[mellowjamie]

It's not so much a shop, more a converted barn with those high back leather chairs from "The Matrix", lots of lush furniture, headphones and amps. Lovely place, lovely people.

 

[TokenGesture]

  It's not so much a shop, more a converted barn with those high back leather chairs from "The Matrix", lots of lush furniture, headphones and amps. Lovely place, lovely people.

More like a Headfi spa or Wellness Centre 

 

[obsidyen]

  Just this last weekend I spent the day at the Hifi Lounge's headphone shop, High End Headphones. What a glorious place, but I'll address that elsewhere on the website. Highly recommended for anyone in the UK.
 
I auditioned the following:
 
Audeze LCD-2 (with Trilogy 931)
Audeze LCD-X (with Trilogy 931)
Sennheiser HD800s (with matching Sennheiser amp)
Hifiman Edition X (with Trilogy 931)
Hifiman HE-560 (with Trilogy 931)
Mr Speakers Ether (with Trilogy 931)
Mr Speakers Ether C (with Trilogy 931)
Beyerdynamic T1 (with A2 amp)
 
I'd also previously tested:
 
Stax SR-L700 with Stax SRM-006ts energiser
Oppo PM-1 with Oppo HA-1
 
It's quite a list, and ticks a lot of the what's hot in headphones at the moment.
 
I have to say, for my particular preference of sound and music tastes, the Edition X was my favourite. I know it won't be for everyone, but in my humble opinion it had detail and soundstage depth / width that was 90% of the Stax set up, but had what Stax doesn't have, which is warmth and a lovely, lush bass. They may not be as precise and analytical as the Sennheiser and Beyer set ups, which I enjoyed immensely too, but what the X lacked in detail compared to these, they made up with sheer musicality. 
 
But now I'm faced with what amp? The power requirements are low, and Hifiman recommend not over amping them, so what are people's recommendations?

I tried with the Trilogy 931 was really nice, and then I switched up to the Questyle CMA800R which took the Edition X to another level. 
 
Any suggestions from anyone?

Did you try EDM with them?..

 

[YugiRider2]

  Just this last weekend I spent the day at the Hifi Lounge's headphone shop, High End Headphones. What a glorious place, but I'll address that elsewhere on the website. Highly recommended for anyone in the UK.
 
I auditioned the following:
 
Audeze LCD-2 (with Trilogy 931)
Audeze LCD-X (with Trilogy 931)
Sennheiser HD800s (with matching Sennheiser amp)
Hifiman Edition X (with Trilogy 931)
Hifiman HE-560 (with Trilogy 931)
Mr Speakers Ether (with Trilogy 931)
Mr Speakers Ether C (with Trilogy 931)
Beyerdynamic T1 (with A2 amp)
 
I'd also previously tested:
 
Stax SR-L700 with Stax SRM-006ts energiser
Oppo PM-1 with Oppo HA-1
 
It's quite a list, and ticks a lot of the what's hot in headphones at the moment.
 
I have to say, for my particular preference of sound and music tastes, the Edition X was my favourite. I know it won't be for everyone, but in my humble opinion it had detail and soundstage depth / width that was 90% of the Stax set up, but had what Stax doesn't have, which is warmth and a lovely, lush bass. They may not be as precise and analytical as the Sennheiser and Beyer set ups, which I enjoyed immensely too, but what the X lacked in detail compared to these, they made up with sheer musicality. 
 
But now I'm faced with what amp? The power requirements are low, and Hifiman recommend not over amping them, so what are people's recommendations?

I tried with the Trilogy 931 was really nice, and then I switched up to the Questyle CMA800R which took the Edition X to another level. 
 
Any suggestions from anyone?

You honestly don't need anything powerful to drive the HEX to its full potential. I find that Mojo + HEX is as good as a much more expensive setup like Gumby + WA22. HEX doesn't scale with extra power and according to HIFIMAN, anything more than 1-2W can cause damage and will distort the headphones due to its high sensitivity. I don't think that it will actually damage your headphones as HIFIMAN says, but it certainly doesn't benefit the headphones that much.

 

[Audiowood]

For DAP. I recommend Q1PR if you want to go class A direct current mode. It sound similar to desktop and they sound best with Planar headphones. 

 

[bimmer100]

You honestly don't need anything powerful to drive the HEX to its full potential. I find that Mojo + HEX is as good as a much more expensive setup like Gumby + WA22. HEX doesn't scale with extra power and according to HIFIMAN, anything more than 1-2W can cause damage and will distort the headphones due to its high sensitivity. I don't think that it will actually damage your headphones as HIFIMAN says, but it certainly doesn't benefit the headphones that much.

I don't believe an amp with more than 1-2watts of power will damage the hex. You still have to be oblivious to turn the volume up high enough to damage them.
My master11 powers them with ease... Obviously. But no way would I damage them. They seriously aren't anything out of the ordinary as far as how efficient they are. Oppo pm3 is similar. Anyhow, my m11 outputs 16watts at 25ohm. I actually think the specs of the hifiman are over inflated on how efficient they really are. But whatever. I'm certainly not buying that it's easy to damage a pair of hex.
Hifiman replaces he-6 drivers more than anything since people hookup loud speaker amps to them! Haha. But I could blow a pair of he-6 up with my m11 even. Just keep cranking and eventually it will damage. I don't see it happening on accident though.

 

[YugiRider2]

I don't believe an amp with more than 1-2watts of power will damage the hex. You still have to be oblivious to turn the volume up high enough to damage them.
My master11 powers them with ease... Obviously. But no way would I damage them. They seriously aren't anything out of the ordinary as far as how efficient they are. Oppo pm3 is similar. Anyhow, my m11 outputs 16watts at 25ohm. I actually think the specs of the hifiman are over inflated on how efficient they really are. But whatever. I'm certainly not buying that it's easy to damage a pair of hex.
Hifiman replaces he-6 drivers more than anything since people hookup loud speaker amps to them! Haha. But I could blow a pair of he-6 up with my m11 even. Just keep cranking and eventually it will damage. I don't see it happening on accident though.

Yeah that's what I thought as well.. seems unlikely considering the Audeze LCD-X has lower impedence and about the same efficiency yet can be driven with whatever.
I was just paraphrasing what HIFIMAN said.

 

[tuna47]

I also find that the mojo sounds great with them. Had the lyr bifrost uber did not feel that the hex went well with tubes too mellow

 

[mellowjamie]

EDM?

 

[swspiers]

 
How does the sound compare to the 400i's?

They're more "soft" sounding than the HE400i is the first, most noticeable difference.  The treble is much more relaxed, but even in the bass the HE400i has a "harder edge" on transients.  Soundstage is deeper than the HE400i.  Lower mids are very similar, upper mids are a bit louder on the HEX.  Resolution and speeds are about the same.  Bass is a bit more textured on the HEX, a bit more punchy on the HE400i.

It's an old quote, but after spending a couple of hours with the HEX, my friend here pretty much nailed things in a general way.. WAY more texture and detail with the HEX, better imaging, wider soundstage.

I prefer the bass on the 400i's though, just more body overall, even at the expense of some detail.

The thing is, the 400i's are not completely outclassed, based on my first solid listening session. I'm a little surprised...

Edit: my impression of these headphones steadily declined the more I listened to them. Imaging is excellent, and the soundstage is equally great. But when it came to listening to busy music with a lot going on, the smoothness was irritating. Bass and drums seemed to have no impact or dynamics to them. In fact, a lot of stuff, especially Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" were just...boring.

Perhaps these are great headphones, but not for me.

 

[OctaviaeZ]

Looking to buy one this week, what is the cheapest acceptable amp in your guys' opinion? I was thinking something along the lines of a used FiiO E10K could hold me over until i get some more cash

 

[tuna47]

I like the mojo $600 dac and portable amp you can drive the hex with almost anything not a power hog, but I feel you always benefit from a good dac amp

 

[JEspina456]

I used a Teac HA-P50. It's a portable DAC and amp. Great sound, nice power. Usually can find for about $139.

 

[OctaviaeZ]

I used a Teac HA-P50. It's a portable DAC and amp. Great sound, nice power. Usually can find for about $139.

Thanks! Will be one of the first things on my shopping list
 
 
 
So excited right now, got a pair off the classifieds! They will get here sometime next week, but I will be stuck using this until I get a proper amp haha 
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829270004&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-USB+Converters-_-N82E16829270004&gclid=CjwKEAjwubK4BRC1xczKrZyj3mkSJAC6ntgrjtx4eAW1eo61XT1vcgHRtyZThv2BqGncwWM-DAbnyRoCu3jw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[JEspina456]

Hey! Glad I could help. I love my HEX as well. One of my favorite purchase. Enjoy!