[canetsbe]

I have a dragonfly 1.2 and have used it with the HD600. It'll work but it's better if you use something like a dragonfly to fiio e12 (a proper prortable amp). The dragonfly will pretty much be maxing itself out to drive the HD600. Like I said, it will work and sound pretty good, but you might be better off with something delivering more power if you'll only use it with your Sennheisers or as a dac > portable amp > HD600 chain.

 

[joeq70]

I made a significant discovery with my HD600 today with respect to increasing soundstage and improving dynamics. It has to do with cup angles, cup placement, and headband adjustment. Allow me to explain. Everyone has unique anatomy with respect to their ears. In fact, our bodies aren't perfect symmetrical, meaning our ears won't necessarily rest perfectly even on our face. Our unique interior and exterior ear anatomy has a significant impact on how we perceive sound, which extends to headphones and how they are placed on our heads. See the pictures below to understand what I've discovered:
 
 
1) I don't know about you, but my natural inclination is to evenly adjust headphones on each side until the cups are in the appropriate position on both ears. I'll make little adjustments to correct the unevenness of my ears but the adjustments are basically even on each side. See below:
 

 
 
2) Recently, I accidentally adjusted the headband differently after my wife was wearing them for awhile. I adjusted one cup really far down and left the other cup short. See the picture below:
 

 
 
How can this possibly matter? When I listened to the HD600 adjusted the second way I was blown away by the improvement in sound. More bass, better soundstage, better dynamics, everything sounds better now. And I already loved this headphone! Now I'm simply stunned! Now, obviously this didn't happen because extending the headband long on one side is magical. It happened because I (serendipitously) adjusted the headphones to perfectly match my personal ear anatomy. Leaving the left cup adjusted long and the right side short, changed the angle of the drivers even though the headphones are basically covering my ears in the same fashion as the first position.
 
Because everyone is different, experimentation will be required on your part. I found the "sweet spot" by leaving the left cup long and the right cup short. This made such a profound difference to me, that I just had to share it in case someone else could benefit the same way. Good luck!  

 

[rigodeni]

I've done that before (wore them adjusted unevenly) but never actually analyzed the sound with each configuration. However, in my case it's not as comfortable if the headband isn't sitting in the middle due to the curvature of the headband and how it sits on the head. Thanks for sharing though that's interesting.
 
PS: Your anatomy must be seriously messed up joeq70

 

[joeq70]

PS: Your anatomy must be seriously messed up joeq70

Hahah I know right.

 

[SodaBoy]

 

  Thank you all for replies. I want a portable solution DAC/ headphone amplifier not a desktop solution. I was thinking to give a try to Meridian Exlplorer. Could this drive properly HD600?

 


My HD600 ought to arrive Wednesday at the latest. I can try it out on my DragonFly 1.2 and report back.

I won't be able to compare it to the HD600 running off proper amping until my Maverick D1 comes in. That could be another week at least. ******* China. However, I can compare how it sounds to my excellent Klipsch X7i. They are in-ear monitors, and only 50 Ohms. The DragonFly gives it all the amping it could need. Not the most ideal comparison. At the very least I'll be comparing one quality pair of properly amped phones with another quality pair that might not have enough juice.

I can tell you this, right off: The DragonFly is a great sounding DAC that works beautifully with my Samsung Galaxy S4. All you need is a USB OTG cable, and a USB audio player app. I use USB Audio Player Pro. It's $10, and the best sounding app I've used to date. This combination blows away my home PC's Realtek HD Audio chipset, using foobar.

I owned a Maverick D1 for 5 years, and it's a pretty versatile integrated DAC amp. It's a good starter box because it's cheap and will pretty much become your multimedia hub with your speakers and headphones. It has a limited USB implementation by today's standards and the volume pot is somewhat mediocre, but SPDIF is decent. I wouldn't really bother with the tube pre-out either, even though it is one of the selling points of the D1, the digital out is much cleaner. A decent ~$100 USB-SPDIF reclocker would make a world of difference with the D1 though.
 
Just my $0.02.

 

[PinkyPowers]

I got home from work at 4:40pm, and my HD600s were not here!
 
About 45 minutes later, however...
 

 

 

 

 
You know. Because ya obviously don't have enough photos of these babies.
 
I began by listening to them through my phone: Galaxy S4>UAPP>DragonFly1.2>SennHD600. All FLAC files.
The gain needed to be maxed out for some songs, and others, almost maxed. It sounded very, very good. Not small or weak. The bass was underwhelming, even on one or two bass-heavy pop tracks I played. The clarity is impressive, as is the warmth.
 
Then I brought them to my desktop. I had forgotten, I do have a headphone amp in my Logitech Z-2300 2.1 system. I had chosen to forget this, because I doubt it's a very good-sounding amp. But it's got power. I didn't even need to crank her up to 12 o'clock and the Senns were too loud for me.
 
The DragonFly connected the Z-2300s to the PC now, and these headphones sounded even better. They opened up further. There was more bass, but not a maddening level, and a general sense of largeness.
 
My thoughts are: If you have to, the DragonFly alone is good enough for some fine-ass listening. But these phones will thank you for a good deal more juice.
 
-~::Pinky::~-
 
~Edit~
Actually, the first think I noticed when I put them on and tried to listen to something, was how ******* easy these cable ends come out of the phones. They are frightfully loose.
 
~Edit2~
The Beatles Abby Road album just brought tears to my eyes, it sounded so good! I shall be burning-in my HD600s on a pure Beatles loop. Whilst I am away at work, they'll remain here soaking in the proper spirits.

 

[StanD]

 
~Edit~
Actually, the first think I noticed when I put them on and tried to listen to something, was how ******* easy these cable ends come out of the phones. They are frightfully loose.
 

Better check into that as my cables are solidly connected to my HD600's and do not come out easily. Did you plug them in all the way?
Enjoy those new cans. If you want some more bass try experimenting with some EQ, below 100 Hz as not to affect the tone above.

 

[PinkyPowers]

I pushed them in until I met serious resistance. But they are still loose. Very loose. How forceful do you have to be?

 

[CADCAM]

  Better check into that as my cables are solidly connected to my HD600's and do not come out easily. Did you plug them in all the way?
Enjoy those new cans. If you want some more bass try experimenting with some EQ, below 100 Hz as not to affect the tone above.

+1 
Mine have never been out, I tried pulling on the connector just to see how easily they would come out and they didn't even budge.
BTW purchased mine new. 

 

[StanD]

I pushed them in until I met serious resistance. But they are still loose. Very loose. How forceful do you have to be?

They require a good push, not crazy hard, to get connected. At first I was afraid to do it. Did they come that way or did you pull them out to check it out?

 

[PinkyPowers]

They came plugged in, but loose. I didn't have to do anything to get them out. Barely pulled.

 

[deniall83]

Got my 600's today, Loving the setup.
 

 

[StanD]

They came plugged in, but loose. I didn't have to do anything to get them out. Barely pulled.

How old are they? There was a problem with the springs in the socket, many years ago, probably not on your cans. You might have to brave up and push them in a little harder.

 

[robbo0]

Got my NFB-11 today, never had a great source before (Xonar DS (49860NA OPAMP)) with my HD 600 and I can now finally say...I get it. I totally get why people spend £££££ to chase that improvement. Think I've finally entered the mid(?) audiophilia level and it's beautiful, the music sounds like it's in you, just bliss.

 

[scizzro]

They came plugged in, but loose. I didn't have to do anything to get them out. Barely pulled.

The cable on my new pair was so hard to pull out I thought it didn't have a detachable cable 

 
If your pair was used, it's possible the plastic housing may have been damaged by the previous owner. They should definitely not be loose, at all.