[hifimanrookie]

reading the last few post i am wondering why people thinking like that, buy an expensive (yes 699usd is expensive!) phone like the he500 anyway???? a phone can create a HUGE placebo effect also...just stick to a cheapish (lower model) Philips/Grado/sennheiser/Beyer etc. phone of 100euro and THINK its a TOTL phone and ur brain makes u believe its the best u ever heard and it saves u a fortune in the process...IF WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THOSE KIND OF THOUGHTS ofcourse.

 

[StanD]

  reading the last few post i am wondering why people thinking like that, buy an expensive (yes 699usd is expensive!) phone like the he500 anyway???? a phone can create a HUGE placebo effect also...just stick to a cheapish (lower model) Philips/Grado/sennheiser/Beyer etc. phone of 100euro and THINK its a TOTL phone and ur brain makes u believe its the best u ever heard and it saves u a fortune in the process...IF WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THOSE KIND OF THOUGHTS ofcourse.

Cans are a different animal involving mechanical and acoustical factors as well as our individual head shapes and ear canals. IMO cans make the biggest difference, as long as you can drive them well enough.

 

[davidsh]

  reading the last few post i am wondering why people thinking like that, buy an expensive (yes 699usd is expensive!) phone like the he500 anyway???? a phone can create a HUGE placebo effect also...just stick to a cheapish (lower model) Philips/Grado/sennheiser/Beyer etc. phone of 100euro and THINK its a TOTL phone and ur brain makes u believe its the best u ever heard and it saves u a fortune in the process...IF WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THOSE KIND OF THOUGHTS ofcourse.

Hehe, I see your point. This hobby is 90% belief and 10% performance difference, right?
 
Well, I believe better headphones being worth the dosh.. But I also believe that often you would get better sound from spending more on the headphones than amp/DAC. Not always, I have experienced the opposite with the HE-400 vs HE-500 but maybe that was placebo and expectation bias as well?? I believe not.. or.. dunno 

 
Simply put, I pick my battles with care and the whole super expensive amp/DAC thing is not a battle I really want to take for now..

 

[Mandala]

  When you do that use the same source, get a headphone switch (to quickly switch the HE-500's between both amps) and match the volumes to do a proper comparison. If you can do that, I would be very interested in your observations.

I actually read an article somewhere where a guy was comparing a few amps with the 400. If I'm not mistaken it was the Fiio E17/E09k, the Burson Soloist, and the Lyr. His general impression was that the major difference between the fiio rig and the Lyr was that the bass tightened up significantly with the Lyr, which at the time was just about exactly what I was looking for. As of late I've discovered that I also don't like the tizzy treble of the 400, as well as the unevenness of the mids (a quality that to my ears seems to be more glaringly obvious with very guitar-driven rock/metal than with other genres). 

 

[davidsh]

 
I actually read an article somewhere where a guy was comparing a few amps with the 400. If I'm not mistaken it was the Fiio E17/E09k, he Burson Soloist, and the Lyr. His general impression was that the major difference between the fiio rig and the Lyr was that the bass tightened up significantly with the Lyr, which at the time was just about exactly what I was looking for. As of late I've discovered that I also don't like the tizzy treble of the 400, as well as the unevenness of the mids (a quality that to my ears seems to be more glaringly obvious with very guitar-driven rock/metal than with other genres). 

You know what to do 

And I agree... But I still like the HE-400 for what it is.

 

[Mandala]

  You know what to do 

And I agree... But I still like the HE-400 for what it is.

I've already gone and done it. The 500s were delivered today

 

[vlach]

Cans are a different animal involving mechanical and acoustical factors as well as our individual head shapes and ear canals. IMO cans make the biggest difference, as long as you can drive them well enough.

Agreed. Headphones (just like speakers) are transducers and yield the biggest differences in the audio chain.

 

[StanD]

  I've already gone and done it. The 500s were delivered today

That was probably the biggest correction you could make. 

 Heck, it's only money. Now for the amp. I wouldn't get too crazy, these cans do great at 1 W RMS max. All the way up at 1 W, it'll hurt your ears.

 

[davidsh]

Agreed. Headphones (just like speakers) are transducers and yield the biggest differences in the audio chain.

Indeed, but even subtle improvements can be really nice when you have found a headphone you really like 

Nice yammy in your avatar by the way. I bet the HE-500 will sound real nice off of it.
 
I think it's quite funny when you look at the speaker world.. No one would honestly say you need or want an amp that can deliver like 120 dB with your speakers like the HE-500 can with 1 watt. I mean in the speaker world as long as it don't distort at loud volumes and sound nice you are good to go..

 

[jibzilla]

  Hehe, I see your point. This hobby is 90% belief and 10% performance difference, right?
 
Well, I believe better headphones being worth the dosh.. But I also believe that often you would get better sound from spending more on the headphones than amp/DAC. Not always, I have experienced the opposite with the HE-400 vs HE-500 but maybe that was placebo and expectation bias as well?? I believe not.. or.. dunno 

 
Simply put, I pick my battles with care and the whole super expensive amp/DAC thing is not a battle I really want to take for now..

 

[hifimanrookie]

  Indeed, but even subtle improvements can be really nice when you have found a headphone you really like 

 
Nice yammy in your avatar by the way. I bet the HE-500 will sound real nice off of it.

well...i hate to admit it...BUT..now i went from a he500 to this 'one of a kind' code-x i can attest honestly that i now believe that the biggest impact on a headphone rig is actually the headphone...as what this phone pumps out in soundquality on a cheapish Beyer USB amp i had laying around is ridiculus to say the least!!! i thought the he500 made triangles sound good...BUT with this phone u can hear their vibration sound (sorry dont know how to say that in good english) going on until it silenced for much longer!!  and thats only one thing that made me listen to a certain circus du soleil cd.. the sound is so much more 3d...more layers! all in all..allthough this phone is at least twice the price of a he500..the price of the amp i am using makes it even to the rig i had with the 337 and he500!
 
so i offer u (u know how i mean..lolz) my honest apologies for any time i doubted that thought that u guys posted....i am a firm believer now...BY EXPERIENCE...that a phone gives biggest impact on sound...

 

[davidsh]

 
I agree with you for the most part. I think the headphone or the speaker ( I enjoy speakers as well) is probably what you want to spend the most on. Even strait out of your labtop, receiver, etc. I think you can get a decent grasp of what the headphone is capable of. The weird thing is that you have stax and in my brief experience with those I have to say the opposite. On my 2k maxed out ges I had I actually preferred the sr407 and 507 as much as the 007. Also stax matches up their headphones or earspeakers with much more expensive amps or energizers.
 
After trying out the he-500 on a variety of amps and dacs I think that the he-500 scales well and def. better than the lcd-2. The hd800 scales much better imo but the he-500 is good enough that I would spend decently close to what I spent on the he-500 on an amp and dac that synergizes well. My amp and dac is quite a bit more than what I spent on the he-500 but I also run th-600's and A7x's off of it and also got a demo and used deal on the amp and dac. If I did not have the a7x's and th-600's I would not have spent as my as I did, even with the deals. I think allot of it comes down to personal preference, how well the headphone scales with more expensive gear and how well the WHOLE setup synergizes.

Stax is a hole different ball game, but I agree though I only own a lowly T1 

Also, it seems that 'stat amps are significantly more expensive and harder to construct than conventional amps.
Any of their 'stat offerings are so hi-end and well constructed that it is just as much about taste as technical provess. 
 
I can't personally say I have tried many hi-end amps and such and am not too well versed in that regard, but I still have my beliefs 

 Am a student after all.

 

[davidsh]

   

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

  Indeed, but even subtle improvements can be really nice when you have found a headphone you really like 

 
Nice yammy in your avatar by the way. I bet the HE-500 will sound real nice off of it.

well...i hate to admit it...BUT..now i went from a he500 to this 'one of a kind' code-x i can attest honestly that i now believe that the biggest impact on a headphone rig is actually the headphone...as what this phone pumps out in soundquality on a cheapish Beyer USB amp i had laying around is ridiculus to say the least!!! i thought the he500 made triangles sound good...BUT with this phone u can hear their vibration sound (sorry dont know how to say that in good english) going on until it silenced for much longer!!  and thats only one thing that made me listen to a certain circus du soleil cd.. the sound is so much more 3d...more layers! all in all..allthough this phone is at least twice the price of a he500..the price of the amp i am using makes it even to the rig i had with the 337 and he500!
 
so i offer u (u know how i mean..lolz) my honest apologies for any time i doubted that thought that u guys posted....i am a firm believer now...BY EXPERIENCE...that a phone gives biggest impact on sound...

Haha, nice. I bet your code-x with that lowly amp will sound better than your former setup after all, am I right?
One big BUT in your defence. The differences might be fairly minor between amps, but as the perfectionists we are, those differences can be very annoying when you know they are there and ruin the experience! Am I the only one to experience that? For example with bad synergy between amp and headphones..

 

[hifimanrookie]

  Haha, nice. I bet your code-x with that lowly amp will sound better than your former setup after all, am I right?
One big BUT in your defence. The differences might be fairly minor between amps, but as the perfectionists we are, those differences can be very annoying when you know they are there and ruin the experience! Am I the only one to experience that? For example with bad synergy between amp and headphones..

i agree....yess...this combo sounds better..only the low bass is lacking BIGTIME as this amp is very light in the watts and the code-x needs even more watts then the original HE5 (of which its originated from) because of extra damping i understand from the builder...i am only guessing now how this phone would have sounded on my modded 337 if it already sounds so good on this amp.
 
but still..u have to hear AND SEE it to believe it (i didnt believ it at first..so i listened to certain tracks i know from head for at least 20times in repeat...but always i got same conclusion..unbelievable!
 
funny thing is: u almost cant even see the amp...the cable is almost as thick as the amp itself.and i have to be careful that the cable dont pull the amp onto the floor because of the weight....lolz....so i am guessing this little USB amp has an excellent synergy with the Code-x..and punches BIGTIME way above its weight and price range!
 
but i still have to get receive an amp (thats been updated since with extra stuff of 700usd since recently) that probably is endgame-stuff (as u know its designed and built specific for the he6) for me (pricewise thats for sure, as i dont think i will ever spend more on a headphone rig ever more!).
And if the synergy is right then this could be a killer rig i will be getting. and i have a feeling my dual mono (seperated sleeved cables for left and right channel) 8wire Toxic BW cable will further help in this..as will be the upgraded powercables i also own..

 

 

[davidsh]

So now you actually paid an extra 700$? Still for upgrading that pesky power supply

?