[Oregonian]

Thanks for all the advice guys you have been amazingly helpful. I picked it up yesterday and i have to say i am loving the full bodied sound these headphones produce. The seller was a real fanatic and had a crazy set up to test them on so i got to hear how good they CAN sound.

*not sure this still belongs here, please tell me if i need to start a thread somewhere else*

Problem is now im spoiled and i wanna get more out of it. Just listening to these through the headphone amp on my computer(Asus Phoebus) or my low end receiver ( Denon avr-x1000) is just not the same. The seller said that getting a Amity headphone amp would be really good for these, but advised me to maybe get a combined dac/amp to get started (Burson/CEC). These are all quite out of my price range and was wondering if there are any good low budget dac/amp combinations that would work well for these. Greed advised these: Matrix M-Stage,Schiit Asgard, or JDS O2, but those are just amps as far as i can tell. 

Have you considered vintage? My D7000's are fed by my Pioneer Spec rack system and frankly sound amazing. I've fed them with three other vintage integrated amps with the same result. For a home system I feel the price you can get a good vintage amp for is the ultimate value proposition. A $100 vintage can amaze you.

 

[Pudu]

Agreed!

I have a few higher end amps and I prefer the D7k out of my vintage Pioneer receiver.

You have to be careful with vintage gear though. It's hard to rush out and get a decent deal tomorrow. But if you keep your eyes open and are patient, you can get some excellent kit for not much wampum.

 

[ThaVman]

Ok that sounds good! I'm not in a rush so that's great. Big practical problem then is how i get my phoebus to output to an older receiver, wich means i need a dac.  Very new to this so if you have any threads i can dive into on this matter so i can educate myself. Also i have no idea what a "good"  vintage receiver is, are there any places to see wich are good and or recommended older receivers should keep an eye out for?

 

[Pudu]

La voila.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

has any1 ever kinda wished that their fostex th-900 looked like a d7k? i kinda do sometimes...

 

[Pudu]

Nope.

One of the reasons I haven't been tempted by the 900. Visually was a step backward in my opinion. In fact I'm kinda glad they did that so I wouldn't be tempted (I'm pretty shallow).

 

[Oregonian]

Ok that sounds good! I'm not in a rush so that's great. Big practical problem then is how i get my phoebus to output to an older receiver, wich means i need a dac.  Very new to this so if you have any threads i can dive into on this matter so i can educate myself. Also i have no idea what a "good"  vintage receiver is, are there any places to see wich are good and or recommended older receivers should keep an eye out for?

Search here for the calling all vintage receivers owners and start reading. You'll get great info.

Not sure what a "Phoebus" is but I go straight from iPod into vintage via cable adapter to RCA plugs. No DAC required.........

 

[Sko0byDoo]

has any1 ever kinda wished that their fostex th-900 looked like a d7k? i kinda do sometimes...

I got a new set of extra D7k cups. I am thinking of slapping 'em on the TH900 for a laugh. Physically, they're practically twins, just one's black one's white.

Actually, I kinda like the black anodized of the th900.

 

[ThaVman]

Search here for the calling all vintage receivers owners and start reading. You'll get great info.

Not sure what a "Phoebus" is but I go straight from iPod into vintage via cable adapter to RCA plugs. No DAC required.........

 
The Phoebus is an Asus soundcard. Ive been searching the forums and also through the thread mentioned by Pudu and you. Nearby i can get a SX 550 for about 35 euros, a Marantz 2216b for about 60 and a Pioneer SA-7500 for about 80 euros. So now i just have to find out wich one would suit me best. 

This thread gave me some insight on how i could hook them up. http://www.head-fi.org/t/578155/vintage-integrated-stereo-amp-to-pc-idiot-help I think the cable mentioned in there would do the trick already without a dac.
 
Man even on my avr-x1000 these D7000's are a beast. They are so incredibly different from my Dt 990.

 

 

[palmfish]

These Denons are really quite sensitive and easy to drive. And they are not picky about amps either - you'll get very consistent sound no matter what you plug them into. Its one of things I appreciate most about them. A vintage amp is a fine choice as long as you are aware of the downsides (1. they are 40 years old and usually not performing to spec unless refurbished, and 2. they are big and heavy).

Another inexpensive route to take would be O2/ODAC combo and Magni/Modi combo. My daughter powers hers with a Fiio E7 and it sounds great too.

Finally, there is a very strong possibility that your AVR does the job just fine and you wont hear any improvement/difference with another combo. This was my experience with them.

 

[Greed]

  Thanks for all the advice guys you have been amazingly helpful. I picked it up yesterday and i have to say i am loving the full bodied sound these headphones produce. The seller was a real fanatic and had a crazy set up to test them on so i got to hear how good they CAN sound.
 
*not sure this still belongs here, please tell me if i need to start a thread somewhere else*
 
Problem is now im spoiled and i wanna get more out of it. Just listening to these through the headphone amp on my computer(Asus Phoebus) or my low end receiver ( Denon avr-x1000) is just not the same. The seller said that getting a Amity headphone amp would be really good for these, but advised me to maybe get a combined dac/amp to get started (Burson/CEC). These are all quite out of my price range and was wondering if there are any good low budget dac/amp combinations that would work well for these. Greed advised these: Matrix M-Stage,Schiit Asgard, or JDS O2, but those are just amps as far as i can tell. 

 
You should also be aware that the Phoebus has its own DAC on board. You will get better performance out of a external DAC, but for the time being your Phoebus will be fine. Vintage is definitely an option if you are on a budget. As palm said though, you must factor in footprint, weight, and reliability. If you aren't handy with electronics, you can have major problems with these types of amps in a matter of weeks - depending on how well maintained the unit you buy is. You can have those services done for you, but then you are starting to creep up into the price range, where IMO, you start getting better sound quality. I'm not of the impression that the Denon series or Fostex Series sound better out of high powered integrated amps. Personally the Denon's are highly sensitive headphones which is not the best match for some of these vintage receivers that have huge output impedance. Amps that have black backgrounds and don't feed noise sound the best with regards to the D7K, IMO. Headphone amps and integrated amps have different priorities. I would take another look at a few suggestions that have been made already - O2/ODAC, Magni/Modi, FiiO E17/E09K combo units that don't break the bank but still offer enough power for most headphones and the finesse for the sensitive ones. 
 
PS: If you can stretch your budget - look into the Yulong D100 MK II, best combo unit I can think of south of $800. 

 

[Pudu]

Yes listen to these guys; good advice.

Don't go chasing a vintage amp as a better alternative to a headphone amp. It's another option that's available, with a couple of provisos. If you like the styling (and size) of them, are willing to do a moderate amount of reading, and have the patience to wait for something in good nick to become available locally - then you you can get great sound for considerably less than a dedicated headphone amp of similar sound quality. And if you have speakers to drive you get an extra bonus. If you just want a good headphone amp to adequately drive the Denons, there are far easier options. Also, decide if you are actually dissatisfied with your current setup before dropping a lot of cash on something new.

Another thing to keep in mind, as palmfish so rightly pointed out, these cans are very easy to drive. Many all vintage amps are overkill for the D7K's needs and if you like a black background, you might not be happy - depends on the receiver and the condition of the capacitors. That said, if you like the look, have the space, and are prepared to invest a little time and research, they have a distinct flavour which complements the Denons in my opinion. My Pioneer cost me about $50 more than a Magni-Modi stack and I use it everyday - all day long - with speakers and prefer it to my other amps for the Denons.

 

[ThaVman]

Yes im not in any rush and am taking all the advice you guys give me to heart. Again you have been really helpful and i am getting a much broader understanding of what my options are. For now ill stick to my current set up and just enjoy how well they are performing right now. A step up is always great so ill have something to look forward to.
 
Also i was reading about the magni/modi and o2/dac and those are usb only as far as i can tell wich means they bypass your soundcard completely? 
 
And now...... ill go back to listening to some music  

 

[palmfish]

   
 
Also i was reading about the magni/modi and o2/dac and those are usb only as far as i can tell wich means they bypass your soundcard completely? 
 
 

Yes, you can either run analog out of your soundcard to an amp, or bypass your soundcard and run USB to a DAC first. Your choice.
 
Personally, I dont think there's anything wrong with the DAC on your soundcard. Probably comparable to most inexpensive separate DACs.

 

[dagothur]

  Thanks for all the advice guys you have been amazingly helpful. I picked it up yesterday and i have to say i am loving the full bodied sound these headphones produce. The seller was a real fanatic and had a crazy set up to test them on so i got to hear how good they CAN sound.
 
*not sure this still belongs here, please tell me if i need to start a thread somewhere else*
 
Problem is now im spoiled and i wanna get more out of it. Just listening to these through the headphone amp on my computer(Asus Phoebus) or my low end receiver ( Denon avr-x1000) is just not the same. The seller said that getting a Amity headphone amp would be really good for these, but advised me to maybe get a combined dac/amp to get started (Burson/CEC). These are all quite out of my price range and was wondering if there are any good low budget dac/amp combinations that would work well for these. Greed advised these: Matrix M-Stage,Schiit Asgard, or JDS O2, but those are just amps as far as i can tell. 

 
I really enjoyed my Nuforce Icon HDP with my D7000s.