Q & A - Archive

 
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  • C-LOS

    Hey mike love the site thanks for helping me choose the HD 25-1
    love em, anyway was wondering if budget amps like the jds labs cmoy,
    d-zero or e-10 might help the hd600/hd650 do better or should i stick
    with the hd598 if the these amps wont help and i need to spend more
    money on better amps. Thanks in advance

  • Jeff

    Hi, I’m new to this whole audio thing, and I’ve read a bit of the stuff on the site. There is a relatively old post “newbie corner: $sub 100 headphones”, its been two years since, would you suggest something different now? 

    • Anonymous

      Hi Jeff,
      I need to either do an update on it which is going to be massive (there are like 100 headphone companies out there now?), or just take it down completely. Sorry about that, I wrote it when the site was really new and I wanted it to be some sort of a simple introduction article. Don’t think it’s working too well though. :)

      • Jeff

        Ah ok fair enough, thanks for the reply. Just another question, I listen to rock, jazz and classical, currently considering to buy something along the lines of MS1i / SR60i + FiiO E11, would be a suitable combination? 

        • Anonymous

          You’re welcome Jeff.

          I think the MS1i is a better choice. It has a wider genre bandwith than the SR60 while retaining enough edge for Rock. As for the amplifier, you have a choice of either the E11, the Cmoy, or the PA2V2.

          • Jeff

            Thank you for your suggestion =D

            ps. really enjoying this site, it all seems so fun!

            • Anonymous

              You’re welcome. ;)

              Fun until your wallet complains ;)

  • James

    Hello,

    I’m looking for suggestions/recommendations for a desktop Amp/DAC or seperate combo. Currently i have a pair of  AH-D2000 and would love a good match for them. From what I’ve read and understand (newbie), they are fairly current hungry phones and most of the desktop units I’ve run acrossed, seem to be geared toward higher impedence phones. So, any suugestions in the $150-300 range. Id like a usb interface, but I don’t necessarily need high bit or high frequency capabilities.

    Thanks for anything you can provide.

    • Anonymous

      Hi James, 
      The D2000s are more current hungry than the big impedance headphones, but at the current state of desktop amplification, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Almost all desktop amps today would have enough current for low impedance dynamic drivers. 

      As for the DAC/Amp recommendation, this is slightly over budget, but I think you would be very happy with the CEntrance DACport (~$350). If you want to stay within the budget, you can also get the Audinst HUD-MX1 (~$180). I think both are great solutions within their own price range. 

      http://www.headfonia.com/centrance-dacmini-and-dacport/

      http://www.headfonia.com/audinst-hud-mx1-dac/

  • Cowincanada

    Hey Mike, first of all, I like your site. Its very clean and the reviews are very forthcoming. Anyway, just wanted your advice on which amps to get. I’m building my system with “end in mind”. I want to end up
    in the high-end of mid-fi – I’ll probably end up owning a D5000, HD600, and Grado 325is. Now, the question is what kind of portable amp would drive and synergize well with these phones? For desktop amp,
    I’m thinking the Asgaard. But for portable I’m totally lost. Thanks in advance!
     

    • Anonymous

      I think the Asgard will be a good amp for the headphones you listed. 

      As for the portable, what sort of a budget are we talking about here? 

      • Cowincanada

        Thanks for the reply Mike. As far as budget goes, well how about spending the least amount of money to get a portable amp that maximizes the d5000, hd600 abilities? I can go to like an alo rx mk2, ttvj, or an rsa. Which Amp would have enough to power these and is a good match tonally? I usually listen to Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Female vocals. Does that mean emphasizing mids?

        • Anonymous

          Well if you have the budget, the ALO continental should be very good for vocals on the HD600. I am not too familiar with the D5000 and so I can’t comment so much about it.

  • Frederick

    Hey. Great site!
    I already have a pair of MS1i, and I’m considering getting the HD558.
    A few questions though: Will these two headphones be different enough? I’m trying to get a good pair of headphones that contrast with what I currently have.
    Also, will I get more bass from the HD558? This isn’t tooo important, but it’s something that I’d like. (I’m certainly not a basshead though).
    Thanks :D

    • http://www.headfonia.com Mike

      Frederick,
      Yes and yes on both questions.

      • Frederick

        Thanks for the super fast response.

        Based on your post about the HD558 mod, I assume you suggest modding the HD558s?

        • http://www.headfonia.com Mike

          Well if you read through the article I ended up saying that the non modded version is better. 

          I think the Sennheiser engineers have a solid reason why they put that piece of black felt in there. 

          • Frederick

            Oh, I see now. Sorry, I only read the article with the mod, not the one after that which includes reviews of the HD555, 558, and 598.

            • http://www.headfonia.com Mike

              Yea sorry about that. It is confusing to have those two articles separately.

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