[Arnotts]

Arnotts do you thing the h10 is good enaugh with hd 800?

I have only ever heard the HD800 from the Matrix M-Stage stack as well as the Gustard U12 + X12 + H10 stack. It's unfortunate, as it means that I don't have many points of reference to hear exactly what the HD800's are capable of sounding like. Having said that, though, I have no interest in trying other amps/DACs  along with the HD800's - the sound I hear from the Gustard stack results in both the HD800's and LCD-X's being in the same league.
 
My experience with both headphones are echoed pretty strongly in this post: http://www.head-fi.org/t/609155/toxic-cables-impressions-and-discussion-thread/5580#post_10119891
 
I don't find treble detail to be necessarily "lacking" in the LCD-X's - it sounds smoother and more natural to me. The HD800's have MORE treble extension and detail, giving it a brighter and hyper-detailed kind of sound that does not sound as natural to me. The Gustard stack helps reveal the details, but also prevents it from becoming too detailed/bright so that most recordings become unlistenable - it still has a nice, smooth quality to it. Bass is tight, but lacks accurate presence; it feels a little recessed compared to the X's, which makes it lack some punch and excitement.
 
The HD800's are a very useful tool as a microscope for the music. I can hear details laid out across a large, spacious, airy soundstage (which in turn makes it even easier to hear these subtle details) in songs, which sometimes isn't the best for pleasure listening, but it's certainly useful when trying to learn how certain producers construct their tracks.
 
As far as I can tell, the H10 drives the HD800's excellently. The SubPac S2 also helps alleviate the issue of the lack of bass presence for me.

 

[lugnut]

How much did the Gustard stack out class the M-Stage, if at all ?
Never mind, read your post about the two, thanks.

 

[DownSouth]

Massdrop has this for $300 when 10 people sign up to purchase.
 
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gustard-h10?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Massdrop%20-%20Master%20-%20Audiophile&utm_campaign=Audio%20Product%20Announcement%202015-03-16&utm_content=A&mode=guest_open

 

[ElectroGeek007]

Do any H10 owners have thoughts on pairing this amp with the HE-400? I am looking to begin my upgrade from the Magni/Modi setup I have (soon to be followed by a DAC upgrade), and from what I have seen in this thread, this seems to be a good place to start.

 

[Arnotts]

   Quote:

  How much did the Gustard stack out class the M-Stage, if at all ?
Never mind, read your post about the two, thanks.

I made a more in-depth comparison in the combined Gustard amps and DACs thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/752522/gustard-amplifiers-and-dacs/30#post_11374713
 

  Do any H10 owners have thoughts on pairing this amp with the HE-400? I am looking to begin my upgrade from the Magni/Modi setup I have (soon to be followed by a DAC upgrade), and from what I have seen in this thread, this seems to be a good place to start.

I own the HE-400's, but I haven't actually used them from the H10. I haven't used those headphones for a while... If I get time, I can do a bit of a comparison for you between the M-Stage and Gustard stacks.
 
I don't know how much more they would open up with a more powerful amp like the H10, though. Can't say for sure unless I check the pairing out myself.
 
Personally, I wouldn't upgrade my amp/DAC unless one of them became the weak link in my audio chain. Right now, I wouldn't have thought that the Magni/Modi are bottlenecking your HE-400's.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

     Quote:
I made a more in-depth comparison in the combined Gustard amps and DACs thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/752522/gustard-amplifiers-and-dacs/30#post_11374713
 
I own the HE-400's, but I haven't actually used them from the H10. I haven't used those headphones for a while... If I get time, I can do a bit of a comparison for you between the M-Stage and Gustard stacks.
 
I don't know how much more they would open up with a more powerful amp like the H10, though. Can't say for sure unless I check the pairing out myself.
 
Personally, I wouldn't upgrade my amp/DAC unless one of them became the weak link in my audio chain. Right now, I wouldn't have thought that the Magni/Modi are bottlenecking your HE-400's.

That was a helpful comparison to the M-Stage stack. I wonder if, though, if it would be useful to swap amps with DACS to try to isolate which part is adding the glare and edginess to the experience, as this is a common trait that some have attributed to Sabre chips; perhaps glare and edginess are less features of the H10 amp. Also, the sense of extra detail, space, and imaging may be the corollary features of the X12 that counterbalance its potential toward glare.  I ask this because I am looking at the amp to pair with my Gungnir. 

 

[vlach]

Anyone here compared the H10 to the NuForce HA-200 with planars?

 

[bavinck]

Uh, I am confused by the specs on the x12. Can it take up to 32 bit 384 kHz
DSDx64(2.8224MHz)、DSDx128(5.6448MHz) via USB? Also, what is iis?

 

[hpamdr]

Anyone here compared the H10 to the NuForce HA-200 with planars?

Both are good choice and very nice amps specially with planars. Both are sonically transparent  and with both you will even enjoy the Silence ! Both are good bargain for the price !
 
For a One to One, the H10 is more versatile and have much more power. But the gustard is more sensible to the source/DAC than the Nuforce.  It needs a warm-up time >30 minutes and at leat 50H of burning before really being out of the box. Nevertheless, if you stick with Single Ended headphone, source .. my advice is to go for the H10.
 
But If you decide to go for full balanced setup, a dual HA-200 if for me the way to go (for now).
 
// You also have to notice that for the Gustard, the customer service, the manual, ... are nonexistent unless you speak Chinese and are able to contact directly the factory !

 

[lukeap69]

The H10 brought my portable planar PM-3 to another level. I thought it wouldn't scale well but it did... very nice.

 

[Lohb]

The H10 brought my portable planar PM-3 to another level. I thought it wouldn't scale well but it did... very nice.

...it's the magic pixie dust planar amp...looks like the best planar amp sub-$350 on the market.

 

[vlach]

Both are good choice and very nice amps specially with planars. Both are sonically transparent  and with both you will even enjoy the Silence ! Both are good bargain for the price !

 
For a One to One, the H10 is more versatile and have much more power. But the gustard is more sensible to the source/DAC than the Nuforce.  It needs a warm-up time >30 minutes and at leat 50H of burning before really being out of the box. Nevertheless, if you stick with Single Ended headphone, source .. my advice is to go for the H10.

But If you decide to go for full balanced setup, a dual HA-200 if for me the way to go (for now).

// You also have to notice that for the Gustard, the customer service, the manual, ... are nonexistent unless you speak Chinese and are able to contact directly the factory !

Thanks for your opinion.
Out of curiosity; how did you reach these conclusions? Did you hear both amps fed from the same source? Did you A/B them? Just trying to understand the context in which you are making these pronounciations.

 

[lukeap69]

...it's the magic pixie dust planar amp...looks like the best planar amp sub-$350 on the market.

Yep it surely is...

 

[Arnotts]

Yep it surely is...

It's definitely looking like it.
 
The H10 is a very good all-round amplifier, but I think it really shines with planars, as you guys have all said already . It's definitely not bad at all with the HD800's, in fact it still sounds fantastic. But something about the U12 + Matrix combo with the HD800's makes me want to go back to it. The differences are subtle, though (a testament to the all-round ability of the H10, I think, since a lot of people love the M-Stage amp with the HD800's).
 
I'm finding that the Gustard U12 --> Matrix M-Stage DAC --> Matrix M-Stage amp --> HD800's offers quite an amazing, musical sound. Possibly on par with the Gustard X12 --> Gustard H10 --> HD800's, if not a little bit more musical sounding!
 
Could be because the M-Stage is more suitable for driving higher impedance headphones.
 
I should probably mention that it was switching over the U12 to the M-Stage DAC that made me really love the sound even more. My X12 already has the XMOS USB input, and it sounds just as good without the U12 imo. Could have been the old, possibly low quality HDMI cable that I used for I2S, but I've never bothered to try different ones.
Amazing devices, all these Gustard products 

 
 
EDIT: I really should do proper comparisons before I say anything for certain. We all know that comparing different equipment like this really requires getting into the subtleties! I'm listening to the HD800's through the X12 + H10 right now and still loving it

 

[Utopia]

Could be because the M-Stage is more suitable for driving higher impedance headphones.

 
I think it has a lot to do with output impedance. I think it's 5 ohm for the M-Stage, which makes it a good match for the HD800. Don't know what it is for the H10, though.