Should I get a AMP/DAC combo (Magi/Modi or O2/Odac) or a single better amp (Asgard 2) for the Sennheiser HD 600?

[inthere]

  I had a demo unit for 5 weeks that had the acrylic top & bottom plates. You're right about the looks but the acrylic shows up fingerprints quite a bit. I'm going to buy a separate acrylic top-plate so that I can ring the changes but it's no biggie. The novelty of sitting staring at an amp wears off eventually.
 
Besides, when you use the 6SN7 adapter the LED doesn't shine up through the valve any more so you don't lose too much with the aluminium top-plate. YMMV.
 
It does sound absolutely fantastic though & comes with some great tweaking options.
 
Two input gain settings, input capacitor bypass & three output resistance options. For my HD 650's I use low gain, bypassed caps & either low or medium output R.
 
As well as all that the new MkII version of the Ember has the supercharger, which was previously an option, built-in. This allows the use of high current valves. Input attenuation can be changed too to suit individual headphones. What this means is that it can be configured so that almost the full range of the volume control can be used.
 
There's also the option of fitting the 6SN7 adapter. This opens up a huge range of valve options.
 
The photo above has the adapter fitted. It also has a non-standard volume knob.

What is the default tube?
 
Also, I believe my friend bought the kit because he had red, blue, and green LEDs in his amp (damn show-off!) and i don't see that option on the Garage site.

 

[Solrighal]

What is the default tube?

Also, I believe my friend bought the kit because he had red, blue, and green LEDs in his amp (damn show-off!) and i don't see that option on the Garage site.

That's a good question. It doesn't say on the site but I ordered my Ember with a JJ ECC82. It's not, to my mind, anywhere near as good as some of the 6SN7's I have. It is relatively neutral though for a valve.

There's only one LED in all Project Embers. The Ember has three pots that are adjusted with a small jewellers screwdriver & equate to RGB values. Basically you can have any colour you like any time you like.

 

[cel4145]

 These are all subjective opinions. One person can have a completely different personal preference from another.

There are also different circumstances. Someone may prefer Asgard 2 to Little Dot mk3 with stock tubes, but if you put 4 $250 Siemens tubes in the Little Dot, the Little Dot may sound better. But Little Dot is now a $1000 amp. Someone else may hate the tube sound completely.

When directly comparing with 3 other people, we all felt think the Aune T1's amp section sounded better than the Asgard 2, and it was immediately noticeable. But that was our personal preference, and *may* have been expectation bias because it wasn't a blind test. 

+1

And not just because of expectation bias, but also because improper level matching can make one amp sound better than another, when it might otherwise wouldn't.

 

[cel4145]

Copy from Schiit website:
Magni 2
http://schiit.com/products/magni-2
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 2Hz-200KHz, -3dB

Maximum Power, 16 ohms: 1.8W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1.2W RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 1.0W RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 260mW RMS per channel
 <------
Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 130mW RMS per channel

 
 
Asgard 2
http://schiit.com/products/asgard-2
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.1db, 2Hz-400KHz, -3dB

Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 1.0W RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 1.0W RMS per channel
Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 380mW RMS per channel <--------

Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 190mW RMS per channel

 

Given that the HD600s only need 0.17mw to reach 90db (according to Innerfidelity), these differences would be negligible in use.

 

[LingLing1337]

How is only having one tube to roll a plus? I dont get it. If you want tube sound, you get a fully tubed amp. If you want a tube dac section with a chip amp, you can buy the Aune. if you ever upgrade your dac and use the Aune as an amp, the tube willl be worthless

 

[Solrighal]

It depends how much disposable income you have. I don't have a lot so only having one valve to roll in my Project Ember makes it affordable.

 

[inthere]

How is only having one tube to roll a plus? I dont get it. If you want tube sound, you get a fully tubed amp. If you want a tube dac section with a chip amp, you can buy the Aune. if you ever upgrade your dac and use the Aune as an amp, the tube willl be worthless

It's a plus for your wallet because you get to audition the tube characteristics with only one tube, instead of buying multiples. Right now I'm using a Phillips E188CC-7308 tube that I paid $149 for and if I had to buy 2 or more of them I wouldn't have done it. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
And the Magni 2 is definitely more powerful than the Asgard 2. Also from Schiit's site:
 
Ready For Any Headphone
Both Magni 2 and Magni 2 Uber are ready for any headphone, from IEMs to hard-to-drive orthodynamics. Switchable gain provides the fine control and low noise floor you need for sensitive headphones, as well as the power you need for hard-to-drive high-impedance headphones and orthos.
 
It doesn't say "ready for ANY headphone" for the Asgard 2, it says ideal for *most* headphones. 

 
The use of "any" vs "most" there doesn't indicate it has more power, given the power output specs already says otherwise. It likely just means that the Magni has a low gain setting that can do IEMs, so in other words, "any" likely means "also IEMs and low impedance, very high efficiency headphones."
 

 
I know the specs say otherwise, and I can't explain it. But the Asgard 2 does sound better than the Magni 2. I was just surprised by the power output. 

 
Likely lower THD, plus maybe better current delivery considering how much larger the Asgard2's power supply and and power capacitor banks are.
 
----
 
 
If anything, it might be possible that while the Magni starts off with higher THD it may be steep but is otherwise linear, while the Asgard2 starts out lower but past a certain output level it might rise much more sharply than the Magni.