[HPiper]

   
Thanks a lot for your opinions.
 
Lyr should be a good amp. Just read the comments on Amazon, and saw some nice reviews about it. It seems you'll also need a DAC (e.g. Modi) to pair with it. But this combo might exceed my budget.
 
Compared to EF2A, do you think Modi & Magni would be a better option to start with?  

Absolutely it would or maybe a Vali instead of the Magni. That is more of a personal decision as some people like tube sound (me for example) and others prefer solid-state, but either combo will definitely get you started in the right direction. I have the Modi dac as well and IMO it is a very under-rated dac.

 

[upstateguy]

I found some specs on the Schitt site, see for yourself:
 
 
                                                    Vali                                              O2
 
Frequency Response:            0.2db  (20Hz-20Khz)               +/-0.01 dB (20Hz-20Khz)
THD:                                      <0.4%                                     0.0016%
IMD:                                       <0.45%                                   0.001%
SNR:                                       >-93db                                   -105 dB                      
Crosstalk:                              >-70dB                                    -65 dB
Output Impedance:               6.5 ohms                                  0.54 ohms           (0 is best)

 

[FraGGleR]

  I found some specs on the Schitt site, see for yourself:
 
 
                                                    Vali                                              O2
 
Frequency Response:            0.2db  (20Hz-20Khz)               +/-0.01 dB (20Hz-20Khz)
THD:                                      <0.4%                                     0.0016%
IMD:                                       <0.45%                                   0.001%
SNR:                                       >-93db                                   -105 dB                      
Crosstalk:                              >-70dB                                    -65 dB
Output Impedance:               6.5 ohms                                  0.54 ohms           (0 is best)

See what for myself?  The Vali is a tube amp, of course it won't measure as well as the O2.  I still think it sounds better with high impedance headphones like the HD650 and HD800 than the O2 by a considerable margin.  Don't get me wrong, I like the O2 - I built several of them and think they are a tremendous value, especially if you build one yourself, but I don't like it as much as the Vali with the HD650.  

 

[upstateguy]

  See what for myself?  The Vali is a tube amp, of course it won't measure as well as the O2.  I still think it sounds better with high impedance headphones like the HD650 and HD800 than the O2 by a considerable margin.  Don't get me wrong, I like the O2 - I built several of them and think they are a tremendous value, especially if you build one yourself, but I don't like it as much as the Vali with the HD650.  

 
I don't have a Vali but I do have a tube based Woo 3/preamp, and as much as I like the Woo 3 with my 650s, it doesn't have the resolution or detail of the O2. 
 
Once you hear what you're missing it's hard to go back.....
 
Never the less, I still use my Woo3.  Mostly as a pre-amp for speakers but every so often for headphones.  As long as I don't do a comparison with my GS-1 or O2, I don't notice the lower resolution.

 

[Byronb]

  I found some specs on the Schitt site, see for yourself:
 
 
                                                    Vali                                              O2
 
Frequency Response:            0.2db  (20Hz-20Khz)               +/-0.01 dB (20Hz-20Khz)
THD:                                      <0.4%                                     0.0016%
IMD:                                       <0.45%                                   0.001%
SNR:                                       >-93db                                   -105 dB                      
Crosstalk:                              >-70dB                                    -65 dB
Output Impedance:               6.5 ohms                                  0.54 ohms           (0 is best)

 
You can't listen to a spec sheet. 

 

[cddc]

Great, thank you so much for your advice! 
 
Just spent the last couple of hours reading thru the last 100 pages of this extremely long thread, and I cannot agree with you more. M&M or M&V would be a good starting point for me. With dac and amp separated, I can easily upgrade them down the road.

 

[cddc]

Yes, you are absolutely correct. Thanks a lot!

 

[chee006]

  My HD 650 is also going to arrive in the next few days but my PC DAC and amp ain't. I too can't wait to get my hands on a good amp and DAC my portable one is decent but I am afraid it won't sound as good if I paired it with a tube amp. Do you guys have any amp/dac or seperate components for my HD 650? my budget is around $350

Sorry to bother you guys but I still need someone's recommendation on my amps and dac, also do you think this will sound good through my DX 50 -> PB 2?
 
Can someone please help me out here, not sure why no one is responding to my post  

 

[Transformatron]

I've never heard them, but iBasso makes pretty solid products so they should be good. You just have to listen to them and decided that for yourself!

As for your DAC/Amp recommendation I would honestly say the Schiit Modi/Vali stack would be the only real option for under $350 unless you have all the DIY kit for building a Bottlehead Crack and getting a Behringer UCA202 DAC.

 

[JamieMcC]

 

 
With a limited budget you will get more bang for your buck buying used so suggest keeping an eye on the classifieds ebay etc.

 

[chee006]

I've never heard them, but iBasso makes pretty solid products so they should be good. You just have to listen to them and decided that for yourself!

As for your DAC/Amp recommendation I would honestly say the Schiit Modi/Vali stack would be the only real option for under $350 unless you have all the DIY kit for building a Bottlehead Crack and getting a Behringer UCA202 DAC.

 

   
With a limited budget you will get more bang for your buck buying used so suggest keeping an eye on the classifieds ebay etc.

 In that case I'll increase my budget to $600 however I have some DAC and AMP in mind.
 
First off, my guy told me to just upgrade the tube of my Bravo Ocean and he says it would increase the sound quality significantly, he said the stock tube can already surpass the quality of my PB 2. For my DAC I use a Go Vibe cheap DAC which is adequate if you never own a DAC before however I really wan to upgrade it as it's my weakest component of my PC rig.
 
For DAC I had the Aune T1 or X1 in mind which I heard it's quite good and also somewhat cheap, however I am planing to up that later to a matrix-i DAC and for my AMP after I up the tube I can lastly go from that to a La Figaro 339 Dark Voice 2013 wich looks great and sounds great from what the reviewers said.
 
I would still like to see more suggestion bear in mind my budget is'nt fixed and I can go higher as long as I am happy with the item and think it has good value.
 
Thank You.

 

[MattTCG]

 

 
I've got the dx50. It is not enough to drive the 650. The amp portion is somewhat of the weak link in this otherwise fine dap. Paired with a decent portable amp, I think that you'd do pretty well with the dx50 and the 650. I don't know anything about the amp that you mentioned though. 

 

[HPiper]

   
 In that case I'll increase my budget to $600 however I have some DAC and AMP in mind.
 
First off, my guy told me to just upgrade the tube of my Bravo Ocean and he says it would increase the sound quality significantly, he said the stock tube can already surpass the quality of my PB 2. For my DAC I use a Go Vibe cheap DAC which is adequate if you never own a DAC before however I really wan to upgrade it as it's my weakest component of my PC rig.
 
For DAC I had the Aune T1 or X1 in mind which I heard it's quite good and also somewhat cheap, however I am planing to up that later to a matrix-i DAC and for my AMP after I up the tube I can lastly go from that to a La Figaro 339 Dark Voice 2013 wich looks great and sounds great from what the reviewers said.
 
I would still like to see more suggestion bear in mind my budget is'nt fixed and I can go higher as long as I am happy with the item and think it has good value.
 
Thank You.

I can not remember the exact name of the unit but I used to see them on ebay all the time. I think it was called a 'Maverick D1' or something like that. It got pretty good reviews. As I recall it was a decent dac combined with a hybrid amp. I think they also made separate dac and amp versions too. Do a search on ebay or just look around in the headphone amp section, I am sure you will see em.

 

[upstateguy]

   
You can't listen to a spec sheet. 

 
Is that how you buy things?  Ignore the specs?

 

[MattTCG]

Let's not derail here guys. Specs and graphs certainly have their place in evaluating gear, but for others it will come down to the simple process of listening. 
 
Now, lets go back to talking about jerg hacking his new hp's.