Next upgrade in my chain?

[wolfetan44]

My system right now is an O2, ODAC, Mad Dogs, and a DT880/600. Next upgrade? Max budget is $1500. I am open to upgrading any part of the chain, amp, DAC, or headphone. My music preferences are indie rock, alternative rock, and folk. Some of my favorite artists are Animal Collective, Radiohead, and Thom Yorke(basically any band with him((Radiohead, Atoms for Peace, and his solo work))

 

[formula1]

Is there something you dont like in your current setup? I'd start on getting another set of headphones. 

 

[wolfetan44]

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Is there something you dont like in your current setup? I'd start on getting another set of headphones. 

Upgradititus.

 

[brunk]

My system right now is an O2, ODAC, Mad Dogs, and a DT880/600. Next upgrade? Max budget is $1500. I am open to upgrading any part of the chain, amp, DAC, or headphone. My music preferences are indie rock, alternative rock, and folk. Some of my favorite artists are Animal Collective, Radiohead, and Thom Yorke(basically any band with him((Radiohead, Atoms for Peace, and his solo work))

Hifiman HE-500 for $700 (same price elsewhere). For the DAC/Amp, the reputable Audio-GD NFB 11.32 for $300 (ask Kingwa about promo pricing). I honestly cant think of a better setup for $1k. I would buy this myself if I was starting fresh. This setup will knock anyone's socks off, especially for the price.

 

[disastermouse]

The HE-500 are an amazing headphone. I'm not perfectly amped, but I have the O2 and the Magni and am far happier with the Magni for the HE-500 and actually feel that I didn't experience anything close to what the HE-500 delivers with the O2. As your budget allows an even better amp than the Magni, I think you could achieve some pretty enviable sound quality with the HE-500 and an appropriate amp for your budget. I think the HE-500 are a planar magnetic bargain - but if you prefer a somewhat darker sound the Mad Dogs may be an even better deal. I haven't heard them but the fact that they are compared favorably to the LCD 2 for SUBSTANTIALLY less money is intriguing. They were on my hot list until I found a killer deal on HE-500s. Planar Magnetic transducers offer a wholly enjoyable sound that I never heard with my (admittedly narrow sample of) dynamic headphones.

 

[wolfetan44]

If I were to get a Hifiman I would get the HE-6, I have a pretty good receiver for my speaker setup. Anyways, what I was thinking was a new amp/DAC setup and explore Mid-Fi a bit more, get a Lyr/Bifrost, or if my CD player plan pans out just the Lyr.

 

[wolfetan44]

Quote:

The HE-500 are an amazing headphone. I'm not perfectly amped, but I have the O2 and the Magni and am far happier with the Magni for the HE-500 and actually feel that I didn't experience anything close to what the HE-500 delivers with the O2. As your budget allows an even better amp than the Magni, I think you could achieve some pretty enviable sound quality with the HE-500 and an appropriate amp for your budget. I think the HE-500 are a planar magnetic bargain - but if you prefer a somewhat darker sound the Mad Dogs may be an even better deal. I haven't heard them but the fact that they are compared favorably to the LCD 2 for SUBSTANTIALLY less money is intriguing. They were on my hot list until I found a killer deal on HE-500s. Planar Magnetic transducers offer a wholly enjoyable sound that I never heard with my (admittedly narrow sample of) dynamic headphones.

I have the Mad Dogs

 

[Graphicism]

I'd upgrade the rest of your chain... DAC, amp. You can cycle through a whole host of headphones and hear all sorts of different sound signatures. I didn't get a bump in sound quality until I added a good DAC to my setup. If I could I'd go back and listen to all the headphones that have come and gone through the years, that, if I'm honest, I probably didn't hear to their full potential.

 

[wolfetan44]

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I'd upgrade the rest of your chain... DAC, amp. You can cycle through a whole host of headphones and hear all sorts of different sound signatures. I didn't get a bump in sound quality until I added a good DAC to my setup. If I could I'd go back and listen to all the headphones that have come and gone through the years, that, if I'm honest, I probably didn't hear to their full potential.

Recommendations of a certain amp or DAC? I want a DAC or amp that is very, very versatile.

 

[Graphicism]

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Recommendations of a certain amp or DAC? I want a DAC or amp that is very, very versatile.

 
Well the W4S DAC2 is an easy recommendation, easy to love, very accurate. Schiit Bifrost DAC looks good on paper and very affordable, I haven't heard it but there are loads of reviews out there. Really any discrete class-A DAC with a bunch of positive reviews should serve you well.
 
As far as an amp, that's a little more picky. I see you have the DT880/600 and they love OTL tube amps, it's one of my all-time favorite combos. You don't have to spend a lot; Darkvoice, LaFigaro, Woo Audio and most importantly the Tung-Sol 5998 tube.

 

[wolfetan44]

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Quote:

Recommendations of a certain amp or DAC? I want a DAC or amp that is very, very versatile.

 
Well the W4S DAC2 is an easy recommendation, easy to love, very accurate. Schiit Bifrost DAC looks good on paper and very affordable, I haven't heard it but there are loads of reviews out there. Really any discrete class-A DAC with a bunch of positive reviews should serve you well.
 
As far as an amp, that's a little more picky. I see you have the DT880/600 and they love OTL tube amps, it's one of my all-time favorite combos. You don't have to spend a lot; Darkvoice, LaFigaro, Woo Audio and most importantly the Tung-Sol 5998 tube.

Figaro do well with most headphones?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

My system right now is an O2, ODAC, Mad Dogs, and a DT880/600. Next upgrade? Max budget is $1500. I am open to upgrading any part of the chain, amp, DAC, or headphone. My music preferences are indie rock, alternative rock, and folk. Some of my favorite artists are Animal Collective, Radiohead, and Thom Yorke(basically any band with him((Radiohead, Atoms for Peace, and his solo work))

 
Heya,
 
At your budget, you could reach for summit at this point. But understand that the gain is going to be very minimal, maybe 5~10% true increase in total quality. The ODAC/O2 is fine for even a summit level setup. The DT880 as far as I'm concerned is very near a high-end, just a tiny little step below. At this point you could go the full mile and go T1, HD800, HE-500, LCD2, GS1000i, etc. You could even entertain an entry Stax setup. It all comes down to what you're looking for.
 
Very best,

 

[Graphicism]

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Figaro do well with most headphones?

 
Yes I would say they do. I have a Darkvoice 336 which is basically a LaFigaro and as I say it's the best pairing I found with the power hungry DT880s. The D7000s on the other hand don't require much power at all and even they sound fantastic out of it, they do however greatly favor a different set of tubes. Of course the benefit with a tube amp is it's rolling potential; you can add warmth and bass extension to a bright DT880 or clean up a bass-dominant D7000.

 

[wolfetan44]

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Figaro do well with most headphones?

 
Yes I would say they do. I have a Darkvoice 336 which is basically a LaFigaro and as I say it's the best pairing I found with the power hungry DT880s. The D7000s on the other hand don't require much power at all and even they sound fantastic out of it, they do however greatly favor a different set of tubes. Of course the benefit with a tube amp is it's rolling potential; you can add warmth and bass extension to a bright DT880 or clean up a bass-dominant D7000.

Would the Figaro do well with a HD800? Because that is my favorite summit-fi headphone.

 

[takato14]

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I didn't get a bump in sound quality until I added a good DAC to my setup.

This. Think source>DAC>headphones when trying to get more detail out of your setup.