[2Erly]

After doing a bunch of searching and basically frying my brain, I decided to just ask. Im going to purchase some Denon D7000 headphones next week and I need an amp/dac as I will be running it from my macbook pro. Im not coming from a long audio history, so Im a bit Novice. After searching the forums I stumbled across 2, Yulong D100 MKII or Burson HA160 which is considerably more money, and to be honest, unless its just spectacular it's hard for me to purchase at this point. I have no clue what either will do for the sound. I listen to hiphop, triphop, jazz, rock, and dabble in many other genres, but do not want overbearing bass. I've heard the D7000s are good with alot of genres so I'd just like an amp/dac that will accentuate that character. I'd say Im willing to spend $500-$600. Is there something better than the Yulong for around that for what Im looking for? I was actually going to buy a e9/ some kind of dac, but I decided to up it a bit.

 

[haejuk]

Here is a thread, still maintained by its creator, that has a lot of info on amps that work well with Denon Headphones.  I think it is very likely the best place to read for info on Denon amps.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/619181/list-opinion-amp-recommendations-for-denon-headphones

 

[KCxSmacker]

Well I just got my asgard and love it with the d5000s. I can only imagine the d7ks will sound even better. I am saving for a bifrost dac to go along with it. I think thats at the top of you budget and would do you well. Both are made by a company call schiit. Many great reviews of them around here on head-fi. 
 
Thinking further, I feel that you after you claim to be a novice maybe you should try to find somewhere to try things out. A Fiio e17 maybe just fine for you, but like most we end up spending and buying more upgrades. I agree with the above post that that thread is amazing.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Well I just got my asgard and love it with the d5000s. I can only imagine the d7ks will sound even better. I am saving for a bifrost dac to go along with it. I think thats at the top of you budget and would do you well. Both are made by a company call schiit. Many great reviews of them around here on head-fi. 
 
Thinking further, I feel that you after you claim to be a novice maybe you should try to find somewhere to try things out. A Fiio e17 maybe just fine for you, but like most we end up spending and buying more upgrades. I agree with the above post that that thread is amazing.

 I would agree with this. AG and BF go well with the denon stuff...really well. If you are trying to get by on a budget then the e17 does a very decent job.

 

[2Erly]

How do the Schiit Asgard + bifrost improve the sound? and is it comparable to the Matrix Mstage?
 
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[MattTCG]

That'd be a mistake IMO. I've been down both of those roads. The Yulong gets thumped by the AG and BF. I've owned many of the mid-fi amps and for Denon hp's that Schitt stack mentioned is just really hard to beat.  Yeah, I went the Yulong and was very disappointed. I only kept it for a week. Just trying to get you some good advice!!

 

[vernz]

Quote:

That'd be a mistake IMO. I've been down both of those roads. The Yulong gets thumped by the AG and BF. I've owned many of the mid-fi amps and for Denon hp's that Schitt stack mentioned is just really hard to beat.  Yeah, I went the Yulong and was very disappointed. I only kept it for a week. Just trying to get you some good advice!!

Agreed.
 
instead of Asgard i prefer LYR which gives more power, greater soundstage, better control and more detials

 

[2Erly]

Quote:

That'd be a mistake IMO. I've been down both of those roads. The Yulong gets thumped by the AG and BF. I've owned many of the mid-fi amps and for Denon hp's that Schitt stack mentioned is just really hard to beat.  Yeah, I went the Yulong and was very disappointed. I only kept it for a week. Just trying to get you some good advice!!

 
Thanks for the replies everyone.
 
The headphones alone are a huge jump for me. Im completely stumped, there are so many options and it's not like I've had other experiences to draw from. I will try this combo. Im guessing I'll need to get a pair of those schiit PYST cables to connect the AG & BF. Since I will be connecting to my laptop which cable is needed for that? Also do you have any comments on the sound from the combo

 

[KCxSmacker]

If you got the whole combo you would set it up as following:
 
Computer with usb, optical, or coaxial ~~> Bifrost ~~> Asgard ~~> headphones
 
The bifrost to asgard is just connected with a standard left/right rca cable. That being said the cables from schiit will be very high quality so it would be a fine purchase along with the rest of the setup.

 

[2Erly]

Thanks for the help so far guys. I have my denon D7000s now, running them straight from my MBP and they sound crazy even now. I actually decided I may up my  price limit to 800-1k after hearing these things lol. Im considering a Burson 160D as a amp/dac, would you say that's a large upgrade from Schiit  AG + BF?
 
Heres a little teaser
 

 

[peepr]

I prefer separates instead of combo dacs/amps. just me though...

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

Thanks for the help so far guys. I have my denon D7000s now, running them straight from my MBP and they sound crazy even now. I actually decided I may up my  price limit to 800-1k after hearing these things lol. Im considering a Burson 160D as a amp/dac, would you say that's a large upgrade from Schiit  AG + BF?
 
Heres a little teaser
 

I am sure the Burson is great, but I don't think I could spend more on an amp/dac then I did my headphones. I would rather have gotten the asgard/bifrost or something similar with the extra money put into a higher end headphone. BUT I don't mean to offend, if you think it would sound better then go for it, I just don't think its worth the extra few hundred dollars. The Burson is sexy looking ^_~!
 
cheers

 

[2Erly]

It seemed funny to me at first too, but it looks like its what happens alot of the time. I actually got the denons for a little under $800 new, wasn't able to get that great deal on em that was going on a couple months ago. I wasn't actually planning on buying a new Burson for 1299, 800 used for a 160D seems to be going price. The AG + BF + PYT and lifatec optical cable is gonna cost $779 total shipping included.

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

It seemed funny to me at first too, but it looks like its what happens alot of the time. I actually got the denons for a little under $800 new, wasn't able to get that great deal on em that was going on a couple months ago. I wasn't actually planning on buying a new Burson for 1299, 800 used for a 160D seems to be going price. The AG + BF + PYT and lifatec optical cable is gonna cost $779 total shipping included.

OH I did not think of it as used. Thats pretty good point. while you could get the schiit stuff used it would be harder to get them piece by piece. Not to mention the Burson for 800 sounds like a deal.