[UNIFi]

 

 
I never said you need to be careful with the pot with the HE400, only sensitive headphones - the op never said he was going to use sensitive headphones - just dynamic in general. HD600, HE400, DT880, K701 are not ones I'd be thinking of here. You'd have to be careful with something like the HD598 or Philips X1.
 
But yes unless you are only sticking with the HE400 and dynamic mid fi with higher ohms go with something like a Audio GD or similar with gain switch.
 
I've run IEMS off an Audio GD and had 8-10.5 to work with which was more than enough for my listening range. How loud do listen to your headphones compared to others? I've had the HE500 off a Audio GD which is twice the power of the Magni and been good to go at 10-11 on the volume pot on many albums without trouble.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

  The Magni is not all that powerful overall, good enough for certain Planars, and will not be too powerful for dynamics. You will just have to be careful with the volume when using different cans with different sensitivities.
 

 
Quote:

   
I never said you need to be careful with the pot with the HE400, only sensitive headphones - the op never said he was going to use sensitive headphones - just dynamic in general. HD600, HE400, DT880, K701 are not ones I'd be thinking of here. You'd have to be careful with something like the HD598 or Philips X1.
 
But yes unless you are only sticking with the HE400 and dynamic mid fi with higher ohms go with something like a Audio GD or similar with gain switch.
 
I've run IEMS off an Audio GD and had 8-10.5 to work with which was more than enough for my listening range. How loud do listen to your headphones compared to others? I've had the HE500 off a Audio GD which is twice the power of the Magni and been good to go at 10-11 on the volume pot on many albums without trouble.

When you said volume, it is analogous to either the volume pot or the software volume in my books.
 
Also saying the magni is not powerful enough for dynamic headphones is nonsense. Most headphones barely need a milliwatt of power just to reach 90 dB. 
 
I am assuming that is low gain you are listening your IEMs with? The rated power in the audio gd website is for high gain, I would not trust it with my IEMs as that large surge of power may easily damage the drivers. Using my UMPRO30, I actually still hear a clear signal with the volume pot all the way down in low gain. I use low gain daily with my HE-500 with volume pot varying 10-1 at day time and 10-8 during quiet nights. The only time I use high gain is for movies, the dynamic range of some movies are extremely large.

 

[UNIFi]

   
 
Also saying the magni is not powerful enough for dynamic headphones is nonsense. Most headphones barely need a milliwatt of power just to reach 90 dB. 

Where did I say that?
 
All I said is that you do not need to be very careful with Dynamic headphones like the HD600, DT880 (600) and other harder to drive dynamics - because you will have more of the volume pot to play with. I do realise that we do not need nearly as much power as some want to think, but it doesn't mean you suddenly lose all range on a volume pot.
 
Also I'm not denying that I mean the volume pot at all. I said that you do not need to worry about the volume pot with the HE400 too much, but that being careful applied to using sensitive cans with them. Note the original question never posed the idea of using sensitive headphones with them at all, hence my comment about dynamic headphones that were not all that sensitive.
 
On high gain on the Audio GD the HD600 for example sits less than 1 oclock in difference for me than the HE500 for similar volume. DT880 about the same as the HD600. I must listen a fair bit louder than you admittedly as the HE500 at 10-11 on high gain is around where it would sit depending on the recordings. Low gain I hear no difference but I'm putting a pot a bit higher up.
 
My Heir 4.ai can be used up to 9.00 even on high gain with no hiss or noise. Remember GD starts at 7 oclock
 
Anyway I think we'll agree to disagree. I apologize to the OP for derailing.
 
OP if you are intending to get the Magni for the HE400 it will be usable and will work perfectly for HD600, DT880, K701, Mad Dog and other cans of similar quality to the HE400. If you ever intend to use headphones with a can with higher sensitivity though, getting another amp instead of the Magni with a low gain mode may be preferable. If you do go the route of the O2/ODAC it might be worth looking into a build with the Unity gain/2.5x option for sensitive cans/iems.

 

[Claritas]

KMH, I think you've misunderstood him. Happens to all of us, so fuggedaboutit.

 

[coletrain104]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help. If the HE-400s don't work out for me, I feel that the q701 or Mad Dog will be very enticing to me, so it sounds like the Magni/Modi will work for now. I'm about to go into college, so I don't think I'll be upgrading soon, but still, the ability to better use the O2/ODAC with different cans is pretty enticing. Guess I have to figure out if that's worth $80 extra to me. Also, if I have an amp with an integrated USB DAC, do I just need a USB connector, or will I need something to go into the RCA input as well?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

  Where did I say that?
 
All I said is that you do not need to be very careful with Dynamic headphones like the HD600, DT880 (600) and other harder to drive dynamics - because you will have more of the volume pot to play with. I do realise that we do not need nearly as much power as some want to think, but it doesn't mean you suddenly lose all range on a volume pot.
 
Also I'm not denying that I mean the volume pot at all. I said that you do not need to worry about the volume pot with the HE400 too much, but that being careful applied to using sensitive cans with them. Note the original question never posed the idea of using sensitive headphones with them at all, hence my comment about dynamic headphones that were not all that sensitive.
 
On high gain on the Audio GD the HD600 for example sits less than 1 oclock in difference for me than the HE500 for similar volume. DT880 about the same as the HD600. I must listen a fair bit louder than you admittedly as the HE500 at 10-11 on high gain is around where it would sit depending on the recordings. Low gain I hear no difference but I'm putting a pot a bit higher up.
 
My Heir 4.ai can be used up to 9.00 even on high gain with no hiss or noise. Remember GD starts at 7 oclock
 
Anyway I think we'll agree to disagree. I apologize to the OP for derailing.
 
OP if you are intending to get the Magni for the HE400 it will be usable and will work perfectly for HD600, DT880, K701, Mad Dog and other cans of similar quality to the HE400. If you ever intend to use headphones with a can with higher sensitivity though, getting another amp instead of the Magni with a low gain mode may be preferable. If you do go the route of the O2/ODAC it might be worth looking into a build with the Unity gain/2.5x option for sensitive cans/iems.

Yeah, I am going to leave the past post alone then, sorry about that lol.
 
Your music must have some good dynamic range then or don't have the loudness problem. The only time I really turn up my volume is when I listen to older albums or having a drink. The gain doesn't seem to affect fidelity so I am just as content on low as I am if I were to use it on high.
 

  Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help. If the HE-400s don't work out for me, I feel that the q701 or Mad Dog will be very enticing to me, so it sounds like the Magni/Modi will work for now. I'm about to go into college, so I don't think I'll be upgrading soon, but still, the ability to better use the O2/ODAC with different cans is pretty enticing. Guess I have to figure out if that's worth $80 extra to me. Also, if I have an amp with an integrated USB DAC, do I just need a USB connector, or will I need something to go into the RCA input as well?

Are you looking into audiogd stuff? They are typically built as a DAC first product hence the RCA outputs for connecting into other amps. But the amp is more than sufficient, I guess you can stick an rca cover into them to keep off dust. If you buy audiogd, you get a pretty good quality USB cable already so you don't need to get one.

 

[coletrain104]

I was thinking along the lines of the O2/ODAC, which I'm pretty sure you can buy integrated. Would audiogd be a good thing to look into with a high possibility of using planars and my cost ranges though? Not having to separately order cables and pay extra for them sounds like common sense to me, I'm surprised other companies don't include them

 

[TMRaven]

I would perhaps consider rock the HE-400's weakest genre.  I personally like a lot of rock with a full and present upper midrange around 2-4khz, which really brings out electric guitars and the bite on a lot of instruments.  This is where HE-400 is recessed in its coloration.  Certain rock songs might lack the type of energy you desire, but some might not.   I think HE-400 plays best with instrumental and electronic genres, as well as hip-hop and rap (providing you EQ the treble down because a lot of hip-hop/rap have bright mastering)
 
You can EQ the upper midrange of the HE-400 up to give it the harmonic energy you desire, but it still won't make the HE-400 become thick sounding in that range compared to other headphones like say, the LCD series.

 

[coletrain104]

Nevermind, I'm gonna have to make a modi/magni or ODAC/O2 choice.

 

[Claritas]

I would perhaps consider rock the HE-400's weakest genre.  I personally like a lot of rock with a full and present upper midrange around 2-4khz, which really brings out electric guitars and the bite on a lot of instruments.  This is where HE-400 is recessed in its coloration.  Certain rock songs might lack the type of energy you desire, but some might not.   I think HE-400 plays best with instrumental and electronic genres, as well as hip-hop and rap (providing you EQ the treble down because a lot of hip-hop/rap have bright mastering)

You can EQ the upper midrange of the HE-400 up to give it the harmonic energy you desire, but it still won't make the HE-400 become thick sounding in that range compared to other headphones like say, the LCD series.

I really enjoy the way it plays jazz. It's adequate with other genres, a good all rounder, but I prefer Grados for rock and metal.

 

[yonitaun]

So I thought I would throw another option out there for the OP. The Aune T1 dac/amp combo. I just received this piece of kit a few weeks ago, and I have to say, I'm impressed.
 
It's a very good sounding unit, to my ears. It falls inside the price range of the other gear being discussed, sounds great (IMHO) w/ the HE-400's, has gain switches on the bottom of the unit, and also allows tailoring the sound via tube rolling, if your so inclined.
 
I did own the magni/modi combo for a while (still have the modi), and I definitely prefer the T1 over that combo.
 
Something to look into, anyway.

 

[coletrain104]

thanks, though if I end up with the mad dog, i certainly don't want the sound to be any warmer than it already is, so I think I'm gonna try to stick with ss. So if I get the modi and magni, then do I need a wall-wart? I hear people mentioning it some. or do I just connect modi via OSB to my source, and Magni to Modi with two RCA-RCA?

 

[yonitaun]

The modi is usb powered, so just the usb connection in, then rca out to amplification (in this case the magni). The magni does need an AC adapter for power, which it comes with.

 

[coletrain104]

Do you know if it comes with any of the other cables?

 

[yonitaun]

No other cables. You have to supply the rca connections and the usb cable for the modi
 
Schiit does sell a very short set of rca's and a short usb for connection between their products called PYST, listed under accessories