[diaBoliQu3]

  Huzzah, I have the funds and the excuse to grab a pair of HD600s. My current pair of " gaming " headphones, such a bad purchase, is just about to die and I'll acquire HD600s some time soon. Though I'm a little confused on what I should pick up for an amp/DAC. I'm looking at around $200 total. I've seen good response from the M/M Schiit Stack, but I've also heard a whole bunch of childish rant from someone who sells O2+ODACs and seems like hes just trying to persuade me to buy his product. Any input on Amp/DAC combos that won't make my wallet cry?

Some said to balance the sound, Schiit M/M is a good pair but for the original dark sound, ODAC/O2amp is the partner. Tested O2amp, they indeed neutral but somehow they give a body to my FA-003. And. What make me excited with M/M is I read in a review that they are better than DACport due to being interdependently powered. I haven't tested yet but just from what I read. I love bright headphone, but hurt my ears in certain genre like metal such as Cradle of Filth, Nightwish, Helloween and few more.

 

[mink42]

Have you ever considered using a tube amp Nowhere? Sounds like that might be more suited to your tastes

 

[amcananey]

The best amp I've found for the HD600s is the Bottlehead Crack. I highly, highly, highly recommend saving your pennies a little bit longer, then buying the Crack, rather than buying something cheap right now. For $279, the Crack is an end-game amp for the HD600, and building one is way more fun than you can imagine. Check my profile. I know what good amps sound like, and the Crack gets 95+% of my listening time. Spend more on your amp, and less on your DAC.

Best regards,
Adam

 

[Nowhere]

  Have you ever considered using a tube amp Nowhere? Sounds like that might be more suited to your tastes

haha look a few pages back, i just recently got the bottlehead crack. definitely more suites for my tastes

 

[Sullane]

My gosh... so many of you guys are recommending the bottlehead. I'll have to try it sometime.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

yeah, the bottlehead is pretty great.  I've got mine running without the speedball addition yet.  Its really a solid amp, although I have been plagued with noisy power tubes.  still looking for a good one.  stock was bad, replacement stock not much better, and a free one from a friend is also noisy.  geez!!

 

[Nowhere]

  My gosh... so many of you guys are recommending the bottlehead. I'll have to try it sometime.

 
It might even be better than eggs, toast and tea, and i freaking LOVE eggs, toast and tea !
(Ok, maybe it's not better than that, but it's pretty darn good haha)
can't stop listening to it, exactly the sonic experience i was seeking out.
 
Everything I throw in to foobar2000 is like WOW! except 1 very poorly demo recording... even putting on some 2pac and it's sounding really tight even without slamming bass whereas before i thought rap sounded horrible with the hd600 in my previous setup.

 

[Shikarikato]

The best amp I've found for the HD600s is the Bottlehead Crack. I highly, highly, highly recommend saving your pennies a little bit longer, then buying the Crack, rather than buying something cheap right now. For $279, the Crack is an end-game amp for the HD600, and building one is way more fun than you can imagine. Check my profile. I know what good amps sound like, and the Crack gets 95+% of my listening time. Spend more on your amp, and less on your DAC.

Best regards,
Adam

 
What would you suggest for a DAC with the Crack?

 

[palmfish]

   
What would you suggest for a DAC with the Crack?

 
What is your source? What is your budget?

 

[madwolfa]

MF V-DAC II is a great little DAC for a price.. I got mine from Amazon Warehouse Deals (repackaged) with Pyramid PSU for ~240$.

 

[amcananey]

If you only need USB inputs, go for a Schiit Modi or an ODAC. No need to spend more.

If you need coaxial or optical inputs, it will cost you more, but there are a ton of options. I find most DACs sound pretty similar once you equalize for strength of their output signal.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

I find my tube dac11 quite nice.

 

[Suguru103]

Hi guys, i plan on purchasing a HD600 within the coming weeks, but i have a couple of questions...
 
So i have an E7K and i plan on pairing it with an E9K... but will the dac in the E7K be the bottleneck? Should i pair the E9K with another dac and get rid of the E7K?
 
Where does one find a god price on a HD600? I have found a $330 one used on ebay, which is not great. I also found one for $295.. but the seller is based in Hong Kong and i feel iffy about it. Where did you guys find yours?
 
I can actually get an HD580 with HD650 grilss and cable for $220... should i just go that route?
 
And finally, which song/songs do you guys use when you want to showcase the awesomeness of the HD600 to somebody who hasn't heard hi-fi headphones? I have an HD558 and put a Flac version of Ticket to Ride from the Carpenters, which sounds good.. but the person just said there was a hiss. -.-
 
Thanks for even reading all that if you did, but i figured if someone was going to help me with this conundrum, it would be the laid back( ) guys from the HD600 army. 
 
Thanks!

 

[Ophiel]

I got mine from taobao, which is the china amazon. Huge risk I know, but it was worth it. I found the seller to be based in HK, and I'm 99% sure it's authentic(how else can it produce so good sound then?)
as for songs to impress, just make sure it is familiar to the person.

 

[devhen]

  Hi guys, i plan on purchasing a HD600 within the coming weeks, but i have a couple of questions...
 
So i have an E7K and i plan on pairing it with an E9K... but will the dac in the E7K be the bottleneck? Should i pair the E9K with another dac and get rid of the E7K?
 
Where does one find a god price on a HD600? I have found a $330 one used on ebay, which is not great. I also found one for $295.. but the seller is based in Hong Kong and i feel iffy about it. Where did you guys find yours?
 
I can actually get an HD580 with HD650 grilss and cable for $220... should i just go that route?

 
I got mine from RazorDogAudio last year for $300 by making a best offer on his eBay listing. He's out of stock right now but I'm sure he'll have them back in soon. Keep an eye on his eBay store and his website. He's an authorized dealer and has great customer service and fast shipping.
 
http://stores.ebay.com/RazorDogAudio
http://www.razordogaudio.com/
 
Although the Sennheiser's are usually excluded from his coupon code promotions, sometimes they will work. Once they come back in stock try the following coupon codes on them-- RAZORDOG100, RAZORDOG75, RAZORDOG20, RAZORDOG15.
 

  And finally, which song/songs do you guys use when you want to showcase the awesomeness of the HD600 to somebody who hasn't heard hi-fi headphones? I have an HD558 and put a Flac version of Ticket to Ride from the Carpenters, which sounds good.. but the person just said there was a hiss. -.-

 
The HD600's were my first good pair of headphones and I had the same reaction-- "Wow, every single song in existence has at least some level of hissing, buzzes, crackles etc." Haha. You don't realize that until you get decent headphones.
 
As far as what music to show off the HD600 with.... pretty much anything! I like James Taylor's Gaia for testing out vocals and whether the tonality is accurate. Needless to say, it sounds great on the HD600. James Blake's Limit To Your Love is great for showing off big sub-bass. Though the HD600 doesn't have a lot of sub-bass, it still sounds good. And most anything from Radiohead sounds pretty great on the HD600 as well. But like I said.....pretty much anything sounds good especially for people who haven't heard good headphones before.