[LS302]

Thanks! Good to know this. Omni is a bit far from my budget. Does the XLR balanced and RCA input on H10 deliver a lot difference sound?

 

[MLegend]

I have a v1vibro and the h10. It sounds very easy on the ears. Very mello together. If you have to get a new dac and amp , maybe look in the classifieds . There is an audio gd there for $500. Zack likes that pairing and he also likes the jds element. I enjoy the h10 with my vibro and there are some good deals on those here too. But, since you need a dac too you may look at a combo that the maker recommends. Vibro sounds great SE. balanced was a mild improvement. Unlike the omni which is amazing balanced. Ymmv.

Care to elaborate?

 

[tvnosaint]

When I use the zmf omni in balanced mode it opens up more. All of its strengths seem to get a steroid treatment. Clearer, better layering and soundstage , blacker background. The vibro takes the extra power in stride . It sounds a little more energetic. Not much of a change to me. On the upside, vibro is the least finicky headphone I've ever owned. It just always sounds good. There is nothing I've amped it with that made me say "that's a bad pairing". All it does is score touchdowns. It's dark and easy to listen to also very comfy to me. Not like hd800 comfy but old shoe comfy. I will say the geek out v2 SE elevated the bass to the point of interfering with the mids. But not unacceptably. Vibro is easier to drive than the omni as well. Hope that covers it.

 

[MLegend]

Thanks, it just piqued my curiosity when you mentioned the omni sounding better balanced vs single ended. I found the same thing with my 650s with my set up. 

 

[desik]

 
Thanks! Good to know this. Omni is a bit far from my budget. Does the XLR balanced and RCA input on H10 deliver a lot difference sound?

I'm also interested to know this.
 
Also, does XLR cable choice affect SQ?

 

[tvnosaint]

I dunno yet. Just one cheapie and it's fantastic. Getting one this week for he560 then an upgrade for omni next month. I know we're a bit off topic here, sorry.

 

[willowbrook]

Does anyone have experience with any headphones that have similar signature to HE-560, but with more bass response, more upper treble, and less upper-mid energy, whether it be dynamic or planar. I am planning to sell my HE-560 for something else and keep using my full boat H10. I was possibly thinking the T1. If anyone has any experience, any advice would be great. I feel my HE-560 with full boat lacks sub-bass and has too much mid-upper energy while treble extension is not greatly heard. Basically, the sparkle/air is toned down when using duals. However, without duals it lacks body...HE-560 is very hard to match
 
Also, on top of that, looking for something with better soundstage and imaging.

 

[wwmhf]

  Does anyone have experience with any headphones that have similar signature to HE-560, but with more bass response, more upper treble, and less upper-mid energy, whether it be dynamic or planar. I am planning to sell my HE-560 for something else and keep using my full boat H10. I was possibly thinking the T1. If anyone has any experience, any advice would be great. I feel my HE-560 with full boat lacks sub-bass and has too much mid-upper energy while treble extension is not greatly heard. Basically, the sparkle/air is toned down when using duals. However, without duals it lacks body...HE-560 is very hard to match
 
Also, on top of that, looking for something with better soundstage and imaging.

 
By my experience, it seems not hard to find tube amps that work better with T1 than H10. 

 

[olek]

@willowbrook - my T70 are fitting your description, but that is subject of my interpretation of your words. T1 should be great too.
 
And I think @wwmhf is right, H10 may not give justice to whatever Beyers you choose. Maybe full boat is different beast, and it will be OK, but stock H10 is not quite perfect for Beyers.
But... there is only one way to find it out... right - it is to try it out for yourself!

 
I would like to share my discovery of what is a perfect (for me) amp for Beyers. Got my hands on Tascam DA-3000 a week ago, primarily for digitizing vinyl, but also to use as standalone computer-less DAC. I had very low expectations of its headphone amp, and it surprised me BIG time. In few words: it works better for high impedance cans than BH Crack with Speedball. Not sure how that is even possible - that should not be, as I understand that amp is built on some lowly opamps. Still, truth is, T70 sounds very nice (if a touch analytical) from it, HD600 were also nice, a bit dry, but swapping in cable from HD650 made them majestic and a bit on 'rich' side, and biggest surprise of all - DT880 600Ohm.... oh man... I always thought about them as not very detailed headphones, and now their detail is on the same level with T70, their explosiveness (that always lacked because amps are having such a hard time swinging 600 Ohm) is through the roof, and they maintain their neutral signature that I always was very fond of.
 
Makes me shudder that I almost sold them (DT880).
 
Anyway, I have finally decided that I am firmly in the camp of dynamic high impedance headphones. So, I am in the process of selling some of my other gear, including HE400i, and sadly, H10. Probably Crack will go too, but holding on to that for now.
 
... Still do not understand how that DA-3000 can have such good, transparent headphone amp. This hobby is full of surprises and strange twists.

 

[willowbrook]

@willowbrook - my T70 are fitting your description, but that is subject of my interpretation of your words. T1 should be great too.

And I think @wwmhf
is right, H10 may not give justice to whatever Beyers you choose. Maybe full boat is different beast, and it will be OK, but stock H10 is not quite perfect for Beyers.
But... there is only one way to find it out... right - it is to try it out for yourself!

I would like to share my discovery of what is a perfect (for me) amp for Beyers. Got my hands on Tascam DA-3000 a week ago, primarily for digitizing vinyl, but also to use as standalone computer-less DAC. I had very low expectations of its headphone amp, and it surprised me BIG time. In few words: it works better for high impedance cans than BH Crack with Speedball. Not sure how that is even possible - that should not be, as I understand that amp is built on some lowly opamps. Still, truth is, T70 sounds very nice (if a touch analytical) from it, HD600 were also nice, a bit dry, but swapping in cable from HD650 made them majestic and a bit on 'rich' side, and biggest surprise of all - DT880 600Ohm.... oh man... I always thought about them as not very detailed headphones, and now their detail is on the same level with T70, their explosiveness (that always lacked because amps are having such a hard time swinging 600 Ohm) is through the roof, and they maintain their neutral signature that I always was very fond of.

Makes me shudder that I almost sold them (DT880).

Anyway, I have finally decided that I am firmly in the camp of dynamic high impedance headphones. So, I am in the process of selling some of my other gear, including HE400i, and sadly, H10. Probably Crack will go too, but holding on to that for now.

... Still do not understand how that DA-3000 can have such good, transparent headphone amp. This hobby is full of surprises and strange twists.

Thanks for the suggestion. The only brand I can think of that makes the type of sound sig I am looking for is beyer. Maybe the HD800 is also a good choice, but I do not want to go through the hassle of matching an amp and dac for it. Also, it is pretty expensive. I might have to look at thr t70 or t90 that you mentioned. T1 is one of the headphones on my list to have for a long time, but never got a chance to try it.

 

[mmlogic]

  @willowbrook - my T70 are fitting your description, but that is subject of my interpretation of your words. T1 should be great too.
 
And I think @wwmhf is right, H10 may not give justice to whatever Beyers you choose. Maybe full boat is different beast, and it will be OK, but stock H10 is not quite perfect for Beyers.
But... there is only one way to find it out... right - it is to try it out for yourself!

 
I would like to share my discovery of what is a perfect (for me) amp for Beyers. Got my hands on Tascam DA-3000 a week ago, primarily for digitizing vinyl, but also to use as standalone computer-less DAC. I had very low expectations of its headphone amp, and it surprised me BIG time. In few words: it works better for high impedance cans than BH Crack with Speedball. Not sure how that is even possible - that should not be, as I understand that amp is built on some lowly opamps. Still, truth is, T70 sounds very nice (if a touch analytical) from it, HD600 were also nice, a bit dry, but swapping in cable from HD650 made them majestic and a bit on 'rich' side, and biggest surprise of all - DT880 600Ohm.... oh man... I always thought about them as not very detailed headphones, and now their detail is on the same level with T70, their explosiveness (that always lacked because amps are having such a hard time swinging 600 Ohm) is through the roof, and they maintain their neutral signature that I always was very fond of.
 
Makes me shudder that I almost sold them (DT880).
 
Anyway, I have finally decided that I am firmly in the camp of dynamic high impedance headphones. So, I am in the process of selling some of my other gear, including HE400i, and sadly, H10. Probably Crack will go too, but holding on to that for now.
 
... Still do not understand how that DA-3000 can have such good, transparent headphone amp. This hobby is full of surprises and strange twists.

 
Now that you mention it.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZDSD.html

 

[olek]

Yes! ZDSD is upgraded Tascam DA-3000!
 
Do not know how much those upgrades help but personally I find that in DA-3000 ADC in it is top-notch, DAC is good (half a notch below Denon DA-300USB), and amp is stellar, if unforgiving for bad recordings/sources. My current phono stage is a bit bright, and I end up switching from DA-3000 to Crack on bright recordings, since it is more gentle on high frequencies. Nice part about having couple headphones and amps that are similar and compatible is that it is easy to switch combinations to adjust for more clarity, or more forgiveness, while keeping overall sound signature. Before (with HE400 vs Beyers) jump between them was always too much... it takes days to readjust my ears from one to another, sound signature is just too different.

 

[MLegend]

  Does anyone have experience with any headphones that have similar signature to HE-560, but with more bass response, more upper treble, and less upper-mid energy, whether it be dynamic or planar. I am planning to sell my HE-560 for something else and keep using my full boat H10. I was possibly thinking the T1. If anyone has any experience, any advice would be great. I feel my HE-560 with full boat lacks sub-bass and has too much mid-upper energy while treble extension is not greatly heard. Basically, the sparkle/air is toned down when using duals. However, without duals it lacks body...HE-560 is very hard to match
 
Also, on top of that, looking for something with better soundstage and imaging.

What gain is your H10 set to?

 

[ginetto61]

  ...  I would like to share my discovery of what is a perfect (for me) amp for Beyers. Got my hands on Tascam DA-3000 a week ago, primarily for digitizing vinyl, but also to use as standalone computer-less DAC.
I had very low expectations of its headphone amp, and it surprised me BIG time.
In few words: it works better for high impedance cans than BH Crack with Speedball. ....
Still do not understand how that DA-3000 can have such good, transparent headphone amp. This hobby is full of surprises and strange twists. 
Not sure how that is even possible - that should not be, as I understand that amp is built on some lowly opamps

 
Good morning !  thank you very much for your very interesting advice.
understand from where ? do you have additional information ?
i wonder if a service manual/schematic is available ... i would be curious to look at the schematic.
 

Anyway, I have finally decided that I am firmly in the camp of dynamic high impedance headphones.

Do you mean HPs with Z>250 ohm ?  Could you please elaborate a little more the main reasons for this choice ? sorry if you have already said and i miss it.
Thanks a lot again,  gino

 

[leggy]

Thanks for the suggestion. The only brand I can think of that makes the type of sound sig I am looking for is beyer. Maybe the HD800 is also a good choice, but I do not want to go through the hassle of matching an amp and dac for it. Also, it is pretty expensive. I might have to look at thr t70 or t90 that you mentioned. T1 is one of the headphones on my list to have for a long time, but never got a chance to try it.

Keep in mind, both T1 2nd gen and T90 lack in mids. I auditioned both and wasn't impressed, at least not at that price point.