[MuppetFace]

Minus : Abyss is power hungry
 

 
 
I really think it depends on where you're coming from in this case. Personally, I think people tend to exaggerate the power requirements of orthos in general, but even in a relative sense the Abyss isn't as hard to drive as something like the HE-5 or HE-6. Also the Abyss isn't as synergistically picky as the HiFiMan orthos, which I think is even more important. Abyss owners seem to be finding a fairly wide range of nice-sounding pairings as a result.
 
Now, personally I find the Abyss does require a fair amount of gain. As Purrin pointed out (I think elsewhere?) however, some folks conflate gain with power. It's still a consideration though if you're planning on using the Abyss with portable gear. Like, it's not something I'd want to use with most DAP's internal amps for instance (unless it has crazy attenuation room like the DX1000...). I'd say that from the perspective of many portable audio users, the use of a portable amp constitutes hunger. Compared to orthos in general though, the Abyss isn't some crazy hard load.
 
Also there's always going to be the question of "driving well" and "driving really well." The Abyss does scale up, and with a more powerful amp I find improvements in driver control and articulation. I find it still sounds really great with certain less powerful amps however.

 

[rudi0504]

I really think it depends on where you're coming from in this case. Personally, I think people tend to exaggerate the power requirements of orthos in general, but even in a relative sense the Abyss isn't as hard to drive as something like the HE-5 or HE-6. Also the Abyss isn't as synergistically picky as the HiFiMan orthos, which I think is even more important. Abyss owners seem to be finding a fairly wide range of nice-sounding pairings as a result.

Now, personally I find the Abyss does require a fair amount of gain. As Purrin pointed out (I think elsewhere?) however, some folks conflate gain with power. It's still a consideration though if you're planning on using the Abyss with portable gear. Like, it's not something I'd want to use with most DAP's internal amps for instance (unless it has crazy attenuation room like the DX1000...). I'd say that from the perspective of many portable audio users, the use of a portable amp constitutes hunger. Compared to orthos in general though, the Abyss isn't some crazy hard load.

Also there's always going to be the question of "driving well" and "driving really well." The Abyss does scale up, and with a more powerful amp I find improvements in driver control and articulation. I find it still sounds really great with certain less powerful amps however.

Thank you MF for your explanation

What I mean here about power hungry compare to my LCD 2 rev 3 and LCD 3
If i pair With My T+ A P 10.2 My volume set at 12 O clock , With Abyss about 15 O clock

 

[rudi0504]

I have paired Abyss with Pico Power

Source : iPhone 4s
Dac : Venture Craft Go Dap DD1 LE 12 Volt with op amp Muse 02
Amp : Pico Power
Headphone : Abyss 1266

SQ : excellent SQ with these portable set up
IMO

 

[rudi0504]

I want sharing my portable set up with Abyss 1266 like follow :

SQ is very good to excellent and have Power to drive Abyss are
Pico Power
RSA the Intruder
Alo RX 3 B

SQ is excellent and high end , Power is enough to drive Abyss are :
Wagnus Epsilon S , has slightly more of power than Ko Bo to drive Abyss in high end SQ
Mass Ko Bo 385 has more power than Ko Jo KM - 01
Ko Jo KM - 01 just enough power for night listening with quiet environment

Dacs pair very good with Abyss are :

Venture Craft Go Dap DD1 LE 12 Volt with muse 02
Cyberlabs Class DB 2.00 Vrms
Cyberlabs Class Solo Old version

Dac / Amp pair very good with Abyss are :

Cyberlabs Theorem 720 SQ to warm sounding Abyss

IMO

 

[Sasoriofsand]

I have a dark star... will that be enough to drive the phones? If its ok i will get the phones within the week

 

[spkrs01]

  I have a dark star... will that be enough to drive the phones? If its ok i will get the phones within the week

 
If Rudi is driving the Abyss out of portables rigs, the Dark Star totally..............and please let us know your thoughts when you proceed with a purchase!

 

[rudi0504]

I have a dark star... will that be enough to drive the phones? If its ok i will get the phones within the week

If Rudi is driving the Abyss out of portables rigs, the Dark Star totally..............and please let us know your thoughts when you proceed with a purchase!

With Dark star you have plenty of power to drive Abyss
Recommendation from Joe are desktops amps for his wonderful Abyss
With desktops Amps can make Abyss more shining than use portable Amos like me

 

[MuppetFace]

portable Amos

 
A pocket-sized Currawong?
 
But yes, Rudi and Spkrs are correct, the Dark Star will be plenty powerful for the Abyss.
If it has enough juice for the HE-6, it certainly has enough for the Abyss.

 

[Currawong]

You guys drive me to drink, I swear.
 
About powering headphones: The "good enough" thing is kind-of nonsense, but having had a Studio Six here for a few weeks, it does make other amps seem far less capable, relatively. I've had the same experience with SET amps and speakers versus very good solid state units. What people are really saying is when talking about "good enough" is: The headphones scale, seriously, and holy heck, you should hear them out of a top headphone amp or speaker amp, it really is on another level. 

 
 
Something a manufacturer said to me on the weekend was, to the effect of: We're not here because we want good enough. We want better than just good enough.

 

[dukeskd]

I, for one, would sell everything and just settle with a pocket sized Amos.

 

[Radio_head]

  I, for one, would sell everything and just settle with a pocket sized Amos.

I already got to listen to a pre-prod and noticed it sounded very shouty and blurred all the details.  Subsequent measurements found a BAC of 0.24.  

 

[rgs9200m]

  I have a dark star... will that be enough to drive the phones? If its ok i will get the phones within the week

The B52 drives them just great. I do use a warmish interconnect (Cardas Golden Cross is great, as the very well naturally defined bass of the phones make up for the slightly slow bass of these cables).
But I just melt when I listen to these phones on the B52, with a spacious friendly well defined non-analytic sound. It's what I was hoping R10s would sound like (but was disappointed and sold them).

 

[x838nwy]

  I have a dark star... will that be enough to drive the phones? If its ok i will get the phones within the week

 
Seriously, dude. Was that really a question or just some strange statement?

 

[rudi0504]

After heard about 5 days I have decided to buy Abyss 1266 planar headphone , the poison so strong I can not go back without Abyss 1266

Today my Abyss just arrived , my Jaben local store brought hand carry from Singapore .

the stand and the outer box left in Singapore , they bring me later on

I am so happy with my decision to choose Abyss 1266 headphone , SQ so excellent

Below is out the box pictures :















Paring with Asus Xonar dac amp Muse 01 edition belong to my friend

Source : QLS Hi Fi QA 660 mod
Amp : Asus Xonar Muse 01 edition mod
Headphone : Abyss 1266

SQ : excellent high end sound quality , like home speaker

IMO

 

[purrin]

After heard about 5 days I have decided to buy Abyss 1266 planar headphone , the poison so strong I can not go back without Abyss 1266

 
I know exactly how you feel.
 
Do you plan on running them from a portabl? I tried in on one of my portable amos - the Leckerton. It sounds pretty good - rather surprised.