I just got the HE6SEs from Hifiman and I am using them on this amp. However, I am unsure what would be the best gain setting to use. I have tested all 3 gain settings and they are all able to drive the headphones to painfully loud settings. I am wondering however, because of the uniquely low sensitivity of these headphones, 83.5 dB (somewhat lower in actual tests) (50 ohm). So would it be better to just keep it at 3? Or should I keep it at 1 for the longer throw of the volume knob?
I know gain =/= volume, but I also don't quite know how that's going to work out with these headphones in regards to how much power they require and how they will sound optimally. I also don't want to enter clipping territory... if that's possible.
EDIT: I’ve discovered that clipping occurs on gain level 3, being fed with XLR from RME DAC-2. This really surprised me, but I guess I just don’t understand it enough. Keeping it at gain 1 for now. Source was Amazon-HD audio, so maybe that had something to do with it. Either that or my settings.