[jonathan c]

I don't think I have the lungs for it.

Or what feline counterattack would ensue……?

 

[Shane D]

Or what feline counterattack would ensue……?

They would likely tear ass somewhere banging and crashing into things.
It was WAY too quiet in the house for the brief time we had no cats.

 

[Shane D]

I have been enjoying this amp for a few weeks now. The iFi may push it out eventually, but I am pretty impressed.

Today I rolled out my HE6se V2's and it did not go great, but I guess it is all what you are used to. I used high gain and it was really not doing anything for these headphones. The best comparison I can make is running your T60 Argon's off of a phone. Yes, it can done and doesn't sound half bad. But the Argon's sound SO much better with a good amp and some bass boost/EQ.

To be fair I normally run my HE6se V2's with an iFi Pro iCAN with lots of bass boost and 3D sound effects enabled.

I do have to admit that I wasn't really feeling these guys today even with the big boy amp.

I will try the combo again tomorrow, including the side trip through the Rebel.

 

[Shane D]

Back on to the HE6se V2's today. Up front I made a change in my system as a guy on another thread told me that I am using my gear wrong. So, to start, I jacked up the Windows volume out of my laptop to 100%. The first thing I noticed was that my iFi Pro iCAN now tops out at 9:00-9:30 in low gain. That makes it pretty much unusable with anything except the V2's.
The BF2 is putting 4.0V via XLR output.

Now I change over to the Rebel, which I think could probably use the infusion of power.
Volume wise, I now top out at 10:00 in mid-gain (Yesterday I was hitting 2:00:3:00 in high gain and it felt kind of weak). I am enjoying them more today. Might be the power upgrade, but the likely answer is that my brain has adjusted back to the V2's sound signature.
The DAC feeding the Rebel is the Schiit BF2 via SE cables at 2.0V.

Obviously no bass boost with the Rebel, but these are sounding pretty good. One of my favourite new bands is a Canadian outfit called Bywater Call. The vocals, horns and drums are sounding great!

Very pleased with this combo today.

 

[DonSimon76]

Back on to the HE6se V2's today. Up front I made a change in my system as a guy on another thread told me that I am using my gear wrong. So, to start, I jacked up the Windows volume out of my laptop to 100%. The first thing I noticed was that my iFi Pro iCAN now tops out at 9:00-9:30 in low gain. That makes it pretty much unusable with anything except the V2's.
The BF2 is putting 4.0V via XLR output.

Now I change over to the Rebel, which I think could probably use the infusion of power.
Volume wise, I now top out at 10:00 in mid-gain (Yesterday I was hitting 2:00:3:00 in high gain and it felt kind of weak). I am enjoying them more today. Might be the power upgrade, but the likely answer is that my brain has adjusted back to the V2's sound signature.
The DAC feeding the Rebel is the Schiit BF2 via SE cables at 2.0V.

Obviously no bass boost with the Rebel, but these are sounding pretty good. One of my favourite new bands is a Canadian outfit called Bywater Call. The vocals, horns and drums are sounding great!

Very pleased with this combo today.

I also keep Windows at 100%. Works out well for my Rebel and my Little Dot MKii.

 

[Shane D]

I also keep Windows at 100%. Works out well for my Rebel and my Little Dot MKii.

It is working out well for my Rebel and Violectric V220. I just powered up my LD MK9 and will test shortly.

I used to do this when my DAC was an SMSL SU-8 and I could turn down the power/voltage.
The BF2 is not as flexible.

PS: I tried the HE6se V2's on the LD MK9 and they are not bad!
I had to turn the volume up to 7.5 and they are a little bass light, but still. Not bad at all. This amp has been the forgotten stepchild in my amp family for quite a while. I must back to it.

 

[jonathan c]

It is working out well for my Rebel and Violectric V220. I just powered up my LD MK9 and will test shortly.

I used to do this when my DAC was an SMSL SU-8 and I could turn down the power/voltage.
The BF2 is not as flexible.

PS: I tried the HE6se V2's on the LD MK9 and they are not bad!
I had to turn the volume up to 7.5 and they are a little bass light, but still. Not bad at all. This amp has been the forgotten stepchild in my amp family for quite a while. I must back to it.

As a parent (step-parent) to your amps, you should not neglect them….that would foster spite….they might run off to join gangs such as the Volts or the Watts….

 

[Shane D]

As a parent (step-parent) to your amps, you should not neglect them….that would foster spite….they might run off to join gangs such as the Volts or the Watts….

I couldn't agree more! I have been very negligent as I have been doing headphone comparo's for what feels like months.
It is soon time to do amp comparo's. EVERY headphone through EVERY amp! We will see which headphones and amps actually deserve a fine home with lots of attention. I fear that some of them are taking their situation for granted.

Time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

[jonathan c]

I couldn't agree more! I have been very negligent as I have been doing headphone comparo's for what feels like months.
It is soon time to do amp comparo's. EVERY headphone through EVERY amp! We will see which headphones and amps actually deserve a fine home with lots of attention. I fear that some of them are taking their situation for granted.

Time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

….or the watts from the so-watts…..

 

[Plieb]

Can anyone help me out with what this person is talking about?

 

[Shane D]

Can anyone help me out with what this person is talking about?

The amp can use a bit of help. My DAC (Schiit BF2) doesn't have a volume control so I kept my Windows volume pretty low. I was recently advised, yet again, that I am listening to music wrong and that I need to max out out my source. In my case that is my laptop which operates as a jukebox via Windows 11. When I did max the Windows volume it really did give the Rebel lots of power. I actually ran the HE6se V2's in medium gain and they sounded pretty good, although I am a pretty quiet listener.

I would think this amp can run pretty much any normal headphone, although I don't have any 300 Ohm headphones to test out.

 

[Plieb]

The amp can use a bit of help. My DAC (Schiit BF2) doesn't have a volume control so I kept my Windows volume pretty low. I was recently advised, yet again, that I am listening to music wrong and that I need to max out out my source. In my case that is my laptop which operates as a jukebox via Windows 11. When I did max the Windows volume it really did give the Rebel lots of power. I actually ran the HE6se V2's in medium gain and they sounded pretty good, although I am a pretty quiet listener.

I would think this amp can run pretty much any normal headphone, although I don't have any 300 Ohm headphones to test out.

Runs with plenty of power with my 300 ohm 6xx at medium gain. Running with UAPP at max volume.

 

[EmiTo]

Runs with plenty of power with my 300 ohm 6xx at medium gain. Running with UAPP at max volume.

Do you like the rebel amp with the 6xx? Those are my only high end headphones and i was thinking about getting one but the other guy with hd6xx doesn't like this amp with those headphones, so i'm probably getting this or a planar-magnetic headphone, I'm just looking for other opinions about the rebel amp + hd6xx combo

 

[Plieb]

Do you like the rebel amp with the 6xx? Those are my only high end headphones and i was thinking about getting one but the other guy with hd6xx doesn't like this amp with those headphones, so i'm probably getting this or a planar-magnetic headphone, I'm just looking for other opinions about the rebel amp + hd6xx combo

Actually i love the sennheisers on the rebel with ess dac. Very silky smooth sound. Adds a nice bass punch. However if you are not crazy about the sennheiser house sound you will be let down. My ess dac being a bit bright adds liveliness. Ess likes sennheisers. Might be different with AKM dac making it sound a bit dull.
Hated the rebel with my hifiman 400i.
Everyone seems to love Rebel with the more expensive hifiman models.

 

[Shane D]

Haven't been giving the Rebel much time lately. I am using it tonight by default. The first two amps I tried were too powerful.

Recently I used this amp to clean up the Cascades. The sound is so clean and clear it is great for the Cascades and doesn't add any warmth or bass. Perfect match.

Today/tonight I wanted to listen to my iBasso SR2's and the first two amps were too powerful and I didn't feel like playing with gain settings. So, on to the Rebel. Great combo! These headphones are so easy to drive, I am in low gain at 9:00.

Very sweet, clean sound. The Rebel had fallen behind the big boys for a while, but with the Cascades and SR2's they certainly earn their place in the collection.