[DJBunyan]

Hey guys, this is my first post here on head-fi, but ive been lurking for a while. I apologize if there is a separate forum that i missed where new users are meant to introduce themselves; I'm writing this on my iPhone in the hotel in Tampa for the outback bowl (I play football for Michigan).

I've saved up about $600, and I am looking to explore new options in the audiophile world. I am in love with music, and hearing it as its meant to be heard means a lot to me!

I currently own Denon D2000s that I bought 2 years ago and I am head over heels in love with them. I mostly listen to vocal trance, indie/folk rock, reggae, jam bands (Bela Fleck, etc) and classic rock, but I pretty much listen to everything and anything there is.

Things I love about the Denons:

-The bass! It's tightened up wonderfully and since I prefer a bassy sound any way, it's just perfect to me
-The comfort. I have a large head, and the Denons are supremely comfortable.
-The overall sharpness and detailing. I know to a lot of you the Denons are good but not great in this area, but these are my first true audiophile level headphones, and they've blown me away from the start.
-The highs are just wonderful to me, piercing and detailed.


Even though I can tell the mids are a little recessed vs the bass and the treble, I still think they're smooth and present in a way that's quite enjoyable. Basically, I can't say I *don't* like a single aspect of these headphones, from sound to design, from feel to build quality, and everything in between! I just know that even though I'm very impressed with these, that I am just barely scratching the surface of the audiophile world and there is more out there that will just blow my mind even more!

The things I am looking for in the new cans:


-Sharpness, sharpness, sharpness! I would love to have the most detailed headphones with the most excellent instrument separation available for my price. Most of my music is 320kbs MP3 or FLAC/ALAC, so I'm not particularly worried about source quality being an issue here.


-Bass is still important, but since I have my Denons I will not need a "bass head" phone per say, but I'd definitely want the bass to be there. I find the bass on the Denons to be very pleasing.

-Open or closed makes no difference to me, but I think I might be interested in an open can to get the best soundstage possible.


Like I said, my budget is around $600, but if there's something that's worth saving up for that is a little bit out of my price range, I wouldn't mind saving up a little bit more. I also really appreciate build quality; if the headphones just exude quality, it really is a selling point for me. I do not have an amp currently, but I do have a Denon 3803 receiver that I use with my Martin Logan speakers that has some very high quality DACs. BurrBrown PCM1791s, if that matters.


I know you guys will have some awesome recommendations for me and I look forward to the discussion! Thanks to all in advance for your help.

All the best,

Dan

 

[davidsh]

k701 maybe? Quite prominent treble and fairly detailed with a very big sound stage. Not the most defined sound stage though, they seem a bit too airy for me. Then you could get a proper amp, the k701 is said to be quite picky..
 
You could also get a HE-400/500. Idk if the treble is good enough for you though...

 

[DJBunyan]

Any amp recommendations for the k701s?


The HE-500s intrigue me, but they would be suitable amped only through my denon receiver?

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

Any amp recommendations for the k701s?
The HE-500s intrigue me, but they would be suitable amped only through my denon receiver?

Receivers are not the greatest for amping headphones. That being said it depends on the receiver as well. Maybe with the 600 dollar budget you could fit in an amp/dac with some headphones. 
 
You can get the Magni and Modi. Have not heard them  yet, but with the quality from schiit they should be a great headphone amp/dac setup for a cheap 200. After that you can add the he-400. The 500 is nice, but I feel the HE-400 will have more of the bass you like from the denons. I love both my d5k and he400s. My top two headphones IMO.(D5k is like the D2k but had wooden cups and is a little more refined.)
 
in shot Magni & Modi with HE-400. they will also help the denons shine ^_^
 
cheers

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

Any amp recommendations for the k701s?
The HE-500s intrigue me, but they would be suitable amped only through my denon receiver?

 
They are actually relatively easy to drive, I'd be that it would work fine.  In fact, there is a whole thread on receivers that work very well as headphone amps, check it out:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/537704/calling-all-vintage-integrated-receiver-owners

 

[DJBunyan]

Receivers are not the greatest for amping headphones. That being said it depends on the receiver as well. Maybe with the 600 dollar budget you could fit in an amp/dac with some headphones. 

You can get the Magni and Modi. Have not heard them  yet, but with the quality from schiit they should be a great headphone amp/dac setup for a cheap 200. After that you can add the he-400. The 500 is nice, but I feel the HE-400 will have more of the bass you like from the denons. I love both my d5k and he400s. My top two headphones IMO.(D5k is like the D2k but had wooden cups and is a little more refined.)

in shot Magni & Modi with HE-400. they will also help the denons shine ^_^

cheers

That seems like a neat deal. The best of both worlds: a new purchase that will also help my current phones.


Any other ideas?

 

[DJBunyan]

So, I bought the HiFiMan HE-400s and the Magni/Modi amp/dac from Schiit. Waiting on delivery now

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

So, I bought the HiFiMan HE-400s and the Magni/Modi amp/dac from Schiit. Waiting on delivery now

OH GRATS DJ! I was away from head fi for a day so I missed you asking for more ideas. Let us know what you think of them all together. Also Look into the velour pads for the he-400 and maybe a mod for the headband if you find them to be to uncomfortable. ( personally I did not, but modded them anyway to have extra cushion.)
 
cheers

 

[DJBunyan]

OH GRATS DJ! I was away from head fi for a day so I missed you asking for more ideas. Let us know what you think of them all together. Also Look into the velour pads for the he-400 and maybe a mod for the headband if you find them to be to uncomfortable. ( personally I did not, but modded them anyway to have extra cushion.)

cheers

I bought from HeadAmp which come with the velour pads!


Reading more reviews I'm even more sold on this purchase! I will update this thread as soon as I can with how I like them.


Any burn in recommendations for the HE-400s? Does the amp require "burn in" as well?

 

[streetdragon]

all i can say for certain for the amp is that it requires no burn in (only warm up if it's a tube amp)

 

[fabio-fi]

Well, some SS amps benefit from a warm up as well. 

 

[DJBunyan]

How exactly do you warm an amp up?

 

[RMac]

First of all, I'm surprised nobody gave you any props on playing ball for Michigan.
 
Second off, I have the HE-400 also en route; I only have the Fiio E17 to drive them for right now, but i'm interested in hearing impressions about the Magni/Modi stack.

 

[DJBunyan]

^thanks man.


Ill definitely let you guys know what I think of them when I get them. I've heard and read nothing but good things about both the magni modi stack and the headphones, I couldn't be more excited to try them out.

Can anyone answer my question about burn in for the HE-400s or direct me to a thread that does?

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

First of all, I'm surprised nobody gave you any props on playing ball for Michigan.
 
Second off, I have the HE-400 also en route; I only have the Fiio E17 to drive them for right now, but i'm interested in hearing impressions about the Magni/Modi stack.

Just upgraded from my fiio e17 to the x-can v8p, which is a 3 yr old 500$ tube amp. It sounds way way better.