Wow I’m looking back at my comments from 2015 onwards and seeing how I still own HD-DAC1. It’s still works fantastically well, besides the clicking portion! It’s at least 7-8 years old.
I had, AKG 7XX, HD800 and HD800S preciously and it paired superbly well with all especially both HD800s! Till I sold them and paired with LCD2. The pairing isn’t fantastic as compared with my HD800s. Obviously the headphones signatures are opposite ends. The warm is slightly overpowering and I was wondering if it was the LCD2’s. I remembered trying them out with KANN Alpha and it sounded amazing! Separation was good, details can be heard with wide soundstage hence my purchase of LCD2.
I want to confirm if DAC1 is warm or not. I tried with another earpiece that is quite neutral and it was full and authoritative! Small sound staging and details are as layered as KANN Alpha. Based on this, I felt so tempted to sell this and get back HD800S.
Also, as I was reading, another way is to pair with another amp. Was interested in Monolith but most reviews are that it’s quite linear, not much musicality and slight poorer quality