[ElMarcado]

I'm in the search of a warm headphone amp to pair with bright cans. I'm searching one with good soundstage (you are there feel), powerful and refined bass and overall clarity. Thanks.
 
Price: between 100$ and 300$.

 

[inthere]

Schiit Asgard 2 (about $250) or Aune T1 mk2 (Tube amp/DAC, about $169) 
 
Asgard 2 has a slight edge over the Aune in clarity with the stock tube but I replaced my tube with a Phillips and now the T1 has more clarity in both the low end and the high end. Both have good soundstages.
 
Thing is tube rolling can get pretty expensive finding the right tube and mine is not even the top of the line one, although it's very good. 

 

[cel4145]

A good solid state amp will be neutral, linear. If you are looking for warmth, a tube amp and some tube rolling, like inthere recommended, to find the sound you want seems the way to go.

What cans do you want to amp?

 

[ElMarcado]

A good solid state amp will be neutral, linear. If you are looking for warmth, a tube amp and some tube rolling, like inthere recommended, to find the sound you want seems the way to go.

What cans do you want to amp?

I have an HD380 Pro which i like very much because of it's bass and soundstage. Through my MacBook Pro DAC they sound dry, sibilant and congested. I had an HD 598 in the past which suffered the same problem, but one day i amped them and the soundstage became wide left and right, clarity improved and the bass reached deeper. Voices sounded very natural and realistic, so i think my headphones are not the problem here.
 
I also had an Grado SR325is which i loved very much and they clearly can sounded even better than what i heard through the Mac.
This thing can put 2V rms full-scale if i'm not mistaken. This is way more than what both headphones (HD380 Pro and SR325is) need to reach 100 dB SPL. But despite that they sound AWFUL through this thing. Doesn't matter if this thing has lower THD than, say, some expensive tube amp, it sounds AWFUL, horribly awful. My ex-Grados screamed a better source back then, but even through the Mac they sounded better than anything i've ever heard until today.
 
This experience made me think about the 'objectivists' buying something like an O2 or Benchmark DAC2 thinking they have the best sound quality just because they measure well. What about amps like famous Eddie Current's Zana Deux and Balancing Act?, real audiophiles say that they have the blackest background and they can extract the best soundstage your headphone can put, but they are more expensive than well-performing headphones. For example, an HD 650 costs 400$ and someone will never heard their true potential until they audition it with something like an Eddie Current amp. I heard people complaining about poor sound with HD 650 + O2, and yet the O2 measures perfectly, and the Eddie Current's are 'distorted' tube amps, yet i'm sure they sound a lot better and you'll can see why.
 
Because of this misinformation i can't take this hobby seriously. In my experience measurements doesn't mean GOOD SOUND, despite what the scientific-wannabe people say. Conformists.
 
That's why i want a tube amp. I hate sibilance. Thank you.  

 

[cel4145]

I have an HD380 Pro which i like very much because of it's bass and soundstage. Through my MacBook Pro DAC they sound dry, sibilant and congested. I had an HD 598 in the past which suffered the same problem, but one day i amped them and the soundstage became wide left and right, clarity improved and the bass reached deeper. Voices sounded very natural and realistic, so i think my headphones are not the problem here.

I also had an Grado SR325is which i loved very much and they clearly can sounded even better than what i heard through the Mac.
This thing can put 2V rms full-scale if i'm not mistaken. This is way more than what both headphones (HD380 Pro and SR325is) need to reach 100 dB SPL. But despite that they sound AWFUL through this thing. Doesn't matter if this thing has lower THD than, say, some expensive tube amp, it sounds AWFUL, horribly awful. My ex-Grados screamed a better source back then, but even through the Mac they sounded better than anything i've ever heard until today.

This experience made me think about the 'objectivists' buying something like an O2 or Benchmark DAC2 thinking they have the best sound quality just because they measure well. What about amps like famous Eddie Current's Zana Deux and Balancing Act?, real audiophiles say that they have the blackest background and they can extract the best soundstage your headphone can put, but they are more expensive than well-performing headphones. For example, an HD 650 costs 400$ and someone will never heard their true potential until they audition it with something like an Eddie Current amp. I heard people complaining about poor sound with HD 650 + O2, and yet the O2 measures perfectly, and the Eddie Current's are 'distorted' tube amps, yet i'm sure they sound a lot better and you'll can see why.

Because of this misinformation i can't take this hobby seriously. In my experience measurements doesn't mean GOOD SOUND, despite what the scientific-wannabe people say. Conformists.

That's why i want a tube amp. I hate sibilance. Thank you.  

I don't know anything about Eddie Current amps, but yes. It seems like you are a candidate for a tube amp, not a solid state amp, which was my point. However, for Grados, you would probably need a hybrid solid state/tube amp, not an OTL tube amp, because of their low impedance.

Now you mentioned you didn't like how your headphones sound out of your MacBook. What have you used your headphones with that you liked the sound?

 

[ElMarcado]

I don't know anything about Eddie Current amps, but yes. It seems like you are a candidate for a tube amp, not a solid state amp, which was my point. However, for Grados, you would probably need a hybrid solid state/tube amp, not an OTL tube amp, because of their low impedance.

Now you mentioned you didn't like how your headphones sound out of your MacBook. What have you used your headphones with that you liked the sound?

Hello.
That thing was a sound card with an integrated headphone amp (ALC 892 if i remember correctly). I know that it's wasn't an Essence STX, but perhaps because of it's high impedance and good output power they sounded really good with Sennheisers.
 
I think the Aune T1 mk2 is what i'm searching. I will not use Grados right now, only the HD380 Pro and maybe someday HD650.