[Dickies]

  At what point would a headphone amp be overkill for the H6s (1st Gen)?
 
Would mid-tier level (Audeze Deckard / Cavalli Liquid Carbon / Audio-gd C-2 / Audio-gd NFB-1AMP) be as far I would need to go to squeeze out 100% performance or would there still be some sense (performance gain) going a little higher to a low tier-one headphone amp (HeadAmp GS-X / Cavalli Crimson / Audio-gd HE-9 / Audio-gd Master 9)?

I personally didn't like the deckard I bought an oppo ha1 instead of it.
As an audio-gd nfb-27h owner who has never heard his h6's sound better that from that unit it pretty easy for me to say buy the master 9! BUT if you're only going to be using with h6's it's WAY overkill, the h6's at a loud listening level from my 27h uses under 3% of its power so 97% is going to waste, the master 9 is fully balanced you'd be mad to let that go to waste just using it single ended all the time.
That said if you're thinking of getting other headphones down the road that require more power or more sophisticated amplification then by all means get one of the power monsters you listed but if not there's no need imo.

I'm not sure what your dac plans/ intentions are but considering you listed a couple dac/amp's so what I'd suggest you do is get one of the really combo units that will power h6's amply like a mojo, hugo, hugo2, benchmark dac 3, I myself am considering moving on from the 27h and getting a hugo2 as I don't think I need the power.
A couple of other combo units that I have no idea if they pair well with the h6's but I think are worth a mention are  jotumheim, woo wa8, aune s6.

So I guess what I'm really saying is they don't need power they need a good dac and a little power that doesn't get in the way of the dac.

 

[musiclvr]

At what point would a headphone amp be overkill for the H6s (1st Gen)?

Overkill? No such thing; just better sound! Cheers!

 

[WoodyLuvr]

...As an audio-gd nfb-27h owner who has never heard his h6's sound better that from that unit it pretty easy for me to say buy the master 9! BUT if you're only going to be using with h6's it's WAY overkill, the h6's at a loud listening level from my 27h uses under 3% of its power so 97% is going to waste, the master 9 is fully balanced you'd be mad to let that go to waste just using it single ended all the time.

That said if you're thinking of getting other headphones down the road that require more power or more sophisticated amplification then by all means get one of the power monsters you listed but if not there's no need imo...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... that I should go for a single-ended amp as I don't need the power nor do I intend to go balanced... I think I have now decided that I rather stick with headphones that can be used both at home or when traveling so hard to drive/power-hungry headphones are out.
 
Maybe the audio-gd C-2 will be perfect then as I can use it to drive my cans, as well as use it's preamp features for a low-watt tube amp + small speaker setup/listening area next to my desk that I am planning.
 

... I'm not sure what your dac plans/ intentions are but considering you listed a couple dac/amp's so what I'd suggest you do is get one of the really combo units that will power h6's amply like a mojo, hugo, hugo2, benchmark dac 3...

Regarding the combo units: I would only use their amp sections/features as I already have a DAC; kindly see below.
 

...As an audio-gd nfb-27h owner who has never heard his h6's sound better that from that unit it pretty easy for me to say buy the master 9! BUT if you're only going to be using with h6's it's WAY overkill, the h6's at a loud listening level from my 27h uses under 3% of its power so 97% is going to waste, the master 9 is fully balanced you'd be mad to let that go to waste just using it single ended all the time...
 
... So I guess what I'm really saying is they don't need power they need a good dac and a little power that doesn't get in the way of the dac...

My 2012 Asus Xonar DX sound card has a top of the line Cirrus Logic chip (CS4398) that is supposed to be rather smartly implemented with good circuitry... so I believe it should still hold it's own against most mid-level DACs today... I honestly have found it to be extremely quiet; the U.I. very user friendly, and I do like the sound.
 
I was first introduced to the DX by an owner of an audiophile store in Bangkok back in early-2012 and I was literally god-smacked impressed by it. Very discreetly, I was asked to listen and try to differentiate the sound card (in a cool little hi-fi rigged personal PC that he had) from a separate high-end DAC component (a first generation Benchmark DAC1 if I remember correctly).  You may find it hard to believe but to my ears there was literally no difference between the DX sound card and the Benchmark.  When I quietly told him I couldn't tell a difference he just smiled and winked at me saying "I guess you made your decision then."
 
For listening he had fed them both to a JDS Labs O2 Amp and a pair of HD600s (which I had specifically come to demo and bought from him along with a DX sound card that I still use today!). Funny that the HD600s didn't last as long and the rotten O2 ran away from home and is hiding out in L.A.!
 
BTW: The owner could have easily sold me the much more expensive Asus STX sound card but he instead talked me out of it convincing me that I didn't need it as the DX had the exact same DAC chip and since I was buying the O2 amp there was no need for the headphone amp section found on the STX model card.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Murphy's Law has struck!  My Xonar DX sound card has up'd and died on me; appears to be a bad cap
 
Purchased brand new (full original seal) back in early 2012 the sound card is actually circa 2008 as the store owner informed me that it had been in his storeroom for more than four years (he had bought it as a back-up for the DX sound card that he was still using in his audiophile PC + Benchmark DAC1 set-up at the store).  He gave me a 25% discount on it so I got my money's worth out of it... served three computers faithfully!

 

[WoodyLuvr]

While in Hong Kong the past week I demoed Audioquest's DragonFlys with my H6s and I was actually extremely impressed... surprisingly so. Very powerful and quiet amps.
 
To my ears there wasn't a huge difference between the Red and Black using my H6s.  I ended up buying the Black with the Jitterbug and not the Red model as I preferred the Black DragonFly's slightly darker/softer (more mellow?) sound signature and lower volume control... it was much easier to fine tune and adjust to a lower volume than on the Red which was much, much louder due to its higher amp output.  So I saved myself some money choosing the black variant over the red one as I hadn't quite realized there was a dramatic price difference between the two!  
 
I listened to another Audeze Deckard (my H6s sounded as great as they did on another one a few weeks back) and when comparing with the DragonFlys I honestly couldn't pinpoint any major improvement with the Deckard so I am definitely pleased with that revelation.  I guess my H6s just needed a little bit more juice to deepen (tighten up) the bass and expand/broaden the sound stage and timbre... anything beyond the DragonFly Black level is simply overkill.  All in all I now have a perfect home and portable headphone dac/amp solution! 

 

[Bubblejuice]

  While in Hong Kong the past week I demoed Audioquest's DragonFlys with my H6s and I was actually extremely impressed... surprisingly so. Very powerful and quiet amps.
 
To my ears there wasn't a huge difference between the Red and Black using my H6s.  I ended up buying the Black with the Jitterbug and not the Red model as I preferred the Black DragonFly's slightly darker/softer (more mellow?) sound signature and lower volume control... it was much easier to fine tune and adjust to a lower volume than on the Red which was much, much louder due to its higher amp output.  So I saved myself some money choosing the black variant over the red one as I hadn't quite realized there was a dramatic price difference between the two!  
 
I listened to another Audeze Deckard (my H6s sounded as great as they did on another one a few weeks back) and when comparing with the DragonFlys I honestly couldn't pinpoint any major improvement with the Deckard so I am definitely pleased with that revelation.  I guess my H6s just needed a little bit more juice to deepen (tighten up) the bass and expand/broaden the sound stage and timbre... anything beyond the DragonFly Black level is simply overkill.  All in all I now have a perfect home and portable headphone dac/amp solution! 

I got the Dragonfly red for my Gen 2s. I don't notice too much of a difference sound-wise. But I appreciate the volume increase. I'm probably going to end up selling mine though. I don't use it as much as I had planned. To me, the Gen 2s work amazing on their own as they are.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Still on the hunt for a H6 replacement.
 
Today I listened to a friend's fairly new pair of Ether C Flows today and his very old pair of HD800s... damn the HD800s sounded good, much better imaging and sound stage than the Ether C Flows and far more comfortable... too bad they're open backs!     If I didn't require closed backs I would definitely grab a pair of HD800s even over the better sounding LCD-4s which are so damn uncomfortable (too clampy, heavy, and sweaty for my taste).
 
While carefully listening to some pieces from Mahler and Beethoven I think the imaging of my H6s is actually the same if not better than the Ether C Flow and as I have said before definitely nearing the HD800 region.
 
So far the only closed backs that beat my H6s are the LCD-XCs and Ether Cs (C Flows)... however, the XCs are so damn heavy and hurt just as bad as the LCD-4s and as my LCD-2s did and the Cs (C Flows) are only slightly better on overall sound but have similar level of imaging and comfort which may not warrant the huge price tag over the H6.  I still need to listen to a pair of AQ NightOwls and the new Aeons when they come out but I am starting to think they won't come close to the H6 in comfort, imaging, and neutrality.
 
 
What I still love about my H6s:
 
  ~ Comfort (With my Rapha Ear Pads I can wear them for hours on end without ever noticing them)
 
  ~ Balanced Sound (neutral, from the bass across to the treble; though there is something unexplainable about the highs... they seem more there (present) than most other headphones; no fatigue)
 
  ~ Imaging & Timbre (open and natural sounding; awesome clarity with excellent instrument presentation and separation; they pretend to be open-backs!)
 
  ~ Soundstage (one of the widest I ever experienced with any closed-back; far better than the HD600/HD650 and dare I say nearing that of a HD800 in fact!)
 
  ~ Isolation (offering just the right amount of isolation for my needs, tastes, and work environment; I do sometimes wish they were more isolating when travelling though)
 
 
 
EDIT:
 
BTW: My DragonFly Black perfectly drove the HD800 with just a little volume to spare; very surprised.

 

[kyku]

Still on the hunt for a H6 replacement.

Today I listened to a friend's fairly new pair of Ether C Flows today and his very old pair of HD800s... damn the HD800s sounded good, much better imaging and sound stage than the Ether C Flows and far more comfortable... too bad they're open backs!     If I didn't require closed backs I would definitely grab a pair of HD800s even over the better sounding LCD-4s which are so damn uncomfortable (too clampy, heavy, and sweaty for my taste).

While carefully listening to some pieces from Mahler and Beethoven I think the imaging of my H6s is actually the same if not better than the Ether C Flow and as I have said before definitely nearing the HD800 region.

So far the only closed backs that beat my H6s are the LCD-XCs and Ether Cs (C Flows)... however, the XCs are so damn heavy and hurt just as bad as the LCD-4s and as my LCD-2s did and the Cs (C Flows) are only slightly better on overall sound but have similar level of imaging and comfort which may not warrant the huge price tag over the H6.  I still need to listen to a pair of AQ NightOwls and the new Aeons when they come out but I am starting to think they won't come close to the H6 in comfort, imaging, and neutrality.


What I still love about my H6s:

  ~ Comfort (With my Rapha Ear Pads I can wear them for hours on end without ever noticing them)

  ~ Balanced Sound (neutral, from the bass across to the treble; though there is something unexplainable about the highs... they seem more there (present) than most other headphones; no fatigue)

  ~ Imaging & Timbre (open and natural sounding; awesome clarity with excellent instrument presentation and separation; they pretend to be open-backs!)

  ~ Soundstage (one of the widest I ever experienced with any closed-back; far better than the HD600/HD650 and dare I say nearing that of a HD800 in fact!)

  ~ Isolation (offering just the right amount of isolation for my needs, tastes, and work environment; I do sometimes wish they were more isolating when travelling though)



EDIT:

BTW: My DragonFly Black perfectly drove the HD800 with just a little volume to spare; very surprised.

Your H6 with the stock cable?

 

[Dexter22]

That isolation can be made better by bending the headband a little close to your headshape. Also, by adjusting the earpads to find at which postion without music u hear the outside the least. Downside: narrow soundstage! I found when it lacked isolation it has the widest soundstage.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Your H6 with the stock cable?

Nope, V-Moda Audio Only Cable as per my signature.  The OEM stock cable stinks!

That isolation can be made better by bending the headband a little close to your headshape. Also, by adjusting the earpads to find at which postion without music u hear the outside the least. Downside: narrow soundstage! I found when it lacked isolation it has the widest soundstage.

True.  Still even with some bending they are not the most isolating closed backs on flights.  But NOT hugely detrimental I still luv em.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Listened to a Benchmark DAC3 and I honestly couldn't pinpoint any major improvement over my DragonFly Black... slowly coming to the realization (I am a slow learner) that anything beyond the DragonFly Black (DFB) is simply overkill for both my ears and the H6s. Contemplating a sub USD 150 cable upgrade from the V-Mode Audio Only Cable.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Playing around with the equalizer on foobar2000.  
 

 
I have been testing (above) Marco Arment's recommended EQ Offset for the H6s (below):
 

 

[Bubblejuice]

Does anyone know if the gen 2s would be good for music production? Or are they not flat or neutral enough?

 

[musiclvr]

Does anyone know if the gen 2s would be good for music production? Or are they not flat or neutral enough?

Nope, too much bass colouration.

 

[Bubblejuice]

Nope, too much bass colouration.

Ok, thank you