[TWerk]

Audeze Deckard!

 

[eswng679]

Hi to all! Please suggest a combiner amplifier + DAC for headphones HE500 in the range of $200-500 please, thank you

Schiit Jotunheim 2 with ES9028 DAC module.

 

[bagwell359]

I don't remember saying they are better by any means, just more portable and not sacrificing much of layering or timbre. I must've gotten lucky with the comfort I suppose.

What pads and amp are you using? I just compared my 500’s to a friends Sundara which he was proud of, and I was at my most pleasant so as to not hurt his feelings. I tried to find something besides the light weight and efficiency but they were ranked out with not one other thing to recommend them. He stayed quiet but 2.5 weeks later he sent them back and bought an OG Clear and is plotting more moves. He learned fast.

 

[bagwell359]

Schiit Jotunheim 2 with ES9028 DAC module.

Like the jot 2 quite a bit - in balanced esp. the included dac is umm whacked by the standalone MB Dac Schiit sells for $299. IMO of course.

 

[eswng679]

Like the jot 2 quite a bit - in balanced esp. the included dac is umm whacked by the standalone MB Dac Schiit sells for $299. IMO of course.

I would agree that a standalone DAC unit with the Jot 2 is preferred but I think OP's original question was for a combined all-in-one solution up to a limit of $500. When the Modius was $199, I would have definitely recommended Jot 2 and Modius for a balanced set up and call it a day. However, with the price increases, it pushes it beyond $500. The MB2 would push it to $600.

I personally have the Bifrost 2 OG and Jotunheim 2 and I think it pairs very well with my HE500s.

 

[bagwell359]

Schiit Jotunheim 2 with ES9028 DAC module.

Like the jot 2 quite a bit - in balanced esp. the included dac is umm whacked by the standalone MB Dac Schiit sells for $299. IMO of course

I would agree that a standalone DAC unit with the Jot 2 is preferred but I think OP's original question was for a combined all-in-one solution up to a limit of $500. When the Modius was $199, I would have definitely recommended Jot 2 and Modius for a balanced set up and call it a day. However, with the price increases, it pushes it beyond $500. The MB2 would push it to $600.

I personally have the Bifrost 2 OG and Jotunheim 2 and I think it pairs very well with my HE500s.

yup, i figure based on experience, that a budget can always get nudged a bit.

i strongly advise all not to get a dac/amp combo. despite what asr says, dacs are still changing quite a bit. there are no class omega 6 amps (or whatever) on the horizon.

 

[r343]

He stayed quiet but 2.5 weeks later he sent them back and bought an OG Clear and is plotting more moves. He learned fast.

OG Clear is tougher opponent but when i had HE500 and OG Clear next to next, Clear had some merits like clarity and i want to say instrument separation but HE500 has that planar imaging with nice bite to it. HE500 throws somewhat heavy wall of sound effect compared to Clear which gives some hint of its age, Arya SE masked this surprisingly well with more depth.

But overall i preferred HE500 to Clear because, 1. Smoother 2. Soundstage 3.Vocal performance, i felt that Clear let me down little bit with vocals, not bad but not great, average.

 

[bagwell359]

oops, dupe.

 

[Phenom24]

Schiit Jotunheim 2 with ES9028 DAC module.

How does this connection sound?

 

[Phenom24]

I would agree that a standalone DAC unit with the Jot 2 is preferred but I think OP's original question was for a combined all-in-one solution up to a limit of $500. When the Modius was $199, I would have definitely recommended Jot 2 and Modius for a balanced set up and call it a day. However, with the price increases, it pushes it beyond $500. The MB2 would push it to $600.

I personally have the Bifrost 2 OG and Jotunheim 2 and I think it pairs very well with my HE500s.

Can really save a little more money and get a separate Dac + Jot2? and what do you say for jot first?

 

[Phenom24]

I would agree that a standalone DAC unit with the Jot 2 is preferred but I think OP's original question was for a combined all-in-one solution up to a limit of $500. When the Modius was $199, I would have definitely recommended Jot 2 and Modius for a balanced set up and call it a day. However, with the price increases, it pushes it beyond $500. The MB2 would push it to $600.

I personally have the Bifrost 2 OG and Jotunheim 2 and I think it pairs very well with my HE500s.

I have a Ukrainian-made S-Audio Focus combiner, but for some reason the sound of the he500 is not very interesting, the sound is dry, sharp and tiring, there is no pleasure, maybe it is a matter of power or the fact that it is equal in sound and does not match the he500?

 

[KCXT]

Pulled my HE-500s out for the first time in a lonnnnng time. I remember them as my favorites and memory tends to romanticize, but they absolutely still deliver the goods. There really is something about the mids, just clear and 'real'. The bass is great and the treble has just enough sparkle to keep things interesting but these really knock the mids out of the park. Signal chain is E50 --> THX 789 and it's just so darn clean. It's absurd, but I'm tempted to buy a 2nd pair to have just in case.

It's interesting contrasting these mids to the LCD-2c I had on a bit ago. Those are intimiate but these maintain a similar body but with more realism too. Magic.

 

[TWerk]

Pulled my HE-500s out for the first time in a lonnnnng time. I remember them as my favorites and memory tends to romanticize, but they absolutely still deliver the goods. There really is something about the mids, just clear and 'real'. The bass is great and the treble has just enough sparkle to keep things interesting but these really knock the mids out of the park. Signal chain is E50 --> THX 789 and it's just so darn clean. It's absurd, but I'm tempted to buy a 2nd pair to have just in case.

It's interesting contrasting these mids to the LCD-2c I had on a bit ago. Those are intimiate but these maintain a similar body but with more realism too. Magic.

They're my favorite, literally. I will never sell my pair.

 

[Natarian]

What's are some current headphones that sound similar to the HE-500?

 

[TWerk]

HE6SE V2 is like an upgrade to it - HE-500 is a more relaxed, mid-centric somewhat less resolving listen. But fantastic likewise.