[Tom-s]

  Yeah the tubes scare me as i don't know what they are as im a noob. also im in the UK so cant get this amp only seems to be US based.

I suggest reading up on this. The Crack is specifically designed for higher impedance headphones like yours. 
The thing with this amp are the options that come with it. There's so many possible upgrades on this one that you don't need to consider a next step.
It's transformer can be used with 230-240V aswel as 110-120V, the transformer is universal.
Check out the Bottlehead forum. The support community for this amp is massive compared to others.
 
It's a better fitting option than a Fiio amp. I use one myself for the road but i don't bother putting a Sennheiser HD650
 
Quote:

The Bottlehead crack is definitely not for the inexperienced and requires you to solder and build it yourself

 
The Crack is intended for first timers. That's the whole purpose of the kit. The manual is very detailed.

 

[akg fanboy]

The Crack is intended for first timers. That's the whole purpose of the kit. The manual is very detailed.

Pretty sure the majority of people who are getting their first amp would not be comfortable with building their own bottlehead or objective 2... The fiio A5 is the best option for him and it is the SUCCESSOR to the e12 there really isn't anything better for the price especially since music listening isn't the biggest priority, and it will literally power every modern headphone easily. A $300 tube amp isn't going to provide an additional improvement that is outright noticeable without buyers remorse over an A5

 

[akg fanboy]

Don't take this the wrong way but... Why bother buying a pair HD700 if you're going to pair them with a 100$ DAC/Amp like the Fiio A5? 

Do you think any $2000 amp is better than a $500 amp because it is more expensive? Unless you can blind test a $100 solid state amp vs a $300 solid state amp and clearly tell a difference, I don't think you should use price as a metric for evaluating performance.

Isn't the Fiio A5 just an amp?  I didn't think the A5 was an AMP/DAC combo...

Hmmm.... I think you are right. Not as much of a value king as I thought but still great in terms of opamp and power for the asking price. The dragonfly should be able to drive the hd700 so that can work as well

 

[ironcross12]

Do you think any $2000 amp is better than a $500 amp because it is more expensive? Unless you can blind test a $100 solid state amp vs a $300 solid state amp and clearly tell a difference, I don't think you should use price as a metric for evaluating performance.
Hmmm.... I think you are right. Not as much of a value king as I thought but still great in terms of opamp and power for the asking price. The dragonfly should be able to drive the hd700 so that can work as well

So would i need a Dac also? i thought it had one built in?

 

[akg fanboy]

Yes your motherboard has an onboard soundcard with an amp and a dac, I think it turns out the A5 does not. How much will it benefit you to upgrade? That I cannot say but some motherboards such as the asus x99 rampage already have pretty good soundcards. Does your music have hiss in it when you are listening to quiet tracks? Then you most likely can benefit from a better dac. 

 

[Me x3]

FiiO A5 is a very powerful headphone amplifier that can drive the HD700 with ease.
A DAC would improve the overall performance, especially if your current source (an onboard audio chip maybe?) is not that transparent.
 
A little FiiO E10K (USB DAC/Amp) can drive the HD700 just fine and that's probably all you'll ever need for your purposes.
It really depends on how much are you willing to spend to get small SQ incrementals.

 

[ironcross12]

https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/MAXIMUS_V_GENE/
 
The SupremeFX III™ onboard audio solution is an 8-channel HD audio equipped with a carefully selected 1500uF capacitor which provides clean, ripple-free audio power and – perfect for enveloping gaming environments. With a metallic EMI cover and special layout design on the PCB, advanced SupremeFX Shielding™ technology isolates analog audio signals from digital sources for exceptional clarity and high fidelity, while a gold-plated jack ensures rich notes reach your ears with minimal distortion.

A bounty of industry standards are supported, including EAX® 5.0 Advanced HD, Creative® ALchemy and THX® TruStudio™ PRO, so the same great audio experiences found in live performances, films and recording studios are reproduced faithfully right on the PC. When bundled with the Sound Blaster® X-Fi MB2 suite, the SupremeFX III™ is the perfect choice to provide an exceptional gaming experience with realistic sound effects.
 
I'm trying to look for the "HISS" but cant seem to find it what type of music should i try?
 
all this is hard work i'm so confused lol

 

[akg fanboy]

  https://www.asus.com/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/MAXIMUS_V_GENE/
 
The SupremeFX III™ onboard audio solution is an 8-channel HD audio equipped with a carefully selected 1500uF capacitor which provides clean, ripple-free audio power and – perfect for enveloping gaming environments. With a metallic EMI cover and special layout design on the PCB, advanced SupremeFX Shielding™ technology isolates analog audio signals from digital sources for exceptional clarity and high fidelity, while a gold-plated jack ensures rich notes reach your ears with minimal distortion.

A bounty of industry standards are supported, including EAX® 5.0 Advanced HD, Creative® ALchemy and THX® TruStudio™ PRO, so the same great audio experiences found in live performances, films and recording studios are reproduced faithfully right on the PC. When bundled with the Sound Blaster® X-Fi MB2 suite, the SupremeFX III™ is the perfect choice to provide an exceptional gaming experience with realistic sound effects.
 
I'm trying to look for the "HISS" but cant seem to find it what type of music should i try?
 
all this is hard work i'm so confused lol

Just any track with quiet parts such as a vocal solo or instrumental, classical music is usually a good track to test (as long as it is a well recorded 256 aac/320 mp3 or better). If you cannot find it and it is too much work, I don't think a better dac will have a great upgrade for you. Me personally, it was incredibly annoying to deal with hiss and it was really amazing to get music without hiss after I got my amp/dac upgrade. I advise you stay away from the really expensive solutions because they will leave you in disappoint 

 

[Bacci]

Do you think any $2000 amp is better than a $500 amp because it is more expensive? Unless you can blind test a $100 solid state amp vs a $300 solid state amp and clearly tell a difference, I don't think you should use price as a metric for evaluating performance.
Hmmm.... I think you are right. Not as much of a value king as I thought but still great in terms of opamp and power for the asking price. The dragonfly should be able to drive the hd700 so that can work as well

 
9/10 posts on head-fi are people recommending the gear they bought themselves. No prob, just know what to expect.
 
There's a lot of snake oil sold in the audio business, but as far as reputable vendors are concerned, you get what you pay for, but of course with diminishing returns. 100$ is low on that curve. The HD700 are fantastic cans and it would be a waste to pair them with entry-fi gear. The Fiio A5 is more at the level of Senn HD5xx.
My 0.02$. 

 

[akg fanboy]

   
9/10 posts on head-fi are people recommending the gear they bought themselves. No prob, just know what to expect.
 
There's a lot of snake oil sold in the audio business, but as far as reputable vendors are concerned, you get what you pay for, but of course with diminishing returns. 100$ is low on that curve. The HD700 are fantastic cans and it would be a waste to pair them with entry-fi gear. The Fiio A5 is more at the level of Senn HD5xx.
My 0.02$. 

Still haven't addressed my claims. Have you had bad experiences with sub $100 amps to say they are not worthy with high end headphones? Until you can blind test one against a more expensive amp that you think is more "worthy", it is completely irrelevant to disregard a product because of its price alone. I enjoy my $100 brainwavz hm5 more than my $700+ audio technica w5000 for example. The diminishing returns on amps are far greater

 

[Bacci]

  Still haven't addressed my claims. Have you had bad experiences with sub $100 amps to say they are not worthy with high end headphones? Until you can blind test one against a more expensive amp that you think is more "worthy", it is completely irrelevant to disregard a product because of its price alone. I enjoy my $100 brainwavz hm5 more than my $700+ audio technica w5000 for example. The diminishing returns on amps are far greater

I don't understand the question.
Of course they are not worthy, you just can't get e.g a class A SS amp with linear PSU and high end opamps for 100$ or an OTL/hybrid counterpart with CCS, film caps etc. Yet that's the level of amplification to match the HD700 or even the HD6x0. 
Anyone can hear the difference, it is not subtle... 

 

[ironcross12]

 
I don't understand the question.
Of course they are not worthy, you just can't get e.g a class A SS amp with linear PSU and high end opamps for 100$ or an OTL/hybrid counterpart with CCS, film caps etc. Yet that's the level of amplification to match the HD700 or even the HD6x0. 
Anyone can hear the difference, it is not subtle... 

So what amps/Dac pairs well with a HD700?

 

[akg fanboy]

  So what amps/Dac pairs well with a HD700?

I'm just going to warn you now that you do not need some exotic high end amp nor specifically a class A amp to drive the hd700. 800mw @32ohm is more than enough power, he doesn't know what he talking about.
Feel free to spend as much money as you need, just expect to be disappointed if you are expecting large or even moderate improvements

 

[ironcross12]

  I'm just going to warn you now that you do not need some exotic high end amp nor specifically a class A amp to drive the hd700. 800mw @32ohm is more than enough power, he doesn't know what he talking about.
Feel free to spend as much money as you need, just expect to be disappointed if you are expecting large or even moderate improvements

I like the look of the A5 what DAC would pair well with this?

 

[ironcross12]

my motherboards sound card has a good amp i cant turn it all the way up as it's so loud