[ickyman]

Hello,
 
I am still a bit of a noob to all of this. I am not looking for "the holy grail" response to my situation, I am just looking for a few suggestions to point me in the right direction.
 
First off, my current headphones are HFI-780's and AD-700's. I am thinking about upgrading in the future... 600ohm phones aren't out of the question. At this point I am really not sure.
 
My amp/DAC is an ibasso D-10 via optical from my motherboard (gigabyte ud-5).
 
My main gripes with my current set up are the following...
 
1) The amp provides pretty good volume on most recordings, but on older recordings it falls a bit short while trying to crank it up.
 
2) I like the ultrasones sound signature overall, though with owning a pair of ad-700's I can see what they lack as far as soundstage is concerned and I would like to improve upon that.
 
3) The AD-700's have a huge soundstage, but with my set-up suffer from dynamic compression severely and sound very weak in their ability to produce bass.
 
I know I have a multitude of "things" goin on that are probably makin a few of you cringe. The biggest thing I want to improve upon is the amp's lack of volume with the HFI's. Widening their soundstage would be nice, but I think it might take more than an amp to do that... it might take a new pair of phones.
 
Flexibility to sound well with a multitude of phones and ample room on the volume knob for power hungry phones is a must.
 
amp+DAC (optical or USB)
 
$1000 budget.
 
Thanks.
 

 

[FallenAngel]

Strange, the iBasso D-10 has some decent parts.
 
Set the windows volume to 100% everywhere.  There is a gain switch on the D10, set it to high if you don't think it's too low, but make sure windows volume is always 100%.
 
With a budget like that, you can certainly improve things.  I generally recommend older DACs, at around $500 you can grab a great one, for the amp, look at used DIY.

 

[ickyman]

I was thinking for an amp maybe a WA6, but I dunno. The idea of swapping tubes to create synergy makes more sense to me than blowing a stack of cash on something which only sounds good with one pair of phones.
 
I like the d10 overall, though it does restrict what I can get in the future. That is coupled with the ability to drive the hfi-780's. They barely drive them enough on older recordings. I checked and double checked my settings, all are at max.
 
If i go with a 600ohm pair of beyer's (like i have been thinkin about) my d10 will not cut it.
 
basically, I do not want an amp dictating what I can and can not use with it and sound decent.
 
dunno if that's completely possible though.

 

[FallenAngel]

I'm having quite a difficult time believing that the D10 does not have enough gain for something as easy to drive as the HFI-780.  10db Gain is 3.2x, it should be enough for HFI-780.  I guess it's on the low side for harder to drive amps.
 
I also highly recommend spending a lot more on a DAC than on the amp and advise not to fall into the popular "tubes are magical" approach to amps.

 

[ickyman]

On around 75% of the recordings I listen to they suffice, but on some stuff, like late 80's metal, the recordings are at a lower level and require more of a boost from the amp. On those, it is barely "adequate" for myself when I feel the need to turn up the volume. For most, the volume probably would be enough, I tend to listen to stuff louder than what I should though.
 
I don't love tubes, tbh I have no experience with them. I am fond of the flexibility to swap tubes to help cater to my taste and act as a crutch (in some cases) for my phones.