Alright, now you've got me thinking about small amps. I'm retired, so am trying to keep things "minimalist," but.. the rabbit hole. So, am I right that the Schiit Magni+ or Vali could drive the Yinman 600s well, and also the Fiio K5 Pro? Any recommendations between those three? My tendency would be to go for the Magni+, as the most powerful. But then again, there's the question -- how much sense does it make to buy an amp basically for one earbud set (since I already have a VE Megatron)? Put the question another way -- would one of these small amps improve the sound of my other gear over the Megatron (Sundaras, HD58x, Serratus so far)?
Also, could you, or anyone, give me feedback on Yinman 600s vs Yincrow RW-3000? (EDIT: I see there is a lot of discussion about this comparison already on this thread, so I'm going to study that.)
Thanks for all your help!
Apologies for "tempting" you..
As to your question, the Magni+ should be able to drive them properly IMO, though never having used one I am only going by the specs (on paper theory). And the Vali should also be able to push them well, as it has more power than the Magni+. As for the the FiiO, it has the same power output as the Vali does on paper anyhow (they don't show the power output @600 ohms, so it might not be linear).
Having said all of that, and only in my place, I would go for the Vali because it is a hybrid tube amp. It doesn't have THE best technicalities compared to much higher end stuff, but the numbers actually look really good for the price they are asking. For instance, the SNR (on low gain) is 114dB, which is really good for that price. And having the ability to "tube roll" in a really cheap amp is somewhat of a miracle nowadays. Of course, YMMV for this. It won't be true tube as it is a hybrid (so you get the best of both worlds IMO).
I will say this about your other sets. All three of those you listed will benefit from more power (especially the Sundara). Planar phones are notoriously harder to drive than most people realize (even given the specs). They will sound pretty good from a phone but feed them well and they grow big and strong (they scale very nicely).
I still hold firm that the Yinman, when driven properly, are REALLY hard to beat as an earbud. If you like the Hifiman and Sennheiser "house" tuning, then you will more than likely love the Yinman IMHO, though the RW3000 are TOTL too. At this point I don't really think one is better than the other per se'. It is more like what you prefer most of the time. For me the Yinman are the all-rounder that puts them a bit ahead of all the rest of the TOTL buds (that I also love).
I WILL add this about the RW3000 though, even though I have gotten used to it myself. They DO have a boosted pina and can become fatiguing if you are sensitive to that region (which you have probably already read that I am). It isn't something crazy, but it is enough to make them a bit shouty (especially with volume), and especially compared to the Yinman. There is just nothing offensive about the Yinman IMO.
Edit: Apologies! The Magni+ has 15mW more power at 600ohms and 300ohms, so you were right in that it is a bit more powerful, though I think at that point it is negligible; at least for the purpose you are looking at it for (it is much more powerful at lower impedances). And if you want better DNR and SNR then the Magni+ is also better. Output impedance is a touch higher on the Vali, but will make no difference to you because you don't seem to have any low (enough) impedance gear that will be effected by this stat.
