[hauntedsounds]

Quote:

If you are looking for a portable amp, I currently use a JDSlabs C421 to power my 990s ....
 

 
Any word on how the C421 compares with the ibasso PB2? I might buy the ibasso over those unless it's not worth it. Anyone familiar with the Headstage Arrow ?
 
Also, I'm hearing a lot of mentions of the asgard (schiit, i presume), and it's actually very reasonably priced. 

 

[Chris J]

You could also try a La Figaro 336C.
It does a good job driving 600 ohm Beyers.

 

[powerdpower]

I kinda a n00b1 but I have some DT 990 250 Ohm's and the general idea on the Internet is that the 250's and 600's are equal in how much juice they need, but in different ways.. If that makes sense.
 
I power mine with a Xonar DG sound card (25$ on amazon) and a FiiO E9 ($110 - $125 on amazon). As far as I am concerned I could not get much of a better sound out of them.. And I only turn my knob to about the 9 o'clock position
 
I don't have much experience yet, mostly because I don't have tons of money to spend, but I hope this helped!

 

[nihaz]

Quote:

 
Any word on how the C421 compares with the ibasso PB2? I might buy the ibasso over those unless it's not worth it. Anyone familiar with the Headstage Arrow ?
 
Also, I'm hearing a lot of mentions of the asgard (schiit, i presume), and it's actually very reasonably priced. 

Unfortunately I have not tried the ibasso PB2.
My statement about the C421 was purely FYI, I believe it has enough juice to power the 990s
I try not to compare products that I do not own/have not listened to.
 
Best bet would be to audition them if possible
 

 

[catsup]

Quote:

Brand new, got them for a great deal, but I feel like the deal blinded me from understanding what I was truly buying.
 
These are 600ohm headphones, and all I have for an amp/dac is my fiio e11 & mbox 2.
 
I'm glad that these headphones are awesome, but on the other hand i feel like I won't really get to experience the sound with my current amp setup. My question now is, will I get an enjoyable, regret-free sound with my e11? Will I be denying myself too much of the experience of the headphones to justify keeping them? Should I not even bothering opening them, and just try and sell 'em?
 
Lots to think about and I'm still a novice. Could anyone help me out?

 
How much did you get them for? I saw some on amazon for $170 but I just couldn't pull the trigger without investing more money on the amp, etc. And it didn't seem to be worth the hassle to sell them at ~$50 profit.
 
 

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I kinda a n00b1 but I have some DT 990 250 Ohm's and the general idea on the Internet is that the 250's and 600's are equal in how much juice they need, but in different ways.. If that makes sense.
 
I power mine with a Xonar DG sound card (25$ on amazon) and a FiiO E9 ($110 - $125 on amazon). As far as I am concerned I could not get much of a better sound out of them.. And I only turn my knob to about the 9 o'clock position
 
I don't have much experience yet, mostly because I don't have tons of money to spend, but I hope this helped!

The 250 ohm and 600 ohm require the same amount of power to reach the same SPL (volume).
But the 250 ohm versions need a bit more current and a bit less voltage than the 600 ohm versions.
When you are turning the volume up, you are actually turning the output voltage up.  How much current and how much power is drawn from the amp is dependent on the impedance of the headphone.
 

 

[hauntedsounds]

I just got them and WOW these are simply amazing and I don't even have a proper setup. Playing I.G.Y. -- just wow.
 
I feel i can kinda tell though they're lacking  an oomph so i'ma kinda hyped to get these amped. 
 
One thing that I don't really like: the cups feel flimsy when I move them about. is that normal?

 

[hodgjy]

See my comments in bold below.
 
Quote:

I just got them and WOW these are simply amazing and I don't even have a proper setup. Playing I.G.Y. -- just wow.
 
I feel i can kinda tell though they're lacking  an oomph so i'ma kinda hyped to get these amped. 
 
I think my DT990/600s sound glorious out of my Schiit Asgard.  I bought the Asgard to power my HD600s, but I found out the 990s sound great out of them.  It was a very unexpected combination.  One that I use more often than I ever anticipated.
 
One thing that I don't really like: the cups feel flimsy when I move them about. is that normal?
 
Yep, they seem flimsy.  But, they are very sturdy.  No worries. 

 

 

[hauntedsounds]

Appreciate the answers Hodgjy. I'm still a little unsure about my amp choices though.
 
Hodgjy, I've been looking at Schiit amplifiers and think I might buy the Valhalla next paycheck.
 
I'm a beginner and the thought of tubes is kinda intimidating, and I hear the valhalla works best with higher impedance headphones, something like ≥100Ω, and asgard sounds better with anything ≤100Ω. 
 
I'll be using this with my computer so I guess that means I'll have to get an RCA to 3.5mm
 
Also, I recently bought the iBasso P4 amp so maybe that'll keep me covered on the low impedance end of things.
 

 

[hodgjy]

On paper, tubes are better for high impedance headphones and solid state is better for low impedance headphones.  That's on paper.  Real world results may be different.  I'm pleasantly surprised how the Asgard drives the 990s.  I'm sure the Valhalla is as good, if not better, than the Asgard. 

 

[MattTCG]

Well, I have these same 990's coming in shortly. I have a fiio e10 and an asus stx to drive them with. Hopefully one of them will be up to the task!!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Well, I have these same 990's coming in shortly. I have a Fiio e10 and an Asus STX to drive them with. Hopefully one of them will be up to the task!!

Using the Fiio E10 & STX daisy chained or separately?
 
 
 

 

[macrocheesium]

How well could a receiver drive the 600 ohm 990's? I power mine with an E10 and I went to an audio store recently to see how much they would improve with an amp. The store didn't have any amps, but I hooked it up to one of the powerful Yamaha receivers and didn't hear too much of a difference. Is this a good indication of how well a tube amp would power them?

 

[hodgjy]

I have a Yamaha receiver and I find the headphone jack to sound kind of dry.  It's not my favorite pairing for any headphone, let alone the 990s.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Using the Fiio E10 & STX daisy chained or separately?
 
 
 

Using them separately. I like to keep a pair of d2k on the fiio and power some needier phones through the asus stx