[tvercetti]

I recieved a 200 gift card to amazon over the holidays and I am looking to either get my first pair of planar magnetic (he400s) or to upgrade my DAC..

My current setup is a 1st gen Schiit Modi and a 2nd gen Schiit Magni Uber that I use to drive my sennheiser hd650, hd598, and to a lesser degree a pair of at50. I'm not going to spend over 200USD at the moment an honestly I am leaning towards the he400s but I am not 100%. If I upgraded my DAC i would probably get a Modi 3 considering my budget. What do you think would be more bang for the buck?

 

[money4me247]

That is a really good question. I personally think headphones upgrades will always give you a bigger bang per buck. From my personal experience, upgrades with amplifier and dac upgrades are much more subtle, not worth it going from modi to another modi in my personal opinion.

Of course, at the same time, you only have one pair of ears, so also no need for getting too many pairs of headphones. You will end up liking one the best and using that more frequently. If you end up buying too many mid-tier headphones, it will end up being quite expensive, and you would have been able to buy a single really nice flagship instead. I would strongly recommend considering saving that money for a later flagship purchase.

Hifiman headphones are frequently on sale, the HE-400i has also been on sale under $200 as well. I would not buy them either of them at full price, especially now that newer revisions are out. The HE-400S is a quite nice headphone, good priceerformance ratio, and relatively similar overall sound signature to the HD600/HD650 if you like their overall sound signature but want a planar magnetic feel. I wrote a really in-depth review here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-2015-hifiman-he400s.766529/page-113#post-12008061.

Good luck in your decision!

edit: my vote would be either purchase a headphone or save for a more expensive headphone in the future.

 

[buke9]

I don’t think you will get a huge increase in sound quality just a side grade on the dac I would go for the 400S a very nice headphone that can be run out of a phone but like them amped myself.

 

[tvercetti]

Thank you both for your input, I was leaning toward the he400s.

 

[buke9]

The 400S is a very nice headphone can’t go wrong with it.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I recieved a 200 gift card to amazon over the holidays and I am looking to either get my first pair of planar magnetic (he400s) or to upgrade my DAC..

My current setup is a 1st gen Schiit Modi and a 2nd gen Schiit Magni Uber that I use to drive my sennheiser hd650, hd598, and to a lesser degree a pair of at50. I'm not going to spend over 200USD at the moment an honestly I am leaning towards the he400s but I am not 100%. If I upgraded my DAC i would probably get a Modi 3 considering my budget. What do you think would be more bang for the buck?

I wouldn't really replace the DAC as long as it works with your source unit. Best though immediately obvious improvement if you get the Modi3 though is it will be louder as the Modi3 spits out the proper 2V output.

Even then though I'd be inclined to save the $200 for now and save up to add to it and buy something else later. Maybe a HiFiMan Sundara or the like.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I recieved a 200 gift card to amazon over the holidays and I am looking to either get my first pair of planar magnetic (he400s) or to upgrade my DAC..
My current setup is a 1st gen Schiit Modi and a 2nd gen Schiit Magni Uber that I use to drive my sennheiser hd650, hd598, and to a lesser degree a pair of at50. I'm not going to spend over 200USD at the moment an honestly I am leaning towards the he400s but I am not 100%. If I upgraded my DAC i would probably get a Modi 3 considering my budget. What do you think would be more bang for the buck?

I would go for getting headphones, over replacing the DAC.
I would also say to sell off the HD598 and ATH-M50 headphones,
and add that cash along, with the $200 Amazon gift card, towards new headphones.

 

[tvercetti]

Thank you guys for all the feedback I appreciate it. One last quick question I'll try asking here before starting a new post... the only other kind of headphones that I want right now besides planars are a good set of closed bass head sounding headphones.. I like the AT50s for this reason but find them a bit sharp and muddy in their mids. I was also looking at the Vmoda m100s. Would this be a big enough step up from the AT50s? Do you guys have any other recommendations?

At the end of the day I will probably end up saving up for a flagship pair of cans like many of you suggested and not buy anything at the moment but this is my process, I am extremely indecisive and take forever to make a decision when spending a lot (to me at least) of money.

 

[money4me247]

meh, I don't think the vmoda m100 is a good closed upgrade. very vshaped sound sig, bass definitely bleeds into mids and mids recessed. the ath-m50 is prob a better value as similar sound sig.

My personal fav is the oppo pm3 for a good closed portable upgrade with more balanced sound signature. I have a review in my sig. unfortunately, oppo is closing their audio division, so may be hard to find. only other portable planar option I recall is from audeze, they recently released the mobius. Was not really for me as I did not like the virtual headtracking and the setting wld keep defaulting on when you first turn it on, may have been a firmware upgrade since then.

Memorable closed portables dynamics I've owned/demoed heavily in the past & really liked include the akg 545 and nad viso hp50, but those are older models. The Sennheiser Momentum is quite nice closed, does have a bit of a warm sound sig. The sony mdr-1a is also a good option. The order I mentioned these dynamics is the order of my personal preference. hope that info is helpful

 

[JediMa70]

Why don't you consider Hifiman He400i? They are easy to drive more neutral and definitively better than the S ones

 

[PurpleAngel]

Thank you guys for all the feedback I appreciate it. One last quick question I'll try asking here before starting a new post... the only other kind of headphones that I want right now besides planars are a good set of closed bass head sounding headphones.. I like the AT50s for this reason but find them a bit sharp and muddy in their mids. I was also looking at the Vmoda m100s. Would this be a big enough step up from the AT50s? Do you guys have any other recommendations?
At the end of the day I will probably end up saving up for a flagship pair of cans like many of you suggested and not buy anything at the moment but this is my process, I am extremely indecisive and take forever to make a decision when spending a lot (to me at least) of money.

Soundmagic HP151 (closed) headphones, should offer plenty of bass and over all improvement over the ATH-M50.