[oopeteroo]

hi
iam going to get the he500.

own odac+o2 today and wondering how well it will drive the he500?

heard that magni/modi are better for he500? so maybe will sell my odac/o2 for it if its true?

also heard Audio GD NFB 11.32 is good for he500.
how much better will it drive he500 compare to magno/modi?

so which one is best for he500? or is there other better option at same price?

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

hi
iam going to get the he500.

own odac+o2 today and wondering how well it will drive the he500?

heard that magni/modi are better for he500? so maybe will sell my odac/o2 for it if its true?

also heard Audio GD NFB 11.32 is good for he500.
how much better will it drive he500 compare to magno/modi?

so which one is best for he500? or is there other better option at same price?

An Odac/Magni (or Modi, whichever is the Dac) with a integrated speaker amp (vintage/new production) driving the he500 via speaker tap 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

An Odac/Magni (or Modi, whichever is the Dac) with a integrated speaker amp (vintage/new production) driving the he500 via speaker tap 

 
+1

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

 
The W4S2 was actually on top of my list until I tried it 

. It's not bright as some other Dac (Mytek/Benchmark1 comes to mind - but I classified them as "solid state went wrong"), still the performance is quite lacking compared to competitors in the same range.
 
A hummingbird told me W4S2 with modified IV stage fed by OR5 via i2s is a world class dac - but of course I have no way to confirm that 

 (plus the OR5 alone cost 2500 bucks)

 
hmmm. interesting to note.
 
i guess it might be better to save up till i can buy something i really would like. either an M51 or a PWD (PWD would be endgame for me)

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

hi
iam going to get the he500.

own odac+o2 today and wondering how well it will drive the he500?

heard that magni/modi are better for he500? so maybe will sell my odac/o2 for it if its true?

also heard Audio GD NFB 11.32 is good for he500.
how much better will it drive he500 compare to magno/modi?

so which one is best for he500? or is there other better option at same price?

 
Try it out first with the HE-500, if you like it, then keep it. I would still keep the O2. While the O2 isn't the best match for these planars, the O2 is still a great amp for most dynamic. For example D2000 off an O2 is very, very clean and fast. Not quite the LCD-2 or HE-500 performance but still very enjoyable
 
Also, cheap speaker amp would be the best at that price. Look for vintage amps without around 20-50Watts of power. I always see vintage Marantz somewhere for good prices.

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

 
hmmm. interesting to note.
 
i guess it might be better to save up till i can buy something i really would like. either an M51 or a PWD (PWD would be endgame for me)

Lots of choices. I've heard most DAC up to 4k and if you can find a m51 @ ~1200-1400 bucks it'll be a really nice bargain (while not missing much). I think Nad hits the sweet spot with the m51 - cheap, good sounding and got most of the features that most people want. If you got bored/upgrade, the Nad can also double duty for your home theater setup =p. Also there's the Calyx 24/192 (not sure if it has a name), but connectivity wise it loses to the Nad - also requiring a PSU.
 
Too bad I never had the chance or incentive to try the PWD - dealers are charging 2.9k GBP (~$4.5k) for them around here 

, and that's "special offer" compared to the 4k MSRP lol. 
 
Cheap speaker amp is really the best to power the He500 on a budget. If one looks around for a decent (and cheap) amplifier with 2 speaker terminals, it can also drive a pair of speakers too (passive speaker beats most consumer pc speaker -and is cheap to boot!). If it's a vintage model, the HP out may even use the power amp circuitry (not opamp like modern receiver), saving the cost of making a speaker tap cable. It's win-win, the only cons is the weight/size

 

[Stalker81598]

I just added the Lyr and a power conditioner to my rig and absolutely loving it. Undoubtedly an improvement over the Magni, as expected. HE-500 really sings with this setup.

 

[h4mm3r 0f th0r]

can these cheap ass amplifers be good with the he500...
 
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-A1-Class-D-Digital-Amplifier/dp/B004FSXON8/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1366348862&sr=8-25&keywords=fiio

 

[kenshinhimura]

how about these two off the headphone jack?
 
http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-DTA-100a-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B004JK8BDK/ref=pd_cp_e_1
 
http://www.amazon.com/Sherwood-RX-4109-Stereo-Receiver-Black/dp/product-description/B000MBUSD6

 

[Zoom25]

^ I would also like to know.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

I'm gonna say best bang for the bucks under $1k would be a Metrum Octave + a stello U3/Kingrex cheapo transport - or an used Electrocompaniet ECD1. Or an MDHT Havana with modded cap and NOS tube/used Neko D100 mk2 if you prefer a warmer sound. Then you sort of hit a brickwall and need to spend 2-3x amount on dac to clearly beat those performance 

 
this
 
Quote:

You might be shocked when you do. Coming from soneone who was using Fiio as the source and then moved to the Schiit Bifrost. All of a sudden the HE-500 had much more soundstage depth and much better imaging, layers and layers deep, Not to mention clarity across the board. And the people just consider the Bifrost as "okay". I know a lot of people focus on headphones then amps, but once you hear what a good source can do for you. It's hard to forget. I'm personally looking at the Concero as the best bang for the buck under a $1000 right now. Although I do drool at that X-Sabre.

 
IMO, it is not. What it achieves with its tiny size and (trans)portable form factor is quite a feat, but it cannot match a DAC with a dedicated power supply. At least, that's my experience with it so far. I should check on another laptop to see if the treble glare/harshness can be removed.
 
Adding a Metrum Quad in the chain removes that harshness/hardness (and pretty much any digital aspect of the sound: that's the "Metrum's Magic") and improves all the aspect on the sound while retaining the Concero lively sound signature (the Metrum is what one call a transparent DAC).
 
The Ref 5 is technically better than the Concero standalone. I suspect the NFB-1.32 would be also more technical while producing a sound signature closer to the Concero's (probably more fleshed out in the mids, smoother in the highs). It is ~$100 more expensive, bulky and not really nice looking (especially compared to the lovely Concero!) but in terms of sound, I wouldn't be surprise to read it "trounces" the Concero.

 

[EasySounds]

Is it me or is there no such thing as 'end-game' on Head-Fi?

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

Is it me or is there no such thing as 'end-game' on Head-Fi?

 
New Wife?
 
Master 7 + EF-6 + HE-6 might well be mine (I have high hopes on this one...)

 

[Contrails]

Quote:

Is it me or is there no such thing as 'end-game' on Head-Fi?

 
Exactly what I am thinking.  I was considering the bifrost/peachtree DAC-iT and somehow I end up at the ordering page for a Metrum Octave... 

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

 
Exactly what I am thinking.  I was considering the bifrost/peachtree DAC-iT and somehow I end up at the ordering page for a Metrum Octave... 

 
The mkII?