[Wildcatsare1]

D1sturb3ed, if I was in your shoes I would try for a used O2 + ODAC (the all-in-one version). It's not portable but you only said portable to keep the size down right?

 


thanks for the reco..I didn't know there is an all in combo for o2 and odac..saw an o2 from an officemate..maybe I can test it with it and see if I will like it..saw the o2 and it is small..I can hide it in the back of my keyboard hehe

IMO, try to listen to the O2/ODAC before you make that purchase, to my ears they are a bit thin/anemic. Though I love rich, organic sound/music and good tone is critical to create and maintain the "illusion" of listening to a live performance.

 

[Bill-P]

So, quick question:
 
How does everyone's HE-560 sound with this song?
 

 
Not the best quality, of course. I'd just like a ball-park figure of how you guys are hearing your HE-560.
 
Is the bass strong, impactful, textured, and deep?
Is the soundstage deep and expansive?

 

[nicolo]

  lol my ratio for my primary equipment of headphones:amp:dac is approximately 14 : 8 : 1 (HE-560, Lyr2, UD110v2)
 
sooo technically, i went over my own 50% rule for external equipment as well, but then again I also got my headphones at discounted price. heh!!
 
My previous budget set-up was 5:1:1 (HE400, Bravo V3, UD110v2). so was practicing what I preached until got bitten by the upgrade bug. 

 
 
My Headphones: Amp + DAC+ LPS :Cable ratio is 4:4:1 (HE-560, Geek Pulse Xfi +Geek LPS, Draug 2)
End game

 

[Ultracer]

  So, quick question:
 
How does everyone's HE-560 sound with this song?
 

 
Not the best quality, of course. I'd just like a ball-park figure of how you guys are hearing your HE-560.
 
Is the bass strong, impactful, textured, and deep?
Is the soundstage deep and expansive?

 
On my Magni and STX II:
 
Bass strong but not deep, not impactful compared to drum, not textured.
Soundstage appear to be just coming from 3 directions.
Mixing is quite ok.
 
But my ears bleed halfway... Going back to my Stockfisch records

 

[d1sturb3d]

 
 
My Headphones: Amp + DAC+ LPS :Cable ratio is 4:4:1 (HE-560, Geek Pulse Xfi +Geek LPS, Draug 2)
End game

 


hows the geek pulse on your 560?

 

[nicolo]

 

   
 
My Headphones: Amp + DAC+ LPS :Cable ratio is 4:4:1 (HE-560, Geek Pulse Xfi +Geek LPS, Draug 2)
End game

 


hows the geek pulse on your 560?

 
Hopefully the Geek Pulse will ship in a couple of months. Till then driving it with the ibasso DX100. A great combo, especially with the Draug 2 cable i got recently. Had the LCD-X before. Sold it as i love the HE-560 a lot more.

 

[Dopaminer]

..my officemate is also searching a good porta amp for his HD800 but his options too are very limited..I hope he buys something soon so I can demo it. I just want to ask some recos on where to start looking so I can find them locally and try them out..maybe a small desktop amp is also ok..as long it doesn't stand too much in the desk

 
 
I have the iBasso PB2 balanced portable amp (and DB2 balanced DAC) and it drives my HD800 beautifully.  I doubt it would be too troubled with the HE-560, and I`m counting on it because I think I will be getting the 560 soon.  Plus it offers a bottomless pit of tweaking, if you`re so inclined.  
 
d

 

[Maxx134]

...
There's just too much top end for me. Something "angry" in those upper mids that grates on me after a while. ...
.. that "angry" peak .

Hey dude this was covered early on that the stock pad's sound more aggressive in the upper mid - lower trebles region.
The solution for those sensitive to this was purchasing the Focus A Pads. .
Ha, Must have been fun modded though

I'd say... $200 in DIY components can get pretty far...

I was contemplating a grill mod and a change of cabling, but... this is it. ...

Dude! you need to do the grill mod even if it's out of curiosity to see how much higher the he560 can go.
It's basically a given that Hifiman planars benefit from the grill mod.
I personally don't think you could hold out with your modding skills lol

..
The poor guy just wants a decent amp... not thousands of dollars of dept... an unending pursuit of not being happy with anything..or so I got from his post..

but it is 500..I don't think I can spend that much anymore..but thanks for the recommendation

I would say $200 is not going to get you excellent sound but if you like any amp that fit that criteria then great and be happy what's in store for you once you go up the ladder in amps..
Also I have the O2 still, and it's a bit harsh when pushed but any small amp just not doing justice to this excellent headphone.

The he560 sounds great on anything but also its transparency makes any improvement noticable so it will keep climbing with your system. . .
That being said,
I would not settle for an Emotiva mini.. I herd that with an AlphaDog & a lcd3.
Was not impressed. .
I would skip most mid tier(schiit) that makes you waste more money on upgrades like tubes, and try to get better.
I can only recommend what I know for shure and herd sounds musical:

My recommendations:
Oppo HA-1 amp/dac combo.
Bottlehead SEX tube amp.
The Virtue amp on speaker tap.
Most Audio-gd stuff.

For minimum basic nice amp on a budget, I would get a $100 schiit vali but don't expect miracles because we can't overlook that the he560 is still a planar and loves power.

 

[Eric_C]

For minimum basic nice amp on a budget, I would get a $100 schiit vali but don't expect miracles because we can't overlook that the he560 is still a planar and loves power.

 
If we're talking about power on a budget, why Vali? Magni pushes out twice the power.

 

[ThurstonX]

Hey dude this was covered early on that the stock pad's sound more aggressive in the upper mid - lower trebles region.
The solution for those sensitive to this was purchasing the Focus A Pads. .
Ha, Must have been fun modded though

Dude! you need to do the grill mod even if it's out of curiosity to see how much higher the he560 can go.
It's basically a given that Hifiman planars benefit from the grill mod.
I personally don't think you could hold out with your modding skills lol

I would say $200 is not going to get you excellent sound but if you like any amp that fit that criteria then great and be happy what's in store for you once you go up the ladder in amps..
Also I have the O2 still, and it's a bit harsh when pushed but any small amp just not doing justice to this excellent headphone.

The he560 sounds great on anything but also its transparency makes any improvement noticable so it will keep climbing with your system. . .
That being said,
I would not settle for an Emotiva mini.. I herd that with an AlphaDog & a lcd3.
Was not impressed. .
I would skip most mid tier(schiit) that makes you waste more money on upgrades like tubes, and try to get better.
I can only recommend what I know for shure and herd sounds musical:

My recommendations:
Oppo HA-1 amp/dac combo.
Bottlehead SEX tube amp.
The Virtue amp on speaker tap.
Most Audio-gd stuff.

For minimum basic nice amp on a budget, I would get a $100 schiit vali but don't expect miracles because we can't overlook that the he560 is still a planar and loves power.

 
While I've only heard my HE-560s through my Lyr (and once just to see if the JDS Labs C5 could drive them; for me, not even close), I beg to differ that the Lyr is a bad choice.  There is no need to spend $260 on a pair of platinum Telefunken E88CCs from Upscale.  There are plenty of reasonably priced tubes (sub-$100) that are fine substitutes for the stock tubes.  The Lyr 2 is pickier about tubes, but IIRC it can take most tubes on the Lyr list.  Russian tubes of various flavors are abundant and cheap, and I just rolled a pair of $43 1967 Amperex variable mu ECC189s in my Lyr, and they sound great... after proper burn in.
 
Can't stress it enough people: if you're judging the Lyr or Lyr 2 on stock tubes without giving them at least 100 hours, you're not doing the system justice.  Just plug in the HE-560s and let the amp and tubes run for hours.  I've been burning at 20+ hour stretches.  It has the added benefit of making those MOSFETs nice and toasty 

 
YMMV, of course, but I feel zero urge to upgrade or change my amp.  I still wanna hear Bill-P's li'l darling, though, just to have a SS alternative.
 
I'll add that Audio-gd has always intrigued me, though not enough to sell any tubes to buy one 

 

[d1sturb3d]

thanks guys for the great recommendations on amps..to avoid temptation..I would only demo amps that are within my budget and just choose from there..at least if I didn't hear those amazing amps you recommended, I won't know what I am missing.  ..
 
I saw something that made my heart sank..I bought the 560 here (used) and will have it ship it to our country..will probably arrive minimum of a month's time (sea shipping).  Then someone from our local group posted a fb post on our local headphone store..and to my surprise it only cost 765 USD (if converted)..I can't believe it!  I didn't think it will be priced that way, normally the standard pricing is plus 100 USD on the known SRP which is 899..I didn't bother calling this shop because I always check on the other shop since the other shop is the one that has the latest headphones..I got a nice deal here in head-fi but the cost of shipping it to our country is the same as buying that bnew 765USD HE-560
 
sorry for the rant..I just can't believe it!

 

[Armaegis]

Hey dude this was covered early on that the stock pad's sound more aggressive in the upper mid - lower trebles region.
The solution for those sensitive to this was purchasing the Focus A Pads. .
 

 
I had both pads. The Focus-A are better, but still something angry in them (shifted around to somewhere less annoying), which is why I added felt in front.

 

[money4me247]

  thanks guys for the great recommendations on amps..to avoid temptation..I would only demo amps that are within my budget and just choose from there..at least if I didn't hear those amazing amps you recommended, I won't know what I am missing.  ..
 
I saw something that made my heart sank..I bought the 560 here (used) and will have it ship it to our country..will probably arrive minimum of a month's time (sea shipping).  Then someone from our local group posted a fb post on our local headphone store..and to my surprise it only cost 765 USD (if converted)..I can't believe it!  I didn't think it will be priced that way, normally the standard pricing is plus 100 USD on the known SRP which is 899..I didn't bother calling this shop because I always check on the other shop since the other shop is the one that has the latest headphones..I got a nice deal here in head-fi but the cost of shipping it to our country is the same as buying that bnew 765USD HE-560
 
sorry for the rant..I just can't believe it!

don't worry too much about it. people around here on head-fi take extremely good care of their gear, so it really just like-new.

 

[conquerator2]

While I've only heard my HE-560s through my Lyr (and once just to see if the JDS Labs C5 could drive them; for me, not even close), I beg to differ that the Lyr is a bad choice.  There is no need to spend $260 on a pair of platinum Telefunken E88CCs from Upscale.  There are plenty of reasonably priced tubes (sub-$100) that are fine substitutes for the stock tubes.  The Lyr 2 is pickier about tubes, but IIRC it can take most tubes on the Lyr list.  Russian tubes of various flavors are abundant and cheap, and I just rolled a pair of $43 1967 Amperex variable mu ECC189s in my Lyr, and they sound great... after proper burn in.

Can't stress it enough people: if you're judging the Lyr or Lyr 2 on stock tubes without giving them at least 100 hours, you're not doing the system justice.  Just plug in the HE-560s and let the amp and tubes run for hours.  I've been burning at 20+ hour stretches.  It has the added benefit of making those MOSFETs nice and toasty 

YMMV, of course, but I feel zero urge to upgrade or change my amp.  I still wanna hear Bill-P's li'l darling, though, just to have a SS alternative.

I'll add that Audio-gd has always intrigued me, though not enough to sell any tubes to buy one 

Audio-gd is amazing... IMO

 

[TMRaven]

   
I had both pads. The Focus-A are better, but still something angry in them (shifted around to somewhere less annoying), which is why I added felt in front.

 
 
Not shifted around, just mitigated slightly (3db or so).