[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I'm leaning more towards building my own amp....  I've definitely got the skills and materials required (as long as that place still has some good tubes cheap).  If I get anywhere with it I'll post something in the DIY section.
 
Thanks for the tips and the warnings -- I had no idea that 600 ohms was that difficult to drive...
Speaking of which, how would it sound if I just plugged it into the stereo jack on something like a netbook?  Would there be any risk to the computer?

 http://www.amb.org/audio/beta22/
 
 No risk to your headphone out, big risk you'll be hugely disappointed though

 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm leaning more towards building my own amp....  I've definitely got the skills and materials required (as long as that place still has some good tubes cheap).  If I get anywhere with it I'll post something in the DIY section.
Thanks for the tips and the warnings -- I had no idea that 600 ohms was that difficult to drive...
Speaking of which, how would it sound if I just plugged it into the stereo jack on something like a netbook?  Would there be any risk to the computer?

600-Ohm Headphones, no risk to the computer, but would not work.
Laptop/Netbooks would work with headphones in the 25-Ohm to 80-Ohm range.
 
 
 

 

[audio technica]

This might be a silly idea, but I've got a Fender guitar amp (the Fender Super Champ) and it uses a couple tubes in its circuitry -- would I be able to just use that with 600 ohm headphones?

 

[Canadian411]

Don't get the 600ohm one, I had 990 Premium 600ohm and my RSA SR71b couldn't drive properly with single ended output.
 
I was talking to Ray and 600ohm headphones need balanced cables to benefit all 4 balanced channels to get some boost in bass department.
So far, IMO, none of portable headphone amps could drive 600ohm ones.
 
In fact, did you get a chance to listen this headphone ? IMO the treble is very annoying, an ear piercing trebles.
I couldn't handle so ended up selling it.
 
Might want to consider other headphone

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

This might be a silly idea, but I've got a Fender guitar amp (the Fender Super Champ) and it uses a couple tubes in its circuitry -- would I be able to just use that with 600 ohm headphones?

I would "guess" no.
 
 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Don't get the 600ohm one, I had 990 Premium 600ohm and my RSA SR71b couldn't drive properly with single ended output.
 
I was talking to Ray and 600ohm headphones need balanced cables to benefit all 4 balanced channels to get some boost in bass department.
So far, IMO, none of portable headphone amps could drive 600ohm ones.
 
In fact, did you get a chance to listen this headphone ? IMO the treble is very annoying, an ear piercing trebles.
I couldn't handle so ended up selling it.
 
Might want to consider other headphone

 
 
 Properly amped the DT990-600 Primo' is a totally tame *****cat 

 
 Best 'bang for ye buck' match so far for me with the big DT990 was a basic Woo Audio 6 set to high gain.
 
 As for portable, then there's the issue that some people I know find the SR71B a tad bright overall. 
 
 
 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

I can literally get a ton of tubes (good ones by the looks of it) for $5 each.  So, DIY amps are definitely a legitimate option here.

If you are building a DIY amplifier, and know what you are doing, then choosing the 600 Ohm version is not a problem. But your amplifier will need to be able to output sufficiently high voltage. For the maximum rated 100 mW power, about 22 Volts (peak to peak) should be enough, but you will obviously listen at a lower level than that normally. Although it is solid state, you may also consider building the O2 amplifier.
An advantage of DIY is that you can implement any colored frequency response (rolled off treble etc.) if you prefer that.
 

 

[audio technica]

So how do the 32, 250, and 600 ohm variants compare?  What does the higher impedance do for the quality/accuracy of the speakers?
 
For now I'm going to wait until I visit an electronics warehouse to see what kind of tubes they have.  Is there a list somewhere of tubes I should be looking for to build an amp?

 

[stv014]

I recommend reading this and this. The article at the first link refers to the DT880, but the DT770/880/990 are said to all use the same transducers, so the same basic differences also apply to the DT990.
 

 

[Canadian411]

Quote:

 As for portable, then there's the issue that some people I know find the SR71B a tad bright overall. 
 
 
 

Yape, SR71B with 990DT 600ohm too bright for me.
 

 

[Canadian411]

Quote:

So how do the 32, 250, and 600 ohm variants compare?  What does the higher impedance do for the quality/accuracy of the speakers?
 
For now I'm going to wait until I visit an electronics warehouse to see what kind of tubes they have.  Is there a list somewhere of tubes I should be looking for to build an amp?

Are you going to build portable solution here or just home use ?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Are you going to build portable solution here or just home use ?

Since it is intended to use tubes, I would guess home use.
 

 

[Canadian411]

Quote:

Since it is intended to use tubes, I would guess home use.
 

Ya, better be for home use since it's open headphone.  But there are also portable tube amps as well, so I am not sure OP's intention.
 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

 
But there are also portable tube amps as well, so I am not sure OP's intention.

 
Of course, it is possible to build portable tube amplifiers, but they are less practical for this purpose than solid state (higher supply voltage requirement - DC-DC conversion or a lot of 9V batteries, larger size, fragile, etc.). In any case, only the OP can tell what the intended use really is.
 

 

[audio technica]

It'll have to be for home use.  I can just use my panasonics on-the-go.
 
Tomorrow I might end up shopping around for tubes -- can I just use any tube for an amp?  What specs should I be looking for?