[OldDude04]

Quick question. Would the iFi idsd Nano Black Label have enough juice to drive the m1060?

I'm wanting to make sure that I've got enough power to make them sing, but would prefer something portable and don't have much dough.

I would say no, at least not the way you'd want it to. The Nano Black Label only puts out 285mW/30Ω. You'd be better off saving just a bit more and buying a used iFi Micro iDSD or iDSD BL. I've seen them go used for around $100 more than the Nano BL. If you didn't have to have portable, you could get a Schiit Magni 3 for $99 which has plenty of juice to run the M1060.

 

[bjaardker]

I would say no, at least not the way you'd want it to. The Nano Black Label only puts out 285mW/30Ω.

Thanks. The whole mW ohm thing is something I've never been able to quite get. Way too much math.

At that point I'd probably just buy 2 magni, one for the office and one for home.

 

[DavidA]

Decided to give the M1060 a second chance and went over to a friends house to get a second listen to her M1060 today and it sounded just like the first one that I heard a few months ago, boring and life less due to the rolled of highs (but no ringing noticed), bass also did not seems to extend as low as the LCD-2f (2016 drivers), TH-900 (Lawton driver damping), EL-8 or HE560 (old version, grill mod) that we compared it to, if anything we both though it was closer to the HE400i in the bass area. These were stock but had about 200 hours on them unlike the first pair which only had 20-40 hours on them but burn-in didn't seem to make any difference. Used her portable FiioX5 gen3 / Hugo setup first and then moved to her PC/UD-501/HPA-V200 setup with mostly FLAC CD rips and 24/96 downloaded tracks. FWIW the X5 gen3 has more than enough power to drive the M1060 to pain level for me and using the Hugo was really not needed and the same for the headphone jack of the UD-501 since it also was able to drive the M1060 to higher than my preferred listening levels. I also tried to see if slightly higher listening levels would make the M1060 sound better since a few have mentioned that these do sound better at higher listening levels and while they do sound a bit better its not something that I could listen to for more than a few minutes before fatigue setting in just due to the loudness.

Too lazy to go back and read but does the PT mod increased or decrease the highs/mids? If the upper mids or lower treble has a touch more energy / extension and the bass just a touch more extended I can see these being a great bargain for the price for those that listen at slightly higher listening levels but I guess like @Brahmsian and @koover told me these are not my cup of tea

 

[SilverEars]

You should get your hearing checked. The highs weren't rolled off. Perhaps you prefer shrilly highs due to degraded ears that is rolled off in sensitivity.

 

[DavidA]

You should get your hearing checked. The highs weren't rolled off. Perhaps you prefer shrilly highs due to degraded ears that is rolled off in sensitivity.

Nope, my hearing is fine last time I got them checked earlier this year. I am sensitive to some treble since the small treble peak of the HD600 bothered me at times. I think the problem frequency is between 4-5 kHz since the 6khz peak of the HD700 don't bother me at all and the Nighthawk higher treble peak did bother me at times so any 5khz ringing would have been quickly irritating to me. Also, my HD650 is brighter to me and its the M1060 that sounds "veiled" to me and also to my friend who owns the M1060 and a few other headphones and her hearing is much better than mine.

 

[SilverEars]

Hmmm, the HD650 sounded a bit rolled off(this is due to ears not adjusted initially) to me from what I recall(with the lower treble cut similar to LCD2 when I had them), and it's usually considered veiled or dark sounding for some that their ears either has not adjusted to the lower treble cut or used to brighter headphone prior(or even their ears less sensitive to higher treble perhaps). But, in contrast, HD600 was on the brighter side. Out of the two my preference was the HD650, but even better would be an avg of the 650 and the 600.

For me HD800 forward treble bothers me the most. Even with the 6khz peak reduced a bit with the S, I still get bothered by the forward treble. It's the peak in the lower treble(6-10) that really bothers me when there are punchy sounds.

 

[401133]

Thanks. The whole mW ohm thing is something I've never been able to quite get. Way too much math.

At that point I'd probably just buy 2 magni, one for the office and one for home.

Nothing to get, your iFi should be more than adequate. People have overstated the requirement of more powerful output for the M1060. I have the NFB R2R myself, which outputs around 1.8W for the M1060 (a bit more than the Magni 3 at 1.2W), and I haven’t noticed it making any difference over the Fiio E09K or the O2+ODAC – both with much lower output levels, similar to your gear – other than the differences that already exist between various DAC/Amps in general. The M1060 ran just fine on the O2+ODAC, and it’s actually a very easily-driven headphone to begin with.

Also, strangely enough, my NFB had more trouble literally powering the M1060 and other headphones than the O2+ODAC – that is, I managed to reach much louder levels on the latter.

 

[DavidA]

Hmmm, the HD650 sounded a bit rolled off(this is due to ears not adjusted initially) to me from what I recall(with the lower treble cut similar to LCD2 when I had them), and it's usually considered veiled or dark sounding for some that their ears either has not adjusted to the lower treble cut or used to brighter headphone prior(or even their ears less sensitive to higher treble perhaps). But, in contrast, HD600 was on the brighter side. Out of the two my preference was the HD650, but even better would be an avg of the 650 and the 600.

For me HD800 forward treble bothers me the most. Even with the 6khz peak reduced a bit with the S, I still get bothered by the forward treble. It's the peak in the lower treble(6-10) that really bothers me when there are punchy sounds.

The HD650 can sound "slightly veiled" (more like a muddy mess) to me with some setups such as with a Elise amp with stock tubes but with a carefully chosen amp and tubes if using a tube amp its quite an impressive headphone and can sound clear, detailed and with well controlled bass. There is a noticeable change in sound signatures between an early model LCD-2/2.2 and the 2014 Fazor and again a change with the 2016 Fazor and I'd say the LCD-2.2 was the most similar to the HD650 but with a better low end and the newer LCD-2f versions slightly brighter with cleaner deeper bass.

Since I don't normally use my HD800 for vocal centric tracks I don't hear any treble that bothers me and there is no sibilance either but I also use an OTL amp.

I can see some that only listen to one headphone for an extended period getting used to that sound but since I normally listen to 5-10 different headphones everyday I don't normally get fixated on just one sound. At this moment I'm switching between a EL-8 open (UD-301 headphone output), RS2e (Bimby/Ember), HD6XX (Bimby/BH Crack) and Ypsilon R1 (UD-301/Lyr2) and enjoy them all just for their different sound signatures and how each will present a song in different ways. When it comes to listening to music for me there is no better or worst sounding headphone, just different sound signatures with which to enjoy the music.

 

[BoxingRobes]

First off...I don't mod headphones if its not a simple snap on or switch. Cords and snap-on pads are about as far as I've gone.

With that said...I've had these since the second batch (purchased first batch but had to return)...can not imagine another headphone that is a better bang for your buck. At its price point, its an amazing headphone. It holds up and is better then much more expensive headphones I've tried.

Magni2/Modi2/Loki stack + these headphones are a winner for 99% of the population and they likely would never need another headphone...but its so good, it'd lead them down the head-fi rabbit hole and life would be over for them.

 

[401133]

How does the Loki work with other Dac/Amp comboes? Like the NFB-11 Dac/Amp, which is connected to the PC via USB?

 

[wwmhf]

This M1060 is very easy to drive and I do not see much trouble with iFi idsd Nano Black Label, if any

 

[fpantalone]

They sound great right out of my MacBook Pro, although cracked right up to max. They really don't need gobs of power to shine.

 

[koover]

First off...I don't mod headphones if its not a simple snap on or switch. Cords and snap-on pads are about as far as I've gone.

With that said...I've had these since the second batch (purchased first batch but had to return)...can not imagine another headphone that is a better bang for your buck. At its price point, its an amazing headphone. It holds up and is better then much more expensive headphones I've tried.

Magni2/Modi2/Loki stack + these headphones are a winner for 99% of the population and they likely would never need another headphone...but its so good, it'd lead them down the head-fi rabbit hole and life would be over for them.

The only other HP that’s as good if not better for your bang for the buck is the Meze 99 classics. Of course they’re closed back but man these are good. If you like a nice warm and tight kicking bass response, these are worth checking out.
I have both and even though they’re closed, I’ll personally take the 99 classics every time.
My 1060’s are modded with Audeze leather and paper towel and I still prefer the Meze. Very much under the radar.
Just to add, I do like the 1060 but I believe I’m going to sell it.

 

[SilverEars]

This M1060 is very easy to drive and I do not see much trouble with iFi idsd Nano Black Label, if any

I was looking at Tyll's measurements, and it doesn't need much power to be driven to 90dB. 0.13mW like the HD650(which is easily driven as well). HE560 on the other hand, 2.53mW. How's that for a comparison?

 

[wwmhf]

By HD650, I think you mean Sennheiser's HD650. If so, then M1060 is easier to drive than HD650 on my Gustard H10.