[grokit]

I will try the leather pads, just ordered them and a travel case from HD.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Finally looking to replace my original HE-6 velours. What is head-fi's preferred earpad these days?

I have tried the HE-6 Leather, Beyerdynamic Velour and Leather and the Denon JMoney pads.
IMO the new HE-6 velour and Beyerdynamic provides me the best sound followed by the HE-6 leather. The JMoney woul dbe next and the Beyerdynamic leather at last.

 

[Zida]

To those who have tried and prefer one of the new velours and leathers, what is your preference?

Also, interesting note on those HM5 pads. They're only $20 as well, it seems. I'll still have to get a new pair of hifiman's for their attachment ring though, first.

(Sorry to rehash an old discussion, but I feel like people might have a better understanding of the differences now than they did when the pads first arrived on the scene)

 

[Shahrose]

I'm with Jose. The velours are the best for the HE6 IMO. I actually prefer the old velours over the new ones for SQ, but the other way around for durability.

 

[drez]

Quote:

Finally looking to replace my original HE-6 velours. What is head-fi's preferred earpad these days?

 
Audez'e vegan on new HifiMan plastic rings.  I have tried all the OEM pads, Audez'e leather and STAX 007 mkii and the Audez'e vegan sounds the best - biggest soundstage and most open sound, frequency response is similar to the HifiMan velour, maybe a tad less warm than the new velour pads.  These are the earpads I keep going back to.

 

[sphinxvc]

Just can't bring myself to spend another grand right now; too much going on this summer, so I've pulled the trigger on a F3.  Yes it's Rawson, but this one I'm reasonably sure about.  A known head-fi member/DIYer was the previous owner and lived with it for a couple of years.  On this particular one quality parts were used and the internals are much cleaner than the alleged Rawson-built amps I've seen selling on Audiogon.  Looking forward to this, and to trying it with a 6 later on.

 

[elwappo99]

Alright everyone. I've had some more time with my emotiva, and I thought I'd post some general comments. It started out as a comparison between my emotiva and little dot, but I decided, since it's sitting there, I'd toss in the Audio-GD NFB-10SE
 
 

Set Up:

- Little Dot MKVI+
  Audio-GD DI --> Audio-GD reference 1 --> Little Dot MKVI+ --> Raytheon 6080WA + Realistic Gold Pin 6SN7-GTB
 
I purchased this amp about a year ago. Loved it since I plugged it, and have ever since. It is by far the best balance between a tube amp and SS amp I have ever heard, with just light hints of tube sound in the midrange. It was designed by Sword Yang to be an amplifier for the AKG K1000. I have the unit set to high gain.
 
- Emotiva A-100  
Audio-GD DI --> Audio-GD reference 1 --> Emotiva A-100 Mini-X
 
I read so many things about emotiva, and a few people here sparked my interest. Since no one was willing to take a dive, I took the dive and decided to give it a listen. There are very few reviews of this unit around, and the two I found just made generalizations about the sound. 
 
 
-Audio-GD NFB-10SE 
Audio-GD DI --> Audio-GD NFB-10SE 
 
I decided since this is in the stack, to just give this guy a listen. It's rated at a big 6W for 50ohms, so I wanted to hear how it would perform. This unit was not hooked up to my Reference 1. It is an all in one unit, with no analog input.
 
 
 

Music:

A lot of HDtracks from Foobar. Plenty of Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Bill Evans, and a little Nirvana. Also a few Flac files of electronic music for bass response  
 
 
 

Cost (w/ shipping costs):

- Little Dot MKVI+
 
$830
 
- Emotiva A-100
 
$220 (Sales bring it down to the 175-180 range)
 
-Audio-GD NFB-10SE
 
$600
 
 

Warm Up/Temperatures:

- Audio-GD Reference 1
 
About 7 days left on
 
- Little Dot MKVI+
 
About 2 hours of warm up. This unit becomes very hot overall.
 
- Emotiva A-100
 
Left on for about 3 days. There was a lot of speculation this unit would be hot, because it has a fan built in. The fan kicks on when the unit starts to overheat, and is not on all the time. I personally couldn't ever get it warm to the touch. It is always cool
 
-Audio-GD NFB-10SE
 
Left on for about 3 days. This unit gets warm to the touch, with nothing more. 
 
 

Volume Settings:

 
- Little Dot MKVI+
 
At 4 o'clock on the volume dial
 
- Emotiva A-100
 
At 11 o'clock on the volume dial
 
-Audio-GD NFB-10SE
 
At 48/48 (max volume, high gain)
 
 

 

 

Sound Impressions:

 
- Little Dot MKVI+
 
Treble - Very clear and open. Female vocals are very clear, without being 'shrill' or overly bright. This amp strikes a very fine balance here
Midrange - Warm, lush, and hints of tube. The midrange is a little slower than the emotiva, but I would suspect as a result of the bass
Bass - Strong bass, but not as strong as the emotiva in terms of punch or depth. Also, as tubes are, the bass can be somewhat sluggish when moving quickly between deep electronic bass music, giving lack of bass and distinction between notes. 
Soundstage - Definitely wide, in a side to side manner. Very wide and clear. Doesn't give too much of the soundstage confusion I have found with the HE-6
Details - Very detailed, especially in the treble range. Diana Krall's recordings are very clear on this. You can clearly hear her open her lips before she starts vocals, and her breaths during vocal parts. 
 
- Emotiva A-100
 
Treble - Really tones down the sparkle of the HE-6. There is no sibilance whatsoever. However, on female vocals, it just doesn't have the realism and clarity of the Little dot.
Midrange - Not as lush, and doesn't have the analog feel, but it is still a very detailed midrange, that is open and clear. Strings resonate and reverberate very clearly. The punchiness of the midrange makes instruments sound 'energetic'.
Bass - Wow! Incredible bass on this unit. Bass is very deep, very punchy. I have never heard so much bass from the HE-6. It sounds like there's a subwoofer in my room while I'm listening to these. 
Soundstage - compared to the Little dot, the soundstage is more open. Not only is it more open, but the stage has moved forward and backwards. This is a trait of the Reference-1, but I haven't really heard my HE-6 perform this way
Details - Incredibly detailed within the mid range and bass regions. The reverberations on a recording studio are incredible with this amp, really a detailed unit.
 
-Audio-GD NFB-10SE
 
Treble - Also, clear treble, but as Audio-GD gear goes, very accurate. Not as 'life-like' or musical. 
Midrange - Very similar to the treble. Accurate, but not warm or very engaging.
Bass - Open and clear bass. More control over the Little Dot MKVI+, but not nearly over the emotiva
Soundstage - Much more narrow, but still wide on the side-to-side range. I'd suspect this is due to the difference in DACs
Details - Detailed across the whole spectrum. Bass was very airy overall.
 
 
 
 

Little Dot vs. Emotiva:

As this was the intention, after awhile, I set my focus on these two being compared. Overall the emotiva is a little darker. The treble is a little more relaxed, and doesn't have the sparkly treble I found with many of my other amps and the HE-6. The midrange and bass are both very controlled, energetic, and detailed overall. I found that I can really listen to the HE-6 for a long time to jazz or female vocals with this amp. It is a very fun amp, indeed. 
 
The little dot was a bit brighter in the highs, providing crystal clear reproduction of female vocals. This is the HE-6 I am used to. This provides very clear and accurate details from the recording. Having the audio-gd phoenix and roc, the female vocals were both very similar to this. However, I have usually found this to be fatiguing to my ears for long periods of time. 
 
 
Quick note on details: I had a difficult time figuring out which of these units in fact provides the most detailed recording. I first thought it was the emotiva. Then I went back to the little dot. After more intensive listening, I found the little dot to be very detailed in the female vocal range, and the emotiva much more detailed in the bass, and they are about equal in the mid range. The little dot's clarity in treble provided the very clear details in treble. The emotiva's bass control really showed control for the clarity in the bass, which carried over to the accurate reverberations I was hearing in the midrange. 

 

[preproman]

"Raytheon 6080WA + Realistic Gold Pin 6SN7-GTB"
 
Are these tubes designed to be bright sounding.  This is odd - tubes being called bright and a SS amp being called dark in comparison.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

"Raytheon 6080WA + Realistic Gold Pin 6SN7-GTB"
 
Are these tubes designed to be bright sounding.  This is odd - tubes being called bright and a SS amp being called dark in comparison.

 
Certainly the little dot isn't bright with those tubes. It is just very clear in the treble range. I also found the difference strange, and didn't expect it. I suspect the a-100 is tilted a little towards the bass.

 

[grokit]

Or the additional power of the Emotiva just brings the bass out better.

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

Or the additional power of the Emotiva just brings the bass out better.

 
this is exactly my experience, HE-6s need speaker amps. and the Emotiva fits that bill...for a very low price i might add...

 

[wuwhere]

No doubt, bass takes more power to reproduce, if one looks at the distribution of watts, most of them are consumed at the lower end.

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Or the additional power of the Emotiva just brings the bass out better.

Bingo. I've been saying for a while, the mkvi can't properly drive the he6. Yes I've heard it, and to be honest, I think it's the best value I've heard in tube headphone amps. It can compete well with headphones costing 1000-1500. But when you directly compare it to amps that can drive to the he6, then you start to see it's shortcomings. The way the treble that's described sound out of the little dot and the way it sounds out of the emotiva is another sign of it being underpowered. Does the he6 still sound very good out of the little dot? Yes, does it sound close what it's fully capable of? That answer is no. The emotiva is just the beginning. Now he has the power requirements out of the way.Just wait if he ever decides to step up when it comes to better quality power. Not selling the emotiva short though. I haven't listened to it yet, but there are users that's tried some of their higher end amps, and preferred other amps they had when driving the he6. From what I've read, that emotive is one heck of an amp for it's price and size. But like, I said, now is just entering the realm of hearing some of the things the he6 can truly do.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Bingo. I've been saying for a while, the mkvi can't properly drive the he6. Yes I've heard it, and to be honest, I think it's the best value I've heard in tube headphone amps. It can compete well with headphones costing 1000-1500. But when you directly compare it to amps that can drive to the he6, then you start to see it's shortcomings. The way the treble that's described sound out of the little dot and the way it sounds out of the emotiva is another sign of it being underpowered. Does the he6 still sound very good out of the little dot? Yes, does it sound close what it's fully capable of? That answer is no. The emotiva is just the beginning. Now he has the power requirements out of the way.Just wait if he ever decides to step up when it comes to better quality power. Not selling the emotiva short though. I haven't listened to it yet, but there are users that's tried some of their higher end amps, and preferred other amps they had when driving the he6. From what I've read, that emotive is one heck of an amp for it's price and size. But like, I said, now is just entering the realm of hearing some of the things the he6 can truly do.

 
I've heard the HE-6 from several different speaker taps now, but the emotiva clearly outperformed them (Vintage pioneers, marantz 2200, other vintage marantz, modern marantz). I had a virtue audio 2.2 for some time, and this emotiva is a definite winner over it. 

 

[moodyrn]

I'm sure it is, but neither of those are high end speaker amps either. It does get much better from there. Unless you hear it from some of the speaker amps mentioned in this thread, you'll never understand what many of us are saying. But until then enjoy the emotiva, and congrats on your purchase.