[Austin 3:16]

I am a basshead. To me there's never enough bass. But I want quality as much as quantity. I listen to metal mostly but also: 80's/90's R&B, 80's pop, classic rock, old school rap.

Source will be 5.5g 80gb iPod, to be iModded. Good quality cables. V-cap dock. Phones to be used: Yuin PK2 with podfitkit, Kramer and my modded (paper filter replaced with foam, dynamat on exterior, Shure Olive and Soft silicone flex tips)JVC Marshmallow, Atrio m5, and possibly Westone (UM2 or 3 or ES3). Will be recorded using Apple lossless. And Rockboxed if I ever get it figured out.

 

[Mr. Tadashi]

Keep in mind that I have not herd the Tomahawk(I have breafly herd the Hornet), and have herd the Lisa III and have one on my way. IMO for the headphones you are using the Tomahawk would be the better choice between the two, since the Lisa would be overkill with those Headphones.(I know that I just loved the way they sound with my Denon D2000 and I will try my Ety ER4-P when I get the the Lisa and my iMod back. They are likely to cause sensitive IEM's to hiss since it was not designed with them in mind.)

 

[Austin 3:16]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Tadashi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind that I have not herd the Tomahawk(I have breafly herd the Hornet), and have herd the Lisa III and have one on my way. IMO for the headphones you are using the Tomahawk would be the better choice between the two, since the Lisa would be overkill with those Headphones.(I know that I just loved the way they sound with my Denon D2000 and I will try my Ety ER4-P when I get the the Lisa and my iMod back. They are likely to cause sensitive IEM's to hiss since it was not designed with them in mind.)

So if I used full sized cans at home (where rig will stay), You'd say Lisa?

Which cans then?

 

[NeObliviscaris]

FWIW, I use the Tomahawk with my IEMs and my SR80s, and I absolutely love it!

I love it's smallness so its easily portable and sounds fan-freaken-tastic!

 

[Austin 3:16]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeedMeTrance /img/forum/go_quote.gif FWIW, I use the Tomahawk with my IEMs and my SR80s, and I absolutely love it! I love it's smallness so its easily portable and sounds fan-freaken-tastic!

Will it power any cans?

 

[wakeride74]

Lisa and D5000 sound amazing so I'd bet the D2000 would be great too. The Lisa is an amazing amp but can be noisy when used with IEM's. If I were going to have two rigs w/out spending a fortune I'd go Lisa XP for home with some recabled D2000 and a Tomahawk or Pico (amp only) for portable (unless you have a need for a dac in which case you could go Predator or Pico) and UM2 with modded triflanges.

 

[jamato8]

I don't mean to go sideways here but how do you get good sound out of the UM2's? I used to think they were ok but I haven't used them for long periods for about 2 years. They are just flat with no real highs. The mids are fine and the bass is ok but where are the upper frequencies? And I do have the amps to try them with as well as good sources. And I do have the tri's, modded and everything else for them.

 

[chef8489]

I think the Es2 or the UE 5c or ue7pro. would be a better fit then the es3. The es3's have the mids boosted.

 

[Mr. Tadashi]

Well I can't recommend what I haven't herd, I can vouch for wakeride74's recommendation of the Denon D2000, I was wowed with the sound when I herd them and I had just sent them off to be recabled myself. The other headphones I have herd with the Lisa were a pair of Grado GS1000 with a ALO Audio recable(Currently a one-off) and those were just jaw dropping to me.

 

[jamato8]

Actually I don't see the match-up here. The TH is an in your pocket carry around portable and the Lisa III is a transportable, maybe portable but in a different type of class in portable. To me the two amps serve different purposes.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lisa and D5000 sound amazing so I'd bet the D2000 would be great too.

Being 25 Ohm does that mean they're fairly easy to drive?

 

[Mr. Tadashi]

From my experance they are easy to drive, but they don't shine when plugged in to a DAP(I.E. Sony NWZ-A816) as well when they are plugged into an amp like the Lisa.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't mean to go sideways here but how do you get good sound out of the UM2's? I used to think they were ok but I haven't used them for long periods for about 2 years. They are just flat with no real highs. The mids are fine and the bass is ok but where are the upper frequencies? And I do have the amps to try them with as well as good sources. And I do have the tri's, modded and everything else for them.

The UM2's have limitations and I would say definition in the top end is one of them. They do not sparkle or extend as nicely as the Shure E4C but the trade off for the bass and mids is worth it IMO. The other option would be to get something like the E4C and pair it with a SMIV with AD8397's and bass boost on but that still may not be enough for the OP if he is a real basshead

FWIW I do not care for the new stuff I have heard from Shure which is why I go back to the E4.

The ES3 would not be a good choice, those are vocal monitors. If you are looking to go custom the ES2 is one of the best bangs for the buck although I have not read much about how they stack up to the livewires FWIW. You may want to PM digihead, I believe he owns damn near every custom out there!

As for amps it sounds like you need to settle on some headphones you like first and build around them... synergy, synergy, synergy!

 

[saisunil]

Another way around would be to get an amp with a bass boost. I have Xin LE - it is an amazing amp - of course small, transportable and will drive most cans with ease. It has a very good bass boost switch among others. Good luck with your journey.

Cheers
Sunil.

 

[FreeBlues]

I have a TH and just received a LISA. I listened to both using ES2's and UE11's out of an iMod and p-vcap.

To me the TH really lacks bass, really. The LISA is as good as it gets, both for bass and everything else.

I've also been using an iQube for a few weeks and think it is very good, much better than the TH. It's not quite as good as the LISA, but it is much more portable. Finally, my Pico should arrive any day now, so I'll have one more amp to compare.