advise needed with spending 1100$

[berlinguyinca]

Dear all.

been lurking for a while and after reading review after review, I'm getting more and more confused at this stage what to buy and can't really demo stuff in my area. And basically looking for a nice office/home office setup. I'm pretty set with my living room system ( except for a new DAC )

I currently have (headphone stack only)

- AH-D5000
- AKG-702
- DragonFly Black

now I would like to buy, after constantly reading better headphones are first, rest comes later...

- Sennheiser HD???, I used to have 600 back in the early 2000s and always loved them, but they were powered from a Discman, little did I know. Happy togo with some slightly used HD800, but this does not allow for an AMP + Dac budged wise. Pretty set on some HD6??

- ADI2DAC, love everything about it, but not sure if this is my best choice, with the current cans
- DX7, affordable enough to leave ~500$ for phones
- D30+A50 stack, affordable enough to leave ~700$ for phones

I do love the idea of tubes and hybrids, but completely out of depth with it. I'm happy soldering a BH crack or SEX together. Except one is for low impedance headphones and one for high and all that I have right now are low impedance headphones, but wanting to buy high impedance phones.

Any ideas?

( I gave up on Schiit after reading all the scientifically prooven 'hate' for them here, I was pretty set on them prior to this)

 

[twsecrest]

You can get a good price for the Topping DX7s at Massdrop.

 

[daftcombo]

I would say DX3pro with HD600.
Or save a bit more, replace DX3pro by ADI-2 DAC with the same phones, are you're golden.

 

[andreasmaaan]

The law of diminishing returns kicks in well below all the electronics you're looking at. I would try to keep the electronics spend to below $300 with something like a DX3 Pro or D10/Atom combo, then leave the rest of the budget for headphones.

Unlike electronics, use measurements to rule out poor-performing headphones, but don't rely on measurements alone to make a positive choice on which to buy, as the effects of each individual person's HRTF is significant enough for headphones that it is impossible to measure them accurately and they will not measure the same on any two different heads.

Also, start with the headphone choice and then choose the electronics from there IMHO.

 

[berlinguyinca]

thanks, well the challenge with the headphone choice is, eventually I want them all. Just to hear the difference (it's not a hobby unless you can be excessive). And we all know you need a setup for the office, home office, reading room, trailer... So plenty of justification to get yet another headphone setup.

I will have a closer look at the DX7s again. @daftcombo why do you recommend HD600 vs 650 or 660s?

 

[berlinguyinca]

ok Topping DX3 Pro ordered, just saw a deal for it slightly used for 90$ on Amazon, so couldn't pass it up

 

[daftcombo]

thanks, well the challenge with the headphone choice is, eventually I want them all. Just to hear the difference (it's not a hobby unless you can be excessive). And we all know you need a setup for the office, home office, reading room, trailer... So plenty of justification to get yet another headphone setup.

I will have a closer look at the DX7s again. @daftcombo why do you recommend HD600 vs 650 or 660s?

Based on your own opinion, on many opinions online and on @solderdude 's review & measurements on his DIYheaven website. He describes them as the flattest headphones around.

As for me, I am VERY happy with my Magnat LZR 980, but it was only 120$ and nobody knows them, it would be hard to entice you in buying these.

 

[daftcombo]

ok Topping DX3 Pro ordered, just saw a deal for it slightly used for 90$ on Amazon, so couldn't pass it up

This leaves you with 900$ for phones.
(Why not 1000? If the DX3 Pro didn't work, I would advise getting a Topping D10 & a JDS Lab Atom, total 200$).

 

[Veri]

I will have a closer look at the DX7s again. @daftcombo why do you recommend HD600 vs 650 or 660s?

The HD650 sounds to me like closest thing to real timbre on instrument and voices. On the other hand it doesn't sound very 'sparkly' and might even sound dull to some. But if you know how rare it is to have a headphone sound so accurate one can really appreciate the HD6-- series. The HD6xx is massdrop's version, it's a steal at the $200/$220 they ask. But if you just want thick bass and exaggerated detail these won't fulfill that need.
The HD600 has a little less low end and a little more air on top but honestly, the difference is rather overstated they sound quite close to each other.

On the other spectrum there is the HD800S which sounds more trebley and detailed, and has a very nice wide/spread-out sound stage. It has more of a 'wow' effect but to me sounds less like my kind of sound. The stage is to die for, though.

 

[daftcombo]

The HD650 sounds to me like closest thing to real timbre on instrument and voices. On the other hand it doesn't sound very 'sparkly' and might even sound dull to some. But if you know how rare it is to have a headphone sound so accurate one can really appreciate the HD6-- series. The HD6xx is massdrop's version, it's a steal at the $200/$220 they ask. But if you just want thick bass and exaggerated detail these won't fulfill that need.
The HD600 has a little less low end and a little more air on top but honestly, the difference is rather overstated they sound quite close to each other.

On the other spectrum there is the HD800S which sounds more trebley and detailed, and has a very nice wide/spread-out sound stage. It has more of a 'wow' effect but to me sounds less like my kind of sound. The stage is to die for, though.

Is the HD6xx exactly the same as the HD650?

 

[berlinguyinca]

from what I read, it's supposed to be identical.

 

[daftcombo]

The HD6xx can be found at 220$ on Massdrop.
The HD600 around 320$ at Thomann.

Still far from the budget limit!

 

[berlinguyinca]

I can get the HD800s for about ~900$ and the HD600 for about ~200$, HD660s for about ~250$ as refurbished units with 90 days of warranty. For some reason, they have tons of them for sale right now. Which makes decisions even tougher...

 

[MRC01]

If I could not EQ, I'd pick the HD6xx over the HD800. If I could EQ, I'd pick the HD800 if I could get them for under $1000. I'd also consider the HiFiMan Sundara. Once you've heard good planar magnetic bass it's hard to listen to anything else.
If my budget goes to $1000, then I'd pick a good planar magnetic over the Sennheisers, like the LCD-2 Fazor.
The tricky part is, these are all great headphones and you can't know which sounds best for you until you listen to them back-to-back.

 

[berlinguyinca]

If I could not EQ, I'd pick the HD6xx over the HD800. If I could EQ, I'd pick the HD800 if I could get them for under $1000. I'd also consider the HiFiMan Sundara. Once you've heard good planar magnetic bass it's hard to listen to anything else.
If my budget goes to $1000, then I'd pick a good planar magnetic over the Sennheisers, like the LCD-2 Fazor.
The tricky part is, these are all great headphones and you can't know which sounds best for you until you listen to them back-to-back.

this is exactly my issue, I can't test anything and so need to buy it. I do lust after the LCD-2, especially since I already have Magnepan's speaker on the main system.

Would it maybe make sense to get the HD600 in combination with something like a bottlehead crack? I keep reading good reviews about this combination.

 

[MRC01]

Another Maggie fan here! My main speakers have been Magnepan 3.6/R for the past 20 years.
With a < 1000 budget, I would narrow it down to 2 headphones, order from a place with a 30-day trial (like Headphone.com), listen to both extensively, keep the best and return the other.
As for which 2, I would suggest the HD6xx is definitely one. The other could be anything in your budget, perhaps the HiFiMan Sundara.
Also, check Headphone.com's "b stock" or "open box" area of new headphones that were returned by other customers. They are sold as new with warranty & 30-day trial.

 

[berlinguyinca]

Another Maggie fan here! My main speakers have been Magnepan 3.6/R for the past 20 years.
With a < 1000 budget, I would narrow it down to 2 headphones, order from a place with a 30-day trial (like Headphone.com), listen to both extensively, keep the best and return the other.
As for which 2, I would suggest the HD6xx is definitely one. The other could be anything in your budget, perhaps the HiFiMan Sundara.
Also, check Headphone.com's "b stock" area of new headphones that were returned by other customers. They are sold as new with warranty & 30-day trial.

good idea! I just hate the buy and return game, since i think it's really unfair to the seller, since due to federal rules here, they can't sell it as new anymore. I mean we all do it, just sucks for small vendors, who can't easily afford this.

 

[MRC01]

That is baked into their pricing. I've told them up front I'm buying 2 to try them and return 1, they don't mind at all.

 

[berlinguyinca]

good to know, learned something new

 

[LTig]

If I could EQ, I'd pick the HD800 [...

How would you set the EQ? Now that I have a DAC with EQ I might give it a try.