[340519]

Little Dot Mk III or Darkvoice 336se work well, would these fit in your budget?

Generally, OTL tube amps are a good choice for the HD600s.

There should be plenty of used ones around...

My icon audio hp8 mk2 sounds pretty good with the 600.

 

[Bompah]

My icon audio hp8 mk2 sounds pretty good with the 600.

I’ve been recommended this for my HD800S by a local dealer, I’m going to have to have listen once all this pandemic stuff calms down. But I doubt it will help the chap looking for a “cheap” amp.

 

[dakanao]

Which is why I bought the O2, but nevertheless it sounded awful to me.

Hmm well, if we were to follow the graphs and according to those members, a tube amp would be way worse than the O2.

Guess our ears are a lie then.

 

[matti621]

Hmm well, if we were to follow the graphs and according to those members, a tube amp would be way worse than the O2.

Guess our ears are a lie then.

As someone wrote in a post I can't find again, it's like comparing apples to oranges, since both have different characteristics, for example there is a higher THD in tubes but the harmonies which are distorted are different, with the fundamental and first harmonies distorted mostly, which sounds to our ears completely different.

 

[Midgetguy]

Which is why I bought the O2, but nevertheless it sounded awful to me.

Try finding stuff that doesn't measure well then. When one way doesn't work, gotta try the opposite. If most people are fine/happy with how an O2 sounds paired to the HD600 and you think it sounds terrible, then perhaps we gotta find what most people feel sounds terrible with the HD600 and maybe it'll sound good to you. If your ears are just the opposite to most, then it can't be that hard to try a few amps where the majority of people think it sounds bad with the HD600, right?

So what say we lads? Who's got suggestions for relatively cheap amps where the consensus is the HD600's no good on them?


I should actually also mention, what's doing the DAC work for you? Because that's going to also affect things. My recommendation of the SMSL sApII Pro is based on me pairing it with a Topping D20, which is a good, but quite flat DAC, clear and uncolored. For a budget combo, I consider that DAC and amp pair to do a great job of bringing no extra effects to the sound whatsoever; it would just be what's in the recording and what the headphone is able to produce.

 

[bagwell359]

Try finding stuff that doesn't measure well then. When one way doesn't work, gotta try the opposite. If most people are fine/happy with how an O2 sounds paired to the HD600 and you think it sounds terrible, then perhaps we gotta find what most people feel sounds terrible with the HD600 and maybe it'll sound good to you. If your ears are just the opposite to most, then it can't be that hard to try a few amps where the majority of people think it sounds bad with the HD600, right?

So what say we lads? Who's got suggestions for relatively cheap amps where the consensus is the HD600's no good on them?

Transistor amps w/o enough voltage deliver sound that is thin, lacking in bass.

I have a perfectly good Ragnarok 1 that maximizes the sound of every planar headphone I've stuck on it, also speakers Magnepan 1.7i, various tower speakers (Triangle, Focal), monitors (ProAc, KEF). But the HD-600 w/ stock cables and custom XLR sounds like the Jr. Varsity vs a stock Bottlehead Crack w/ speedball (what was that $450 and a couple of hours w/ a soldering iron)? Actual bass under 60 Hz, in fact good to 35 Hz by measurement on the BHC, nowhere to be found on the Rag.

I believe its available voltage related to some extent, and the very old audiophile trick of adding some THD, which in small amounts can sound "liquid", "warm", etc. Too much - "smudgy".

I bought a BHC kit to go with my HD-600, and any other hi impedance cans I want to try out.

 

[trellus]

Transistor amps w/o enough voltage deliver sound that is thin, lacking in bass.

I have a perfectly good Ragnarok 1 that maximizes the sound of every planar headphone I've stuck on it, also speakers Magnepan 1.7i, various tower speakers (Triangle, Focal), monitors (ProAc, KEF). But the HD-600 w/ stock cables and custom XLR sounds like the Jr. Varsity vs a stock Bottlehead Crack w/ speedball (what was that $450 and a couple of hours w/ a soldering iron)? Actual bass under 60 Hz, in fact good to 35 Hz by measurement on the BHC, nowhere to be found on the Rag.

I believe its available voltage related to some extent, and the very old audiophile trick of adding some THD, which in small amounts can sound "liquid", "warm", etc. Too much - "smudgy".

I bought a BHC kit to go with my HD-600, and any other hi impedance cans I want to try out.

I’m far too clumsy to solder, but I’ve always been curious about the BHC pairing with my HD 600. Wish they sold them already built.

 

[Ichos]

@bagwell359

Is right.
For a given amount of power the HD600 will favor more voltage and less current.
Amps with high voltage swings are preferred for this headphones.

 

[matti621]

I believe its available voltage related to some extent

But why doesn't that show in the measurements?

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I’m far too clumsy to solder, but I’ve always been curious about the BHC pairing with my HD 600. Wish they sold them already built.

Same here. Try a well built OTL amp like the Woo WA2.

 

[descloud]

For a given amount of power the HD600 will favor more voltage and less current.

This would make sense from the power calculations. You can represent power in either Joule's law (P=I^2 * R) or in Ohm's law (P = V^2 / R).

With the same power and you have a high impedance like the HD600, you will compensate with higher voltage and lesser current when comparing the two equations. The inverse is true with planar headphones that have lower impedance - they grab more current than voltage.

Of course this is assuming you're providing them with the same power output to attain the same volume levels.

 

[bagwell359]

I’m far too clumsy to solder, but I’ve always been curious about the BHC pairing with my HD 600. Wish they sold them already built.

There is a good sized used market on them, and several guys build new from kits at different levels, I think they are on ebay. And of course, Woo, Dark Voice, etc. too.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

@bagwell359

Is right.
For a given amount of power the HD600 will favor more voltage and less current.
Amps with high voltage swings are preferred for this headphones.

Just say it, our V280s are king here

 

[SilverEars]

This would make sense from the power calculations. You can represent power in either Joule's law (P=I^2 * R) or in Ohm's law (P = V^2 / R).

With the same power and you have a high impedance like the HD600, you will compensate with higher voltage and lesser current when comparing the two equations. The inverse is true with planar headphones that have lower impedance - they grab more current than voltage.

Of course this is assuming you're providing them with the same power output to attain the same volume levels.

I don't understand the statements about more current or more voltage. Those equations just tells you proportions of each parameters factored to result in a specific power output result.

Current levels gets drawn from the amp depending on the impedance and volume. That is all those equations are telling us.

Headphone draws power or current, and the equations just explain the proportions and factors.

What amount goes through the headphone is due to it's impedance and volume set on the amp.

How loud a headphone gets depends on what SPL per watts put into the headphone, and how much SPL per watt a headphone is capabke of outputting. Power is watts.

This is all the equations tells us and nothing more.

If we look at innerfidelity data sheets, the voltage required to reach a specific SPL is shown on those sheets, and those numbers are easily provided by any amp.

So, all these equations are not explaining the phenomena that people experience of differenr amp types from portables, to desktop, and tubes vs solid-state.

If all these are not imagined by people and indeed real differences, they should be able to be explained logically by making good observations combined with the right set of ideas.

 

[descloud]

I don't understand the statements about more current or more voltage. Those equations just tells you proportions of each parameters factored to result in a specific power output result.

It's simple physics my friend, and if you read the quote I responded to:

"For a given amount of power the HD600 will favor more voltage and less current."

Current levels gets drawn from the amp depending on the impedance and volume. That is all those equations are telling us.

What amount goes through the headphone is due to it's impedance and volume set on the amp.

How loud a headphone gets depends on what SPL per watts put into the headphone, and how much SPL per watt a headphone is capabke of outputting. Power is watts.

This is all the equations tells us and nothing more

Not exactly. The equation tells us a simple fact - we can see the voltage and current drawn by headphones for a given power output by an amplifier and the impedance that the headphones have. The equations explains why the quote above is so, why the HD600 is more voltage dependent than current dependent. The higher the impedance, the higher the voltage drawn to compensate for a given power output. The current drawn also increases, but not as much as the voltage drawn since it is a product of current and impedance.

You can even test these equations. Go to the digizoid headphone calculator and for a given sensitivity and volume rating, if you change the impedance, guess what changes? The power drawn will remain the same for the given volume SPL (sensitivity plays that part here). However, you will notice that the lesser the impedance, the higher the current drawn. If you increase the impedance, the higher the voltage drawn. It supports my statement about what the equations are telling us, which I hope you understand by now.

If you disagree, go ahead and test it out here http://www.digizoid.com/headphones-power.html

Also, you are correct that Power is in the unit watts. But don't forget that power is determined by the voltage, current and impedance

So, all these equations are not explaining the phenomena that people experience of differenr amp types from portables, to desktop, and tubes vs solid-state.

Because that's not what my previous comment was explaining. You should read again what quote I responded to, and what explanation I gave in support of said quoted statement.