[Ash]

Hi Folks, I have been away from HPs for a while.
Currently have a Dark Voice 336SE and Schiit Asgard (2011) amps.
Also have an AKG 701 and Senn HD650.
701s are great at detail but lack bass.
HD 650s are good all rounders but can sound dark sometimes.
The setup will be placed in my nightstand. Use will be at night. Cant have audio leakage, or wife will be mad.
Just ordered the Topping D90 MQA.
Needs recs for new cans and matching amp unless you guys think that the Asgard will work well.
Closed back I suppose? I have been out of the hobby for a while so have no clue where to begin.
I do have a roon setup for speakers systems, if something works as a roon endpoint, that would be a huge plus. The topping can be utilized in a different setup.
Source will be iphone 11XR pro running tidal.
Please and thank you!

 

[DeweyCH]

Asgard is a nice amp, although I don't know that much about the older versions (I have the Asgard 3 for bedside listening). But it's missing balanced inputs, which may or may not matter to you with the Topping. The easy rec is to just get a matching A90 amp and be done with it. If it matters, I love having the option to output balanced (to my balanced amp, a Monoprice THX 887) or just RCA to my own Darkvoice without having to go through a switcher or to unplug anything.

Headphones-wise, what do you like to hear? Detail, bass, maybe a bit of treble since you say the 650s are a touch dark? And what is your price range? Given the D90 purchase, I'd probably guesstimate you're looking to spend $1k-ish, in which case take a look at some of the nice woodies out there - the Denon AH series (5200, 7200, 9200) are fantastic headphones that are at first blush identical to the whole Fostex family - the TH-X00s, the TH-900, the E-MU Teak, and so on. They range from $700 to $1600. Audio-Technica makes some super nice ones as well - the ATH series.

If your budget is higher, the Sony Z1R headphones are almost universally praised ($1800), and if it's lower, the aforementioned E-MU Teaks are fantastic (I love mine... swapped the cups out for rosewood ones and they're currently cupping my brain). $500 from the manufacturer, and while it's a dodgy-feeling purchase experience, it seems to go off without a hitch every time.

Or if you have money and plenty of time to wait, ZMF's Verite Closed is supposedly designed to be the most-isolating headphones possible. I dunno if that's true - I haven't splurged on them yet, they're $2500 - but I have never heard anyone talk about the VC without some variation of "These changed music for me forever, I can't listen to anything else." They have a hell of a lead time, since all of them are hand-built in Chicago.

 

[Ash]

Thank you Dewey!
Quite a lot you packed in that post! Should keep me up all night researching all the outlined options.
I have been curious about the Denons from the last merry go around. Funds were a lot tighter then. Is there a discernable difference between the 5200/7200 and 9200 ?
E-MU teak comes across as a nice comfy option. Will look at it more closely.
I am not ruling out Verite closed. Not averse to waiting. Want to make sure they are worth the wait and hype.
Also looking at Dan Clark Aeon2C.

With the Verite or the Sonys - I will probably need a better amp than the Asgard or the topping?
I am not into tubes anymore so will have to comeup with a nice SS option/s.

Will my phone provide quality signal to the rig or should I deploy a streamer like Auralic - I have an extra lying around! Dont want to use it for this setup to avoid too much clutter and unnecessary scrutiny from the wife!

 

[Ash]

No one else cares to chime in or is my post too broad in scope?

 

[DeweyCH]

Thank you Dewey!
Quite a lot you packed in that post! Should keep me up all night researching all the outlined options.
I have been curious about the Denons from the last merry go around. Funds were a lot tighter then. Is there a discernable difference between the 5200/7200 and 9200 ?
E-MU teak comes across as a nice comfy option. Will look at it more closely.
I am not ruling out Verite closed. Not averse to waiting. Want to make sure they are worth the wait and hype.
Also looking at Dan Clark Aeon2C.

With the Verite or the Sonys - I will probably need a better amp than the Asgard or the topping?
I am not into tubes anymore so will have to comeup with a nice SS option/s.

Will my phone provide quality signal to the rig or should I deploy a streamer like Auralic - I have an extra lying around! Dont want to use it for this setup to avoid too much clutter and unnecessary scrutiny from the wife!

There's going to be a difference but I'll admit straight-up I've never listened to the Denons. Everything I've read, though, says that the 9200s sound simply fabulous, compared to the lower-line Denons.

I've had a pair of Fostex TH-X00 Mahoganies and I have my E-MUs, which are more or less the same headphones with similar drivers (I believe they're all the biocellulose drivers, but the 7200 and 9200 both have higher-end versions than the 5200). Experience-wise, like I said I love my E-MUs, specifically with a pair of ZMF Eikon lambskin pads (the stock E-MU pads sound great, but a lot of people just hate the way they feel, since the opening is pretty small). I'd love to hear a pair of the Denon 9200s to see what the experience is like; they've got a fairly significantly better frequency range than the E-MUs (5-56kHz vs. 5-45). Both are insanely easy to drive with resistances in the mid-20 ohms and sensitivities of 105-106dB/mW.

I sincerely doubt you'd need a better amp than an Asgard or a Topping A90. Schiit's new Magnius balanced amp is $199 and would very happily drive the Sonys or the ZMFs. Verites have 300 ohm resistance and 99dB/mW sensitivity; by comparison, my Beyerdynamics have 600 ohm resistance and 102dB/mW sensitivity and both my Asgard and my Monoprice 887 drive the everloving crap out of them.

Source-wise, since you're going through the Topping DAC, I'd have to say your phone will be more than capable of providing top-quality sound (assuming you connect it directly to the DAC rather than using Bluetooth). Even if you do use Bluetooth, despite the iPhone not supporting the most ideal Bluetooth codecs, it'll sound damned good. I doubt you'd find any part of that chain to be a bottleneck.

 

[Ash]

Thanks dewey!
Appreciate your input.
Placed an order for the EMU. Will have to look into replacing pads as comfort is paramount.
Will try the Asgard for now but will be looking to get the A90 in the near future especially if any sales happen as we near Christmas.
Next up for trial will be Denon 9200, the Sonys or the ZMFs closed.

Just for kicks I was trying out the HD 650s and AKG 701s with my desktop RME ADI-2 HP out.
The 650s sounded anemic, lifeless and sickly.
The 701s bloomed and had a much fuller bass than I remember in the past. Still had the top end shimmer that bothers me in extended listening sessions. Could have tamed it with EQ on the RME but that would mess up my dialed in settings for the monitors.

 

[Ash]

BTW the EMU ordering is definitely weird. Hopefully the stuff shows up soon.

 

[DeweyCH]

Glad to help!

BTW the EMU ordering is definitely weird. Hopefully the stuff shows up soon.

Yeah it's a sketchy AF buying process, but it works. I've made 3 purchases with them - the headphones themselves, a balanced XLR cable, and a pair of Rosewood cups. Takes a couple of days for an email response, typically, but it's a weird yet effective process.