Let me derail the pads talk for a sec. I’m wondering about a DAC/amp upgrade and the Pandora Hope VI poses unusual challenges.
First off, my opinion of these headphones is ludicrously positive. The energy they unleash, the emotion they bring out - I can say I really connect with these headphones like I never did with other audio gear.
I own several iems that retail (or were launched) around the same price point - Klipsch x20i, Nuforce HEM8, IMR R1 (my latest and favorite, they share something of a common attitude with the Pandora Hope VI).
I have had a chance to audition several high-end headphones: Senn HD800s and 820, Klipsch Heritage HP3, Denon AH-D7200, the Focal Utopia, Clear and Elear, Ultrasone Signature, Kennerton flagships... Most of them are
fine, of course (although some can’t groove
and at least one sounds as subtle as a frying pan
). None impressed me in the way the Final does.
Only the Abyss AB-1266, driven by an Enigmacoustics Athena A1 amp and fed by a Questyle QP1R DAP, gave me a better sense of place - more akin to a travel through time to a jazz club, so realistic I could tell the dimensions and make-up of the room, and almost guess the color of the trumpeter’s tie and the brand of the cigar whose smoke wafted in from the next table over.
Only the Hifiman Susvara, fed by a luxurious Viva amp, provided more nuance and more poise.
So apparently, for me getting an appreciable upgrade to the Pandora Hope VI takes open-back headphones 10x the price
and the very best in DACs and amps.
I currently use a Dragonfly Red plugged in my desktop PC. It replaced a Sony PHA-1A, which dished out enough power on the lowest of its 3 gain settings but generated some unpleasant brightness and even sibilance with the Pandora Hope, in spite of a generally warm tuning. The DFR in this use case is undone by precisely what makes it so admirable: its tiny footprint. I sorely miss controls, especially a volume knob. Controlling it from the PC, using my mouse’s scrollwheel and forgetting the volume menu was selected, I thought I was scrolling down a page on my browser but, surprise surprise, I was actually increasing volume from 12 to way too much
Fine-grained it is not.
I also wonder what an improvement to conversion and amplification may add to these stellar headphones.
I went back a few pages but some of the most intriguing current options weren’t even around in 2017. What DAC/amp combos have gained you guys’ favor? Of course the need for power is minimal, so I am looking for technical finesse and a signature that flows along with the PHVI’s great qualities: an open stage, musicality and heft, plenty of detail, and no harshness or excessive, metallic tones - although I mostly listen to metal
and dark electro and folk.
I am looking at Ifi’s line-up, especially the xDSD, Astell & Kern’s Acro L1000, JDS Labs’ Element... Any advice, suggestion, comparison will be greatly appreciated, about these or any other, mostly combined DAC/amps. Tubes could be a great direction, although it often goes hand in hand with an excess of wattage.