[kylebucksot]

So part of the reason that I made this post was because I was a bit underwhelmed by my 6xx. I have only had them a couple days though so I have not finalized an opinion yet. Im comparing them to my open modded M1060C, and the 1060 just sounds more... alive? Might just be personal preference, or the 6xx might need more break in. People say the 6xx scale really well with better equipment...maybe my gear just makes them sound boring? I've seem people saying the heresy sounds a little flat/boring...

I can see how people say 6xx scales. They sound better on my setup now vs my atom stack i had last year. But I don't know if going from sub $200 dac and amp to just a $500 dac amp would change it much. Esp since its also solid state and even from the same manufacture. I think most sound changes you are going to get is from different dac and amp manufactures that don't focus so heavily on specs. And if you stay in the same company, I rock the hell out of the schiit mimby, This little multibit has it going on.

Pairing it with a omg that amp doesn't have 5 zeros after the decimal point thing is just beyond me. I buy gear that I enjoy to listen to, I don't buy it to not hear flavor and character that brings things to life.

 

[312elements]

The difference in sound between tubes and solid state is immensely overblown here, and in the audiophile world in general. It's a huge point of frustration for me, as it sets up unreasonable expectations for people like yourself who want to try out tubes.

I've owned just two tube amps in my life, the Little Dot I+ (which is actually a hybrid) and Woo Audio WA2 (Proper OTL), and between those two amps represents the biggest difference I've heard in any two amps. I would argue that if you're going to hear a difference between tubes and solid state, you're going to hear it in the entry level amps. The Little Dot seemed to have some sloppy engineering in its sound, as the distortion was extremely high in the mid range, so much so that it brought the entire mid range up as if EQ'd. The WA2, by contrast, sounds completely flat. There's no "warmth", no smoothed frequencies, no added anything. If you were to measure the frequency response on a graph, I have no doubt it would show up flat; and I think that would be the case for any reasonably made tube amp put out in the last couple decades. The only thing extra I get out of the WA2 is a little extra grain in the treble and bass. If not for that grain, I would just assume the amp is solid state.

I've tried the amp with many different headphones, and never was I able to get a headphone to sound any different versus solid state, as long as it had the power to drive them. My more demanding planar magnetics simply couldn't pull enough power from the amp to sound good at higher volumes, but that's the only difference I ever heard. Even the Sennheiser HD800, a headphone people swear loves tubes, sounded no different whatsoever.

As much as I love my WA2, I would never recommend someone go down the rabbit hole of vacuum tubes. With my Little Dot I+ I even did tube rolling and OP amp swapping, and still I couldn't eke out any difference in sound. The only reason I'd recommend someone get a tube amp over (or alongside) solid state is if they like the aesthetic of it.

I think that’s a relatively fair assessment. I have no experience with hybrid amps, but the amps I do have all sound similar and the differences are subtle. For me, this is a hobby and trying different stuff is part of the fun. RE: tube rolling and tube sound I hear it if I listen for it and even when I’m not i find myself listening longer. It’s a little more sparkle. A little bit of reverb that subtly glues things together. I don’t think if it as a frequency response thing at all.

 

[312elements]

So part of the reason that I made this post was because I was a bit underwhelmed by my 6xx. I have only had them a couple days though so I have not finalized an opinion yet. Im comparing them to my open modded M1060C, and the 1060 just sounds more... alive? Might just be personal preference, or the 6xx might need more break in. People say the 6xx scale really well with better equipment...maybe my gear just makes them sound boring? I've seem people saying the heresy sounds a little flat/boring...

I don’t think the 6xx has much break in. If it’s not your thing, return them and try something different.

 

[FullLotus]

I don't know if going from sub $200 dac and amp to just a $500 dac amp would change it much.

yeah, that was more of a longer term upgrade, i was interested in, not specifically with the sole intent of improving the 6xx.

I also enjoy some flavor in the sound, which is why im interested in tubes, although kukuk is scaring me a bit now LOL.

 

[kylebucksot]

yeah, that was more of a longer term upgrade, i was interested in, not specifically with the sole intent of improving the 6xx.

I also enjoy some flavor in the sound, which is why im interested in tubes, although kukuk is scaring me a bit now LOL.

Yeah the reason it didn't work in your case was you need a proper otl tube amp to get something out of it imo. And for sure the modi/magni will be good for years to come.

 

[Duotronic]

Honestly I've got the same issue with my Magni 3 heresy and my DV336se on my HD58X. I thought I had a bad dac because another piece of equipment was wayy to distorted

EDIT:: When I mean distorted, When using an A/B tester and swapping from one amp to another listening from the XLR mic input via Input Monitoring it literally sounded like a hallway that's how bad it was going from a solid-state to my dv336se. I bought a modi 3+ because of noise when using the focusrite with the audio from my pc both amps sounded nearly identical and I thought from all of the hype that tubes should magically make it sound different. Guess I was wrong there

 

[RONJA MESCO]

I started really low budget, both in headphones and gear, and im slowly getting into more expensive equipment. I like to tinker with/mod things, so I think a tube amp would be a good purchase because I know i would enjoy tube rolling.

I'll say this...after your fool around with solid state and tube amps, you begin to notice differences...especially if you send them to speakers. But im my view, with headphones, it can be hit and miss hearing the tube sound, depending on the cans you have, and how sensitive they are. `And tube rolling can make a hell of a difference with tube amps...just dont go over board. Get a few sets, see how they sound, and go from there...when I first started rollin', it can be addictive and all consuming in chasing the right sound. Do take your time an enjoy the process at pace.

 

[Duotronic]

I'll say this...after your fool around with solid state and tube amps, you begin to notice differences...especially if you send them to speakers. But im my view, with headphones, it can be hit and miss hearing the tube sound, depending on the cans you have, and how sensitive they are. `And tube rolling can make a hell of a difference with tube amps...just dont go over board. Get a few sets, see how they sound, and go from there...when I first started rollin', it can be addictive and all consuming in chasing the right sound. Do take your time an enjoy the process at pace.

The only difference so far that I've heard going from an hd58x to a dt 880 600 ohm, is that tubes just have so much power ready to go on tap. That and when I swap headphones I've also noticed that between my heresy and my darkvoice 336se the amount of volume just is drastically different because of the 450 ohm diffrence between the 58x and 880 600 ohm. Other than that I'm still trying to find the "openness" or "warmth" that people have been talking about

EDIT:: What I will say is that on max my dv336se is legit dead silent on my dt 880 600 ohm headphones (not my 58x though) with nothing playing If I a/b tested blindfolded if it was plugged in or not, I couldn't tell you the difference. This setup has been burnt in for practically a month now cuz college hw stuff, got the RCA JAN 6AS7G and the Tung-sol 6SN7 GTB 2016 version and I honestly feel like I did "Spend more than I should've" but I learned a lot just by getting a tube amp. Getting the Asgard 3 and modius pretty soon with a schiit sys and a Loki mini+(upgrading from my schiit stack, Down the road type deal that and black friday when I might be getting more than what I own for headphones). Still waiting on my HE4xx that I paid like $115 for, fedex has been holding my shipment for 3 weeks now

 

[tomb]

yeah, that was more of a longer term upgrade, i was interested in, not specifically with the sole intent of improving the 6xx.

I also enjoy some flavor in the sound, which is why im interested in tubes, although kukuk is scaring me a bit now LOL.

He admits all he's ever owned in his life are two tube amps and his post scares you? I've built more than two tube amps in a couple of weeks, much less all that I've owned and sold through the years.

There are differences, but like everything else, you have to be willing to pay for them. Yeah, rolling tubes in a $200 cheap amp is a bit interesting and you can often hear some differences that make it fun. At the high level, however, you're looking more for tonality, musicality, and soundstage, something that as you climb up the cost ladder, disappears quickly with solid-state feedback amps - even the best ones.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

The only difference so far that I've heard going from an hd58x to a dt 880 600 ohm, is that tubes just have so much power ready to go on tap. That and when I swap headphones I've also noticed that between my heresy and my darkvoice 336se the amount of volume just is drastically different because of the 450 ohm diffrence between the 58x and 880 600 ohm. Other than that I'm still trying to find the "openness" or "warmth" that people have been talking about

EDIT:: What I will say is that on max my dv336se is legit dead silent on my dt 880 600 ohm headphones (not my 58x though) with nothing playing If I a/b tested blindfolded if it was plugged in or not, I couldn't tell you the difference. This setup has been burnt in for practically a month now cuz college hw stuff, got the RCA JAN 6AS7G and the Tung-sol 6SN7 GTB 2016 version and I honestly feel like I did "Spend more than I should've" but I learned a lot just by getting a tube amp. Getting the Asgard 3 and modius pretty soon with a schiit sys and a Loki mini+(upgrading from my schiit stack, Down the road type deal that and black friday when I might be getting more than what I own for headphones). Still waiting on my HE4xx that I paid like $115 for, fedex has been holding my shipment for 3 weeks now

I hear that! I'm glad you're enjoying things and testing things out. I am looking on getting another tube amp soon, and looking at some really upstream amps that im going to have to save alot of casheesh for.