things with an inexpensive amp (preferably a tube one) and not commit to expensive gear.

 
thanks for your response, although i agree to what you say, but i usually dont keep upgrading or rolling amps or various earphones every few months or years. In the past i've brought various equipments on rigorous research and from univocal feedbacks from members on the forum. I usually listen to PsyTrance, EDM (not hiphop), and a bit of rock music.
I was told that the Master 9 will be ideal for my music tastes. Plus any high end tube such as the Liquid Glass or the EC 445.. but they are way out of my budget right now... maybe i might look into higher end gear in a year or two. I am more of a speaker guy, and love my high end home theater setup that goes below 6Hz on the LFE bass.

  logically theres no chance agd would make the amp in ref10 better than m9 given the price of ref10~m9
i have asked some ppl and it seem the amp in ref10=70%-80% of m9 and the dac section is about 70-80% m7
so the p/p is very good but theres no way ref10 can beat m9

 
Thats good news, does it mean that ref10 can be used for HD800, i havent seen lots of people talking about this amp on the HD800  appreciation thread.
Although i was reading somewhere that a balanced dac will work wonders with the balanced master 9, including balanced cables. Hence i was thinking if ref10 can satisfy the first two criteria's. If the ref10 works wonders with hd800 i will set this as my endgame setup with the hd800. has anyone compared various headphones with master 9 vs reference 10?

 

[Clemmaster]

  hi all,
 
I am decideing between the master 9 amp and reference 10 for the HD800 headphone.
Is the Reference 10 amp better than the master 9 for this headphone, or should i settle with the master 9. I realize that the ref 10 has a inbuilt balanced dac.. is that good for these kinds of headphones, i already have a Schiit Bifrost Uber gen 2 dac.. however if the above amp/dac combo is good, i can sell the one that i have.
 
Your response is very critical to the state of confusion i am in right now to get a new amp.
 
Please guide.

 
The Master-9 is a better amp than the Reference 10 (I used to own a NFB-27, which has the same amp as Ref 10 but a ES9018 DAC vs PCM1704).
It performs best with a balanced source, though (and balanced headphones).
 
The Reference 10 has a good built-in DAC and - tonally - it should pair well with HD-800. It won't scale as high with better source and stills requires that you balance the HD-800.

 

[oculus]

I have the Reference 10.32 with HD800 and can vouch its superb.  I do have my HD800 lead balanced.  End game for me !  (Rarely use my other phones HD650)

 

[IYAshike]

l just bought the HD-700. l found a very good offer in amazon.de (got them for $500). Even though l keep on reading in this thread how marvelous the HD-800 sound when paired to our beloved Reference 10, l still was hesitant to pull the trigger and get them at $1250 (in Switzerland they sell at 1200chf). l read how the HD-700 are more 'musical' than their older brother. Needless to say, sooner or later, l will surely buy the HD-800 (or maybe its substitute? Should be coming at some point!).
 
l will reterminate my new Senns to balanced... Let's see how those treble peaks sound 

 lf worse come to worse (as some claim), l will lose my audition and then, my wallet will be veeery happy! 

 
Anyway, just wanted to share this with you to keep this thread a bit more alive 

 
 

 

[vincentm66]

Hi all,
 
I’ve got a PS1000 + Audio-gd reference 10.32.
 
I’m happy with it but wonder if adding an amp (like ear +hd) would improve it, Anyone tried this combo ear + hd with Reference 10.32?
 
Regards
 
Vincent

 

[oculus]

I really think you about as good as you get with an audio gd 10.32.   The difference between a cheap audio gd integrated and expensive integrated is subtle.  I think you can probably change the flavour of the sound but highly unlikely to get the sound better.  

 

[PiNa.cz]

  I have the Reference 10.32 with HD800 and can vouch its superb.  I do have my HD800 lead balanced.  End game for me !  (Rarely use my other phones HD650)

The same here, it is gonna be two years in January 2015 since I bought my Reference 10.32 and since I added the HD800 cans to it last autumn I have no need to buy a better gear/cans. It surely is not the best DAC/AMP available but its price/performance ratio is amazing. I also have HD650 here but since DAC is kinda darker they dont pair well with Reference 10.32. HD800 is a perfect match.

 

[IYAshike]

Hello!
 
Wife got me LCD-2 as a surprise present for Christmas. You can be sure l was damn surprised when they arrived home yesterday... l don't think l was ever more pleasantly surprised... 
 
So, just to say that, so far, l have only listened to them today in SE (needless to say l just ordered a balanced cable 

) and... "Wow!" 

 lt's by far the best HP l have (haven't listened to HD-700, yet). lt's the only HP that l own that is really letting me hear things l had never heard in songs before. l simply love them 'out of the box'. 
 
By the way, what a like the most, and to me it makes the greatest difference (compared to my other HPs) is its dynamics. Great dynamics. 
 
ln any case, sooner or later, l will get a pair of HD-800... Everyone loves them so much paired with Ref. 10.