[frequencies]

The differences are not as dramatic as some make it out to be.

Which DACs/amps do you own besides the mentioned ones? I would say the diff between 2k and above is not dramatic  and gets exponentially expensive for what ones gets. But 0.1k$ and 1k can be nice. Still it's a lot of money!..

 

[parbaked]

Ordered HD600 on New Years Eve. Went into Magnolia to try the HD650 and HD600.
They only had the HD650 but offered to order me a pair for HD600 for $300 so I bit....
Going to drive them with this Jef Larson Spud amp:

I'm looking forward to enjoying these classic cans!

 

[StanD]

  Which DACs/amps do you own besides the mentioned ones? I would say the diff between 2k and above is not dramatic  and gets exponentially expensive for what ones gets. But 0.1k$ and 1k can be nice. Still it's a lot of money!..

Most of the differences are in fancy clocking and synch circuits. I seriously doubt that anyone can hear the occasional slip of a clock pulse.
Once a certain level of distortion, an adequate slew rate, FR and drive capability has been reached, a human cannot tell the difference unless they want to imagine it.
I work on wall street and some of my coworkers don't have kids to put through fancy universities, They buy all sorts of great stuff and don't even appreciate it. My benefit it is that I get to listen to some setups that cost as much as a small car. We're not talking big differences between that and $1K complete setups. Some folks like to fiddle with specs and stories, others like bragging rights and some like listening to music.
If the testers/reviewers on magazines or zines were truthful about the magnitude of differences or no tangible differences they'd be out of a job as there would be nothing to report about. All too often we are influenced by a fancy cabinet, packaging and hyperbole which can easily influence our imaginations. Auditory memory for comparing fine details is short lived, very short and yet imagination can go a long way. Just say'in. YMMV.
I will deny no one the pleasure of fiddling and having fun.

 

[frequencies]

If the testers/reviewers on magazines or zines were truthful about the magnitude of differences or no tangible differences they'd be out of a job as there would be nothing to report about. All too often we are influenced by a fancy cabinet, packaging and hyperbole which can easily influence our imaginations. Auditory memory for comparing fine details is short lived, very short and yet imagination can go a long way.

I agree. Sometimes it can be prestige too.

 

[StanD]

  I agree. Sometimes it can be prestige too.

Yes it can, unfortunately some innocent readers pay the price.

 

[frequencies]

Yes it can, unfortunately some innocent readers pay the price.

Yes people should know this, so we teach them here because we are not payed testers/reviewers
 
You didn't tell which DACs/amps you exactly own (or I can't read), but I hope for Desktop you have something better than this FiiO though XD

 

[StanD]

  Yes people should know this, so we teach them here because we are not payed testers/reviewers
 
You didn't tell which DACs/amps you exactly own (or I can't read), but I hope for Desktop you have something better than this FiiO though XD

I recently unloaded my Schiit Mjolnir, which was quite nice. I don't want to bother with balanced amps and cabling as I don't need the extra voltage swing and am looking for something else. I might just try a Schitt Magni just for schitt and giggles to see what they're like. I can't believe the design and specs for the price and have to hear this for myself before I do anything else.
Quite frankly the FiiO E18 and E12 are very good, just not fancy enough for the elite. I like to move around and not be anchored into one place and it does a good job of it.
IMO there is more imagination than reality to what most people report as well as excessive exaggeration. Part of human nature.

 

[frequencies]

Tell how the Magni is. Good if FiiO is good. Nice if things get smaller, better and more portable. A 40 ampere rectifier used to be very big and heavy, nowadays only one inch.

 

[LugBug1]

  Ordered HD600 on New Years Eve. Went into Magnolia to try the HD650 and HD600.
They only had the HD650 but offered to order me a pair for HD600 for $300 so I bit....
Going to drive them with this Jef Larson Spud amp:

I'm looking forward to enjoying these classic cans!

Looking forward to your impressions. Especially with that beauty! 

 

[LugBug1]

  I might just try a Schitt Magni just for schitt and giggles to see what they're like. I can't believe the design and specs for the price and have to hear this for myself before I do anything else.
 

I think you will be impressed for the size of the thing! 
 
I thought it was very powerful and authoritative sounding. Transparent with a very slight treble emphasis. It powered my HE500 and LCD2 (I owned at the time) effortlessly. If you are looking for finesse however, look elsewhere. The Asgard 1 sounded very similar but with a little more smoothness in the treble. But hey, transparency is what its all about right? Haven't heard with the HD600's. 
 
If I was buying another Schitt for the HD600's though I'd go Vali all the way.  

 

[imackler]

With so many great closed back, semi portable headphones out there now, what is the favorite of the HD600 fans? Basically, I'm looking for a comfortable, easy to drive, closed back HD600 with good isolation. Something that leans toward neutral and yet is musical. 

 

[liltehood]

I will invest in a proper DAC / amp as soon as the money allows, till then they have to work with the laptop DAC and the DAC on the Asus P8Z77-I motherboard. But I bet they will outperform the Koss Porta Pro (which I got at the moment) even without a dedicated DAC...

 

[StanD]

  I think you will be impressed for the size of the thing! 
 
I thought it was very powerful and authoritative sounding. Transparent with a very slight treble emphasis. It powered my HE500 and LCD2 (I owned at the time) effortlessly. If you are looking for finesse however, look elsewhere. The Asgard 1 sounded very similar but with a little more smoothness in the treble. But hey, transparency is what its all about right? Haven't heard with the HD600's. 
 
If I was buying another Schitt for the HD600's though I'd go Vali all the way.  

I like transparent, the Asgard2 looks interesting and it's got plenty of juice. The Magni has an output impedance of < 0.1 Ohms, the thing can probably run a refrigerator so any can other than a truck like an HE-6 is doable. How these guys can make such good stuff in the USA at superb prices is wonderful.

 

[StanD]

  I will invest in a proper DAC / amp as soon as the money allows, till then they have to work with the laptop DAC and the DAC on the Asus P8Z77-I motherboard. But I bet they will outperform the Koss Porta Pro (which I got at the moment) even without a dedicated DAC...

The HD600 isn't really that hard to drive. I use either Foobar2000 or MediaMonkey on my laptop and it sounds far better than I expected. I guess someone at Samsung that designed my laptop knew how to throw together a few transistors and not embarrass themselves.

 

[liltehood]

I'm running ubuntu linux and at the moment I use Rhythmbox for my musical desires But I'll look whether there are better options.