[SennMasta]

Just recently purchased a pair of Senn 595's, I have ran them for about 75 hours total i would have to say they are really starting to warm up when i first purchased them i was rather stunned by the lack of bass, but from then to now i really am loving these cans and i'm sure they still have some break in time left in them...

Ok so my question as the title says i'm looking into the $800-$1000 range for an amp and if needed a DAC i am wanting to run Digital off my my X-Fi soundcard yes yes i know a soundcard, but hey its pretty damn nice i listen to alot of electronica and would have to say that SS is my preferance when it comes to Amps i do enjoy the warmth of the tubes from time to time, but overall i like the crisp tightness of those chips

,

I'm not to much into the know of the Headphone world, I'm more into the larger sound systems if you read my profile you will see that, Just askin for alittle help i Have done some searching and reading around into the other threads and have looked at a few of the amps in question in those, Headphone.com seems to have some well what seem to be pretty nice amps in there Desktop line as far as there Modules go tho if i were to upgrade that say to a home or max (Max being only a possibility) would i get some good sound out of these cans, i also noticed they come pre built with Digital inputs which is a bonus..

haha ok kinda a mess of words there, but any help or comments would be apprieciated

Thanks from the Noobie

 

[PFKMan23]

Headamp GS1/Gilmore Lite or the Singlepower PPX3 SLAM if you are wiling to reconsider tubes.

 

[saint.panda]

I would suggest putting the money into a better headphone, something like a HD 650, AKG K701, Beyerdynamic DT 880 or others. $800-1000 is a lot of money and somewhat wasted on the HD 595 in my opinion.

 

[rimmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I would suggest putting the money into a better headphone, something like a HD 650, AKG K701, Beyerdynamic DT 880 or others. $800-1000 is a lot of money and somewhat wasted on the HD 595 in my opinion.

Exactly, and they are very easy to drive so high-end amp is sort of overkill. Get better cans/source IMO.

 

[ChaosCow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I would suggest putting the money into a better headphone, something like a HD 650, AKG K701, Beyerdynamic DT 880 or others. $800-1000 is a lot of money and somewhat wasted on the HD 595 in my opinion.

Totally agree. Headphones make the biggest impact on your system by far. With the money you're willing to spend, there's no reason you shouldn't have the top-of-the-line, whether you prefer Beyer 880s or Sennheiser 650/600s, as the case may be.

I mean, $1000 could get you a $300 headphone, $300 Onix XCD-88, and $400 headphone amp. Sounds pretty nice.

 

[Andrea]

However, I would spend some $500 on an amp such as the CI Audio VHP-1 plus dedicated P.S. for the HD595.

I have the 50 ohm version and think that it is a headphone that can be fully satisfying.

 

[Nomad]

I know this is going to sound strange, but this is just how I feel about the 595 now:

I bought them around 10 months ago as I wanted some nice cans that could be driven by iPod, complementing the SR225. Not bad at all, but nothing special either. Straight from the Apogee MiniDAC, the SR225 was soo much better. I've got better cans after that. Never used again since 8 months apart from DVD and games.

I did plug it on the EMP Ann. Ed. around 2 weeks ago and I'm really loving it. I never thought it could be so good. Being a bit neutrish, some nice warm tubes really make it sing. Kind of HP1000 if I may. Not that they sound the same at all. It's just that they share that affinity for tubes IMHO.

I'm so glad I keep it. Sometimes I just stop listening the L3000 from the EMP and I reach the 595 instead.

I guess I'm just saying that the 595 is a quite capable headphone on the right setup. Quite honestly, I didn't expect that. But that's what my ears feel.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad I guess I'm just saying that the 595 is a quite capable headphone on the right setup. Quite honestly, I didn't expect that. But that's what my ears feel.

Agreed. Even that little amplifier mentioned in my sig (yes the 595 is very efficient), especially after some proper tweaking, makes these phones sing irresistibly sweet tunes.

 

[some1x]

I'd get a Benchmark DAC1 or Lavry DA10. Both are significant source upgrades, with a free amp to boot In quantative terms, the jump from sound card to DAC1 should be bigger than from HD595 to any sub $1000 phone (except

).

As a disclaimer to the last statement, I've never heard the HD595, so it could be really really bad, and getting a new headphone would be a huge upgrade.

 

[Nomad]

I tend to agree with you, some1x. Usually I'd suggest people to get an Apogee MiniDAC instead. I love this little wonder.

However I don't know why it doesn't work great with the 595. I love to death a relatively humble MiniDAC-SR225 setup (amazing synergy, really), but the MiniDAC-595 gets way behind for me apart from symponic works (but still not really engaging).

It might well be different with the DAC1 or the Lavry. The "analytical" DAC1 use to be a good match for the HD6xx, but being the 595 a bit more "neutrish" is not as good fit as the 6xx (still not bad of course).

I don't know about the Lavry, though. Still, I had the impression that the 595 needs tubes to shine.

But anyway... a really valid point. I'd suggest a nice DAC-Headapm combo (Apogee, Benchmark, Lavry...) for pretty much any phone in that situation. But there is something about the synergy between 595 and Apogee during my longterm ownership that makes hard for me to suggest that way.

Cheers

 

[boodi]

how good is the MiniDac hp out ? is it as good as a ppa or equivalent , or what ?

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodi how good is the MiniDac hp out ? is it as good as a ppa or equivalent , or what ?

Some people say that around a good PIMETA, but I really can't tell. That's just what I did read. I don't have a PIMETA to compare.

 

[MikeW]

consider the headroom Desktop Line with a Home DAC. High quality dac and outstanding amplifier. Which will run you 900$, become a headfi contributer for 20$ and it will cost 810$. The price of a used benchmark 1, which is an outstanding dac and mediocre amp. The headroom line also has plenty of future upgrade options. If you want somthing cheaper, consider the Micro Stack for 598$. or 540$ if your a head-fi member.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I would suggest putting the money into a better headphone, something like a HD 650, AKG K701, Beyerdynamic DT 880 or others. $800-1000 is a lot of money and somewhat wasted on the HD 595 in my opinion.

Amazing how someone always has to jump in and rain on the party in posts like this, even with a fairly well respected headphone like the HD595.

Fwiw, Headroom appears to have a pretty good opinion of the HD595 (in fact they sell a Cardas-recabled version which shows their respect for it), and if your ears like the sound then I'd ignore saint.panda on this one.

Quote:

from then to now i really am loving these cans

Then you've found a headphone that is right for you... don't listen to anyone here, follow your ears.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Amazing how someone always has to jump in and rain on the party in posts like this, even with a fairly well respected headphone like the HD595. Fwiw, Headroom appears to have a pretty good opinion of the HD595 (in fact they sell a Cardas-recabled version which shows their respect for it), and if your ears like the sound then I'd ignore saint.panda on this one.

I'm not raining on anybody but merely giving advice and voicing my opinion as I see fit -- like everybody does. Your ad hominem argument is a bit uncalled for, especially if you've never heard the HD 595 yourself.

Some people like the Hd 595, some don't, and while I think that the HD 595 is a decent headphone, I personally didn't hear huge improvments with better amplification and I think that the Hd 650, DT 880, AKG K1000 or other headphones in this quality class are better headphones technically speaking and also in overall terms to my ears. Of course, it may be that the Hd 595 just hits the sweet spot for somebody, just like some people prefer the Koss KSC-35 over the HD 650, but I think it's always a gamble when tonal characteristics and therefore personal preference gets involved. However, seeing how the original poster SennMasta is rather new to the headphone world, I have assumed that the HD 595 is most likely not yet the end of the road for him -- especially with such a big budget involved. While it is an assumption with certain risks involved, I think it's a sensible one.