[mazzelectra]

Heya peeps

 
Well, I've finally ventured over to the dance floor - been stealthing over there (no...over there...) in the shadows for many a night now, gathering intel and knowledge from this wonderful group of audiophile creatures.
 
I'm a long time audiophile - from a very young age listening to Streisand and Zeppelin through my parent's Akai/Marantz/Bose 901 system /*leSigh* Great times Music has informed much of my life and creative work (musician / web & graphic designer / werewolf...wait, did I say that out loud?) and now that I have a steady career flowing I can start to seriously think about venturing into more fantastic 'adult' audiophile gear.
 

I know, I know - my wallet has been warned (also, damned!

).

 
I have a set of ancient (and materially decaying...) HD580s for as long as I can remember and have recently (last 6 months or so) been enjoying some Momentum action at work. Can't remember exactly when I discovered Head-Fi, but it wasn't until recently that I realized that I really need some better gear in the chain to make the most out of my sources - mostly ALAC for music, quite a bit of PC game audio and WAY too much rdio streaming for the bit rate represented >.<
 
Which brings me to my first post and request from the Head-Fi community - I invite the honor of your input as I build my audiophile future

 
Ok, here's the setup - I have 3 stations in the planning:
 

• Home - Main ALAC/Vinyl/etc. (hope to achieve a TT again...) station / PC Gaming (great Soundtracks!)
• Work - Listen to music & podcasts while I design/code/daydream about moonlight...(woof.)
• Mobile - nothing in particular (music+podcasts) /shrug

 
And here is the current state of my audiophile scenario (Existing / On Order / Potential Choices) :
 

HOME

1. Senn HD580 (ancient but my main cans ATM - currently use with my PC)
2. iMac for dealing out the ALACs (going to setup a dedicated corner of my studio for this listening setup)
3. PC (ASUS RoG board Audio) for gaming+music - will AMP/DAC this area with E07k for now...or possibly M/M stack?
4. Senn RS 180 for TV/Movies/Gaming (console) (eyeing the SkullCandy PLYR1's though...*drool*)
5. AKG Q701 (just arrived!)
6. HD 650 (to replace my aging 580s as an all 'rounder)
7. HD 600 (budget allowing...c'mon budget!)

1. DAC - Schiit UberFrost
2. AMP - Schiit Valhalla OR Schiit Lyr (struggling with this choice for a while now...)

 

WORK

1. Senn Momentum (I wonder if the M/M stack is overkill for these...?)
2. AMP - Schiit Magni (just arrived!)
3. DAC - Schiit Modi (just arrived!)

 

MOBILE

1. MDR-1R BT (Momentums as well, though they're not as portable as one would think...)
2. DAC/AMP - E07K (My first DAC/AMP; been using at work - until I got my schiit together
   
   )

 
Anyhoo TLDR question section:
 

1. AMP: for main system at home, which would better drive both the HD600 (300Ω) and Q701 (62Ω) - Lyr or Valhalla?
2. IMPEDANCE: Are the HD 600s considered High Imp. at 300Ω? I'm still a li'l confused about that. It seems that the consensus through the forums is they aren't too hard to drive compared to some other high Imp. phones...
3. SCHIIT M/M DRIVING (MOMENTUMS vs HD650) : would I be better off with my MM stack on my PC rig at home (Gaming+Music Streaming paired with HD 580s/incoming HD 650s) and keeping the E07k at work (ALAC/Streaming paired w/ Momentums)? Or keep setup as is?

 
*whew* I'll stop there for now - don't want to overload your collective circuits with my excitement! (High Voltage!)
 
I'm VERY thankful for this community and for the opportunity to thrive within. Please feel free to hit me with any opinions, feedback, advice or any other type of interaction you may want to throw down. My journey is just beginning, in a sense, so discovery and experience are welcome travellers on this quest.
 
Thanks again and don't mind the joyful, if oddly lycanthropic (...that a word?) howling over here...just putting together my Modi/Magni stack...

 

[mazzelectra]

Anyhoo TLDR question section:
 

1. AMP: for main system at home, which would better drive both the HD600 (300Ω) and Q701 (62Ω) - Lyr or Valhalla?
2. IMPEDANCE: Are the HD 600s considered High Imp. at 300Ω? I'm still a li'l confused about that. It seems that the consensus through the forums is they aren't too hard to drive compared to some other high Imp. phones...
3. SCHIIT M/M DRIVING (MOMENTUMS vs HD650) : would I be better off with my MM stack on my PC rig at home (Gaming+Music Streaming paired with HD 580s/incoming HD 650s) and keeping the E07k at work (ALAC/Streaming paired w/ Momentums)? Or keep setup as is?

 
Heya Head-Fi Heroes,
 
Just wanted to ping back on this thread; I think perhaps my questions may have been hidden too far beyond my intro madness (I tend to get lost in my writing sometimes 

 ). I'll try to ask these in more specific forums if that is more appropriate - kinda new to the interaction patterns here.
 
(All my setup/usage deetz are one post back if you need 'em.)
 
Anyhoo, thanks for your time!
 
 
BTW: reDiscovering (III) by Crystal Castles through my HD580+E07k pc setup right now - pretty solid melancholy electronica