[Bonddam]

I recommend eq for those not using one. I have a cheap one purchased from Amazon called Bellari EQ570. Basically just using it to increase bass on the Heddphone. Also when off makes RAD-0 and Hedd sound thin when no eq is applied. I actually was ok with no bass eq but now my brain will not except no use of an eq. I enjoy the ATM mids and highs over planar but I like the bass on the planar much more.

 

[caustic386]

Although HEDDphone takes more power than most, power is cheap and clean these days. As another mentioned above, Ampersand will do the trick (you can buy mine if you want, haven't thought about price yet) but assuming 86dB/W @ 41ohm is accurate, even a NX7 will get you to 115dB with (very) inaudible distortion.

 

[theveterans]

If you don't have speaker amps, GSX MK2 would be enough. GSX Mini is not enough to make it sing fully though. Woo WA5 LE on low impedance, high gain is really good though but the MK2 is about 90% of that if you don't want to spring for 300B tubes

 

[Bonddam]

Wells Audio Milo for $1599 pushing 10 watts into Heddphone. The Milo is a warm single ended amp that comes with 4 pin and 1/4 headphone out. The amp sounds really good and does not take up much room. Design of the Milo comes across DIY but nicely done even so. The amp puts out 18 watts into 8 ohms and 12watts into 32 ohms.

 

[Satriany]

Hello,
I think I am going to get a ifi signature for the heddphone, but wonder if power and pairing will be ok ?
Also thinking of dx7 pro+ and smsl m500 mk2 in the price range...
I am looking for a DAC amp in this range of price...
Thanks

 

[dunring]

I have a Heddphone arriving tomorrow, and going to try it on several amps. I have an SMSL SP200, SP400, SH-9, plus the Topping A90 discrete and L30 II and will see which does the best on it. Just for kicks I'm going to try it on this Soundblaster X1 using an adapter. It did power the DT880 600 ohm pretty loud, but no headroom for EQ at all. I'll use the Topping E50 DAC as a baseline to keep it consistent for the amplifiers. It's amp-a-palooza this week, so good timing on these arriving today.

Update, it arrived and much easier to drive than I was expecting. The Topping L30 II is at 12 oclock on high gain and I wouldn't want to go louder for any length of time. The SP400/M400 combo sounds the best to bring out bass dynamics and treble a little more (or less warm to say another way). The sound reminds me most of the Hifiman He6se after equalizing it, but without the ordeal of powering them loud with a -4 or -6db preamp reduction. I quickly learned why people use banana clips on a speaker amp with those. The A90 discreet is excellent on the balanced side with tons of power, you'll never leave medium gain with an XLR DAC like the E50.

It's smooth and refined, but not too warm or rolled off in the treble region. The treble isn't as rolled off as a Focal Elegia, but it's getting there. Pre-volume war recordings and replaygain will need more power than the L30 II has to offer, but out of the box it's ok. If you get a pair of these and hear foam rustling when you put them on, wear them 5 minutes and the memory foam warms up and they're silent. These are heavy, but not if you're used to wearing a bike or motorcycle helmet for hours, no problem. Just tried them on the SMSL SP200 that was plugged in anyway, 50 percent in high gain and I wouldn't go further. Going to spend the day mixing and matching stuff on these...