Which Headphones around $600 - $800

[Darudan]

Hi everyone,
I have been on and off these forums for years and have read a lot of great things about a lot of great headphones. And now I am in the market for my first audiophile grade cans. And I know you guys know better than anyone else on which headphones are the best choices. 
With that being said, there usage would be for music which I mainly listen to down tempo electronic, and rock ( chevelle, tool, System of a down, etc), and gaming. the budget I listed is for headphones alone, I have enough for the amp as well around same price. I would love to know what you guys think I should go with. 

 

[Darudan]

Also to give a background in what is pleasing to my ear. I love a more warm sound with deep punchy bass. and smooth but pronounced treble and accurate mid-range. 
from what I've read the HD600 sound great. I guess really I am looking for a "fun" listening experience at audiophile level

 

[MannerPylon]

I was gonna say, in the budget range you could get a HD800 but that's not the route to go if you're more intro a fun/warm sounding headphone.
 
If you can stretch your budget a little you may want to go read up on the Focal Elear, I won't be surprised to see a few pop up in the FS section for 850-950 in a few months. Don't be too worried about people selling off newer HPs fairly quickly, some of us just go through them real fast as people want to try out everything. Old doesn't neccesarily mean bad either, lot of older HPs with great SQ.
 
Since you said you have the budget for an amp to match you go hunt down an HE-6 which occasionally will sell in that range second hand and is still a great HP. 
 
An Audeze LCD-2 aligns with your preferences as well.

 

[Darudan]

I have looked at the Audeze LCD-2 before and love the way it looks and I've searched for a place to audition them. But one thing that's steering me away from them, I read somewhere that since they have had products stolen and and other things that there quality control seems to be off compared to what it used to be. I could definitely be wrong though. 
 
I love the HE-6 suggestion as well. I guess I like the idea and aesthetics of planars. I'll definitely read more up on them!
Also I haven't ever heard off the Focal Elear, so definitely gonna do some research on those as well. thank you for the feed back, I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Darudan]

So I have done a bit of research on the focal elears, and I have to say I am pretty much sold on them. However I am curious on what amps / DACs you guys think will pair well with them. Also curious what amps and DACS you recommend for the HE-6. sorry for all the questions. But Hopefully my understanding is starting to broaden. 

 

[MannerPylon]

Glad to hear you're researching your way to an informed and pleasant decision. The search if half the fun of big new purchases. I'd definitely ask the ppl in the Elear thread over in the HP section. They don't appear to be very difficult to drive but it doesn't mean they won't benefit from a high quality amp.
 
In my experience, you don't need to worry as much about matching DACs are you do amps, especially if you enjoy a warmer signature. Have you looked into tubes? I'm not the biggest fan of them but a lot of ppl will swear by them, especially since you're looking to get into the upper tier of audio.

 

[Monsterzero]

  So I have done a bit of research on the focal elears, and I have to say I am pretty much sold on them. However I am curious on what amps / DACs you guys think will pair well with them. Also curious what amps and DACS you recommend for the HE-6. sorry for all the questions. But Hopefully my understanding is starting to broaden. 

Many HE-6 owners use speaker taps of receivers to drive HE-6s,its notoriously difficult to drive.

You might have better luck with HE-500,which is an awesome headphone,and while it isnt easy to drive either,its much easier than the 6

 

[MannerPylon]

IMO needing a speaker tap for HE-6's was much overstated. If you're going balanced, or even single-ended, most well made amps are going to be fine. According to Jude, a $400 Schiit Jotenheim provided enough power. I was able to run older HiFimans out of an M3 SE no problem.

 

[Darudan]

Okay, so now that I have a few headphones really catching my attention, I now have a new question. I would like to get a DAC and amp that will leave me room to get new headphones in the future because say I get the Elears first they don't take much power to drive but say I want to give a good set of planars a try say the HE-600. I want a good amp that I know will be sufficient in power and quality to give me a listening experience that I'll enjoy. Now I have been reading a lot of great things about Schiit audios products and have a DAC and amp that I am thinking of using. As long as they'll pair nicely with some of the headphones previously mentioned. The DAC I am interested in is the Bifrost multibit. and the amp is the Lyr-2. but I am not sure whether to go hybrid, SS, or tube. And also do think it is going to be worth the extra money to go ahead and advance to the Mjolnir 2. Sorry for having so much at one time.

 

[Monsterzero]

  Okay, so now that I have a few headphones really catching my attention, I now have a new question. I would like to get a DAC and amp that will leave me room to get new headphones in the future because say I get the Elears first they don't take much power to drive but say I want to give a good set of planars a try say the HE-600. I want a good amp that I know will be sufficient in power and quality to give me a listening experience that I'll enjoy. Now I have been reading a lot of great things about Schiit audios products and have a DAC and amp that I am thinking of using. As long as they'll pair nicely with some of the headphones previously mentioned. The DAC I am interested in is the Bifrost multibit. and the amp is the Lyr-2. but I am not sure whether to go hybrid, SS, or tube. And also do think it is going to be worth the extra money to go ahead and advance to the Mjolnir 2. Sorry for having so much at one time.

Confusing post as there is no HE-600.....

HE-6 i dont know if any of the higher end Schiit amps will drive for them to excel.
HE-500 you should be okay but I have no experience with any Schiit products except the Magni Uber,which is not powerful enough for the HE-500s to really sound good

 

[MannerPylon]

Schiit products are very well regarded and there's tons of feedback on them all over head-fi.
 
I haven't heard a bifrost in a while but people seem to like the bimby quite a bit. I love my gumby but I realize that's probably more than you're wanting to spend at this time.
 
Your amp choices from Schiit in this range are going to be either the Lyr 2, MJ2, or Jotunheim. It's going to depend on your preferences. I'd ask MattTCG as I believe he's got experience with all three (or at least 2 of the 3) and he's super knowledgeable.
 
Based on general traits you'd say SS is going to be the coldest with things warming up as you go towards tubes.

 

[Darudan]

Awesome information there guys. I'll probably be going with SS as I was already leaning towards that option. I'll see if I can get in contact with MattTCG and see what he has to say. 
Sorry for the confusion, I guess i got mixed up with the HE-6 and the HE-500. But thank you for being able to still answer my question. I should be ordering my set up in about a week!

 

[buke9]

The only time I heard the HE-6's was from a Audio GD Master 9 (they make a HE-6 version) it was pretty nice can't remember the DAC that was running it though. Was at a meet recently and the Elear's and Utopias were there the Utopias are fantastic the power went out before I could listen to the Elear's so can't help you there sorry but a lot of people love them.

 

[raybone0566]

IMO needing a speaker tap for HE-6's was much overstated. If you're going balanced, or even single-ended, most well made amps are going to be fine. According to Jude, a $400 Schiit Jotenheim provided enough power. I was able to run older HiFimans out of an M3 SE no problem.

This is not true, I'm an he6 owner.

 

[MannerPylon]

This is not true, I'm an he6 owner.

Which part? The part that was clearly just my personal opinion, my recollection of my experience, or that Jude addressed directly the HE-6 in his Jotunheim video?
 
We could very well disagree and I'll defer to you as you'd have the easier access to a current pair. Let's try and help out the OP. What amps do you think wouldn't provide enough juice? Recommendations?