[TIMITS]

Upped my contribution to Super Geek.  Looking forward to a nice surprise in the mail hopefully in January.

 

[Slowfade]

Pitched in for the Super-Duper. Looking forward to trying it out with my HE-500's and the Senn HD-600's. Can't wait to get mine.

 

[Mackem]

Hmm. I currently have Zero Audio Carbo Basso IEMs and was thinking of getting something along the lines of the Sennheiser HD558 or perhaps the Audio Technica A900X, but not sure which 'level' / version of the Geek I'd need? Obviously I'd like a bit of flexibility if I was to upgrade but I'm not sure whether putting down the money for the super-duper version would be a good idea when I may not use it to its full potential?
 
Advice please?

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

I'll try to paste relevant information from the product site... 
 
Here is Gavin's rule of thumb on GEEK selection:
 

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  Creator [size=inherit]Gavin Fish [size=inherit]4 days ago[/size][/size]

  Here's my rule of thumb. This is not a hard and fast rule... and everybody will have their own opinion. But this is what I go by.
  
  "Low" impedance headphones/earphones— < 60 Ω: I suggest Geek (450 mW @ 16 Ω) 
  "Mid" impedance headphones/earphones— 60 Ω to 299 Ω: I suggest Super Geek (720 mW @ 16 Ω) 
  "High" impedance headphones/earphones— 300 Ω and above: I suggest Super-Duper Geek (1000 mW @ 16 Ω)
  
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On IEMs...
 

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  Creator [size=inherit]Gavin Fish [size=inherit]4 days ago[/size][/size]

  With low impedance 'phones, like IEM's, You're better off with Geek. The reason I say this is because as you attenuate the volume down digitally, you lose one bit of dynamic compression for every -6 dB of attenuation. With the efficiency of your IEM's, you'll have to attenuate WAY down in order to use them with Super Geek or Super-Duper Geek.
  
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for HD800 / 300ohm Headphones...

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  [size=inherit]Larry Ho [size=inherit]1 day ago[/size][/size]

  Actually I'm listening to Super Geek now with my HD-800 which is 300Ohm. It sounds sweet.
  
  So I think Super Geek or Geek will fit you very well.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Larry H.
  
   
  
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[bhazard]

If you ever want a heavy hitter headphone in the future, just get the Super Duper Geek now. I'd rather have plenty of power on tap for when I need it, instead of not having enough, then paying double for it at retail pricing.
 
I don't even think there are many portable dac/amps that even hit as much power as the SD Geek has.

 

[belisk]

Actually I'm listening to Super Geek now with my HD-800 which is 300Ohm. It sounds sweet.

Not sure if I can take you seriously after seeing you put on the HD800's like that.

 

[Audio Addict]

If you ever want a heavy hitter headphone in the future, just get the Super Duper Geek now. I'd rather have plenty of power on tap for when I need it, instead of not having enough, then paying double for it at retail pricing.

I don't even think there are many portable dac/amps that even hit as much power as the SD Geek has.

I think the issue will be the lost bits if you plan to use with IEMs since they use a digital volume control.

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

If you ever want a heavy hitter headphone in the future, just get the Super Duper Geek now. I'd rather have plenty of power on tap for when I need it, instead of not having enough, then paying double for it at retail pricing.
 
I don't even think there are many portable dac/amps that even hit as much power as the SD Geek has.

Which heavy hitters?  The HE-6?  K1000?  How much power do you think you need?  I feel like posting this link every page because it seems the GEEK, with its power level choices, has brought out more power paranoia than I have seen in quite some time.  Also, to reiterate what Audio Addict said, the more you have to attenuate that power, the worse your sound quality will be if you use more sensitive IEMs and portables (which makes more sense given the GEEK's design).  

 

[bhazard]

Quote:

Which heavy hitters?  The HE-6?  K1000?  How much power do you think you need?  I feel like posting this link every page because it seems the GEEK, with its power level choices, has brought out more power paranoia than I have seen in quite some time.  Also, to reiterate what Audio Addict said, the more you have to attenuate that power, the worse your sound quality will be if you use more sensitive IEMs and portables (which makes more sense given the GEEK's design).  

I have everything from $10 3580s, to the HE-500. Yes, I need the power, and I'd rather sacrifice SQ on the $10 set than the $700 one. The USB bus only has so much power to give. Do you think it will honestly overpower my HE-500? My speaker amp doesn't, and neither will this.
 
You also have to think of the value. At the level I got in at, I'm getting the 1000mw version for less than what the regular Geek will be at retail. They haven't announced retail pricing on the higher power versions yet, and they could possibly become significantly more $ than what they initially planned (or less, you never know).
 
If you think you'll never use a power hungry headphone off it, then yes stick with the regular Geek.

 

[DannyBai]

I also have the HE500's and own the Dragonfly.  I can actually get enough volume using that combo but is way underpowered.  The GEEK already has more than double the power of the DF so not sure if it is all that necessary to go super or duper.  I honestly wouldn't want to depend on either the DF or GEEK to drive the HE500's anyway.  

 

[Currawong]

What I want to know is: How the heck do they get that much power out of a USB port? Mind you, I do have a DACPort here and it does do an amazing job, so maybe I don't need to be asking that question.

 

[CJG888]

Why not just get the Geek and add an amp when using orthos? It does, after all, have a line level output...

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Why not just get the Geek and add an amp when using orthos? It does, after all, have a line level output...

This seems like a great idea., but to each his own.  

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

I have everything from $10 3580s, to the HE-500. Yes, I need the power, and I'd rather sacrifice SQ on the $10 set than the $700 one. The USB bus only has so much power to give. Do you think it will honestly overpower my HE-500? My speaker amp doesn't, and neither will this.
 
You also have to think of the value. At the level I got in at, I'm getting the 1000mw version for less than what the regular Geek will be at retail. They haven't announced retail pricing on the higher power versions yet, and they could possibly become significantly more $ than what they initially planned (or less, you never know).
 
If you think you'll never use a power hungry headphone off it, then yes stick with the regular Geek.

Again, how much power do you really NEED?  The HE-500s are pretty efficient for orthos, and I found, during my time of ownership, that they didn't really scale up that much with power (at least not as much as some people claimed).  They sounded great out of an amp that maxed out at 200mw into 50ohm, a touch better out of an amp that put out near 2 watts, but that was more due to topology (the more powerful amp was tube-based).
 
If you want more power, then more power to you  Want is very close to need in this hobby so I can't say you are wrong for yourself.  I just want to make sure that people who are on the fence or don't know the math behind power and loudness have another, more technical resource to help them decide.  Provided an amp provides the power the headphones truly need (based on impedance and sensitivity - either voltage or current), how the headphone sounds will be due to the different topologies and sound character of the amps, not more raw power.  
 
People really should read through the link I posted.  Very informative and from a well respected headphone amp maker.

 

[FlySweep]

These are some of the specs for the Geek (taken from the product page:
 

 
..Is the line-out output impedance correct?
 
Also.. the third bullet states a varying output voltages on the headphone & line out.. depending on if it's the Geek, Super-Geek, or Super-Duper Geek.  Is this line out Vrms that' associate with each version a fixed value?  If so, it's something that's important to consider if you anticipate using this as a DAC.. I'd like the SD Geek.. but I've an amp that's pretty sensitive to Vrms output it sees from a DAC (in this case, the SD Geek).. 4Vrms may be too high.. so hopefully, it's (accurately) adjustable.