PacoTaco
500+ Head-Fier
Thanks for the detailed explanation. What you said makes complete sense. Your last statement about, " being in that world," sums up the experience I am looking for. Based on your opinion, it sounds like the HE 400i would be the better choice for what I am looking for in my gaming? The HE400 is not aesthetically pleasing but, damn, the HE 400i is sexy as hell! It seems like HifiMan really put some thought into upgrading the HE 400.
As far as my sound card...it has no problems driving my Dt990 (600 ohm) headphones leaving plenty of headroom. When I want to crank it up, I only go about 75%. And I can't listen too long at that level either. Based on this, do you think the HE 400i is going to need more power? When I hooked up the Schiit stack, the volume was identical to my sound card. Also, do you think an amp that will add a little warmth be a good match for them? Thanks again.
The DT990 is incredibly easy to drive, even at the 600 ohm version. It only ever peaks at 750 ohms at a 96 sensitivity. Keep in mind that getting to a loud volume and driving are two different things and one can be more subjective than the other at times. If you don't supply enough current, for example, you can get loud enough but have clipping.
A planar like the HE400i is horribly inefficient with what you give it. It needs more current and headroom than the soundblaster gives out to sound its best (but again, its up to you, as it won't ruin the headphone's sound or anything.) The common theory is that planars do better, especially in the soundstage and bass areas, with more headroom. I've noticed this with my HE400 (it sounded better on the Asgard 2 than the magni, but it kinda capped out there and didn't sound any better on the Burson.)
Again, it can be entirely subjective as nobody has actually done any tests on this, nor really backed it up with any proof. That said, the Magni 2 is a great amp that will last you a long time, you may as well keep that and just return the Modi. The modi just helps if you have a particularly noisy case (like mine) and you need to clean that up a bit.