listen2themusic
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2010
- Posts
- 61
- Likes
- 13
** I posted this on another forum earlier today, thought I would share it here as well **
OK, I am posting this because I was tinkering around last night and discovered that the "veil" that is often associated with this headphone was gone.
I am not posting this to debate on whether or not such a veil does actually exist - this of course is subjective to the end user and largely determined by the type of sound he/she likes and what other types of headphones they have listened to in the past.
For me, I am coming from AKG 702's. Comparing the two headphones, they do sound quite different. Many who have heard the 702 will say it lacks bass. Compared to the HD600, I agree with this. I will also say that those who think the HD 600 has a "veil" have probably used a headphone like the 702 that is incredibly open and detailed.
So, this all started because I recently purchased HD 600's for use in a separate system. I rip a lot of vinyl and when I am cleaning things up, my system chain looks like this:
Laptop PC -> USB out to Parasouund Zdac -> Analog out to Head Direct EF1 headphone amp -> AKG 702 headphones
My plan was to keep this system for post production of vinyl rips down in the listening room and use the HD 600's upstairs via a laptop and an Audioquest Dragonfly V1.0 DAC to enjoy music in another setting. As part of this second system, I wanted another headphone amp with a small footprint to keep upstairs. I read and posted threads looking for suggestions which have since included: Schitt Asgard2, Schiit Valhalla 2, Meier Jazz and a couple others.
Up to this point, my listening with the HD 600's has been with the Head Direct EF1. It sounds good, not sure if any of these other suggestions will better it. I briefly tried the headphone amplifier in the Zdac...but I don't care for it much.
So last night, I'm using the HD 600's connected to the EF1 which was getting data thru the Dragonfly. I listened to a number of lossless songs from various vinyl rips in 24/96 and CD's in 16/44. The Dragonfly was alright, but nothing special. The headphones sounded as they have since I first bought them a couple weeks ago.
For fun, I decided to use the Zdac instead of the Dragonfly. Now, this did mean I was using a different cable from the DAC to the headphone amp - in this case, some MIT interconnects. The sound was a bit bigger compared to the Dragonfly, but still had the same general sound signature.
Alas, there is a third DAC downstairs which resides in the main rig - a Musical Fidelity M1DAC. So, I decided it would be worth trying that one out. Due to its distance from the rest of the equipment, another set of interconnect cables had to be used, this time it was Signal Cable Analog 2 feeding the signal from the DAC to the EF1.
Holy Mother of all things criminal! The headphones opened up for the VERY first time. The bass was still good, but less thick and sluggish. But the treble and upper mids now had air around them! It was like merging the highs of the 702 with the mids and lows of the HD600 - crazy stuff!
Now this was late last night, so I have more experimenting to do. DAC or cables? I'm guessing the DAC, but I can't be certain at this point. I also realize that the sound can/will change with a different amp. If nothing else, this just makes acquiring an amp that much more difficult as I have something else to think about now...either DAC or cables.
I think most in this hobby feel that making any changes to your system will affect the sound to some degree. However, I was really expecting the amp to be the main driver of the sound I would get with these headphones, but now I think the issue is much larger than just the amp.
I am going to try the AKG 702's tonight in the same setting and see if I get similar results or if these changes are just happening with the HD 600's.
More to come...
OK, I am posting this because I was tinkering around last night and discovered that the "veil" that is often associated with this headphone was gone.
I am not posting this to debate on whether or not such a veil does actually exist - this of course is subjective to the end user and largely determined by the type of sound he/she likes and what other types of headphones they have listened to in the past.
For me, I am coming from AKG 702's. Comparing the two headphones, they do sound quite different. Many who have heard the 702 will say it lacks bass. Compared to the HD600, I agree with this. I will also say that those who think the HD 600 has a "veil" have probably used a headphone like the 702 that is incredibly open and detailed.
So, this all started because I recently purchased HD 600's for use in a separate system. I rip a lot of vinyl and when I am cleaning things up, my system chain looks like this:
Laptop PC -> USB out to Parasouund Zdac -> Analog out to Head Direct EF1 headphone amp -> AKG 702 headphones
My plan was to keep this system for post production of vinyl rips down in the listening room and use the HD 600's upstairs via a laptop and an Audioquest Dragonfly V1.0 DAC to enjoy music in another setting. As part of this second system, I wanted another headphone amp with a small footprint to keep upstairs. I read and posted threads looking for suggestions which have since included: Schitt Asgard2, Schiit Valhalla 2, Meier Jazz and a couple others.
Up to this point, my listening with the HD 600's has been with the Head Direct EF1. It sounds good, not sure if any of these other suggestions will better it. I briefly tried the headphone amplifier in the Zdac...but I don't care for it much.
So last night, I'm using the HD 600's connected to the EF1 which was getting data thru the Dragonfly. I listened to a number of lossless songs from various vinyl rips in 24/96 and CD's in 16/44. The Dragonfly was alright, but nothing special. The headphones sounded as they have since I first bought them a couple weeks ago.
For fun, I decided to use the Zdac instead of the Dragonfly. Now, this did mean I was using a different cable from the DAC to the headphone amp - in this case, some MIT interconnects. The sound was a bit bigger compared to the Dragonfly, but still had the same general sound signature.
Alas, there is a third DAC downstairs which resides in the main rig - a Musical Fidelity M1DAC. So, I decided it would be worth trying that one out. Due to its distance from the rest of the equipment, another set of interconnect cables had to be used, this time it was Signal Cable Analog 2 feeding the signal from the DAC to the EF1.
Holy Mother of all things criminal! The headphones opened up for the VERY first time. The bass was still good, but less thick and sluggish. But the treble and upper mids now had air around them! It was like merging the highs of the 702 with the mids and lows of the HD600 - crazy stuff!
Now this was late last night, so I have more experimenting to do. DAC or cables? I'm guessing the DAC, but I can't be certain at this point. I also realize that the sound can/will change with a different amp. If nothing else, this just makes acquiring an amp that much more difficult as I have something else to think about now...either DAC or cables.
I think most in this hobby feel that making any changes to your system will affect the sound to some degree. However, I was really expecting the amp to be the main driver of the sound I would get with these headphones, but now I think the issue is much larger than just the amp.
I am going to try the AKG 702's tonight in the same setting and see if I get similar results or if these changes are just happening with the HD 600's.
More to come...
