[StanD]

   
Please find that quote from me 

  Those K550s are nearly pristine.  Now, that old iRiver DAP...  look, man, I was admitting to torturing the poor li'l guy with that setup.  What do you want??  Or are you secretly a member of that other PETA?  People for the Eating of Tasty Animals 

Don't BS us, you probably sold him to some secret headphone testing laboratory. He and Dr. Fang are getting along famously. He said that you're getting kicked to the back of the list for the next new model of HiFiMan cans.

 

[JoeDoe]

New toys in the house! Hopefully I'll have a balance cable for this guy for next week. You know for my incoming balanced amp and DAC

 

[ThurstonX]

  Don't BS us, you probably sold him to some secret headphone testing laboratory. He and Dr. Fang are getting along famously. He said that you're getting kicked to the back of the list for the next new model of HiFiMan cans.

 
I found Rangy's new cans.  Not too many bananas, either.  I think the mp3s will have to drop down to 64 kbps.  Seems about right.  Be sure to check the pix:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/738662/ussr-orthodynamic-headphones-tds-16-tds-5m

 

[StanD]

   
I found Rangy's new cans.  Not too many bananas, either.  I think the mp3s will have to drop down to 64 kbps.  Seems about right.  Be sure to check the pix:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/738662/ussr-orthodynamic-headphones-tds-16-tds-5m

No thanks, that's why he left home and Dr.Fang adopted him. Rangy is now an Alpha tester for the HE-6 replacement model, eat your heart out.

 

[ThurstonX]

  No thanks, that's why he left home and Dr.Fang adopted him. Rangy is now an Alpha tester for the HE-6 replacement model, eat your heart out.

 
You're referring to his doppelgänger, (W)rongy.  Rangy is happily burning in some tubes on my first real cans: Grado SR-225s (none of that "i" crap, either).  He's even got his own laptop on which he types his test experiences.
 
Me, I was listening to my HE-500s early.  Then I switched to the HE-560s and listened to the song that had just played.  I kept the HE-560s on.  The HE-500s will serve for those recordings where too much detail exposes their origins in the garage.

 

[one80]

So much more confused after reading this thread than when I started...
 
I'm looking at getting a pair of these HE500s and am having trouble picking what DAC/Amp to use. Currently I'm running Beyerdynamic COP's direct from the PC/Macbook/iphone etc.
 
Without breaking the bank what is a good starting point? I've been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo but there seems to be some mixed opinions on here? 

 

[spurxiii]

I'm selling my Emotiva mini-x if anyone's interested. Its in the FS forum

 

[spurxiii]

  I'm selling my Emotiva mini-x if anyone's interested. Its in the FS forum

I'll be also selling the Topping TP60, ad to come

 

[daerron]

  So much more confused after reading this thread than when I started...
 
I'm looking at getting a pair of these HE500s and am having trouble picking what DAC/Amp to use. Currently I'm running Beyerdynamic COP's direct from the PC/Macbook/iphone etc.
 
Without breaking the bank what is a good starting point? I've been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo but there seems to be some mixed opinions on here? 

 
Seems like  a good place to start, especially with their return warranty. If you don't like the Magni, you can always swap it for the Asgard 2 which seems well priced for $250. My money would be on a Audioquest Dragonfly or ODAC plus a Garage1217 Project Polaris. I had Dragonfly and Project Sunrise 2 combo for some time and it was great fun and excellent sounding. The Polaris is a solid state amp and has a lot more power so should do the HE-500 more justice. Another option though I have no experience with it looks to be the Audio-GD NFB-15. If you are willing to try a speaker tap adapter the Emotiva Mini-X is a beast to drive the HE-500 with and probably the best budget amp out there.

 

[StanD]

  So much more confused after reading this thread than when I started...
 
I'm looking at getting a pair of these HE500s and am having trouble picking what DAC/Amp to use. Currently I'm running Beyerdynamic COP's direct from the PC/Macbook/iphone etc.
 
Without breaking the bank what is a good starting point? I've been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo but there seems to be some mixed opinions on here? 

Is this where we get to spend your money?

 

[Liu Junyuan]

  So much more confused after reading this thread than when I started...
 
I'm looking at getting a pair of these HE500s and am having trouble picking what DAC/Amp to use. Currently I'm running Beyerdynamic COP's direct from the PC/Macbook/iphone etc.
 
Without breaking the bank what is a good starting point? I've been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo but there seems to be some mixed opinions on here? 

I think you've started looking in the right place. If it was me, I would look into Audio-GD's amp/dac combinations as a first bet--very good value, of high quality, and will drive the HE-500s. Their NFB-15, NFB-11, and Compass 2 get a lot of praise on these forums; I haven't tried one yet, but my eyes are on the C-2A in the near future. 
 
I can speak from experience that the Modi is a wonderful DAC for the money; instead of going Magni, though, I would go Vali for the HE-500s. 
 
All of this depends on your budget, but I think it's a good idea to start slow as all of those items have a high resale value on these forums. I sold a Modi within two hours of posting on it on the For Trade forums here and to close it before receiving any more PMs. 
 
Best,

 

[spurxiii]

I've used the Audio Gd NFB 15.32 ands it works really well with the HE500s for the price. It's also great as a standalone DAC should you decide to upgrade the amp so its quite versatile

 

[one80]

  I think you've started looking in the right place. If it was me, I would look into Audio-GD's amp/dac combinations as a first bet--very good value, of high quality, and will drive the HE-500s. Their NFB-15, NFB-11, and Compass 2 get a lot of praise on these forums; I haven't tried one yet, but my eyes are on the C-2A in the near future. 
 
I can speak from experience that the Modi is a wonderful DAC for the money; instead of going Magni, though, I would go Vali for the HE-500s. 
 
All of this depends on your budget, but I think it's a good idea to start slow as all of those items have a high resale value on these forums. I sold a Modi within two hours of posting on it on the For Trade forums here and to close it before receiving any more PMs. 
 
Best,

 
Thanks
 
Perhaps I'll  look at the Vali then, as I do like the look of the Schiit gear.
 
The Audio-GD seems like a pretty good option too and looks to have a little more power than the Schiits?

 

[xxxfbsxxx]

   
Thanks
 
Perhaps I'll  look at the Vali then, as I do like the look of the Schiit gear.
 
The Audio-GD seems like a pretty good option too and looks to have a little more power than the Schiits?

dont think its just a little more, at least twice or more than 3 times bigger

 

[borrego]

The Vali has too little power and too high output inpedance to drive the HE-500 to good potential. The headphones outputs of some 17 inch gaming notebooks can drive the HE-500 better comparing to the Vali. I would say don't waste your time.