You should also be considering the Auzeze planar magnetic headphones like the LCD-X or the XC if you prefer closed back. These are relatively neutral. They are similar the Sennheiser 600 series in the midrange but with real bass. But if you want something warmer in the midrange, try their LCD-2 or LCD 3 models. I would caution that everyone’s ears are different, so you really need to listen/demo headphones. And some companies like Audeze have a 30 day return policy. They will be at Axpona and CanJam.
4K headphone + headphone amp/dac system recommendations please
I have 4K to spend on a better headphone system and have no expertise in the headphone zone.
Currently using old Grado SR 225 cans with Schiit Jotunheim 2 amp (single ended connection). Source is Jay's CDT2 transport and I'm using the internal DAC in my Hegel H390.
While the Hegel's onboard DAC is pretty good, it is a bit thin in the mids. I'd prefer something a bit more fleshed out in that frequency range.
I'm not finding many headphone amp/DAC combos. I am not interested in Chord or import brands that cannot be serviced in US.
The Teac UD 507 looks like a possibility. Moon Audio sells it and recommends HiFiMan HE100 V4 Stealth Magnet currently on sale for $949 to pair with the Teac.
Please Note: This budget will also need to accomodate a power cable and an AES/EBU cable to connect to transport.
In terms of sonics, I favor musicality over detail. I'm very sensitive to fatiguing highs. At the same time, I prize tight bass.
I listen to 3 types of music: acoustic Jazz, non-classical acoustic (NewGrass, Singer-Songwriter, Folk, etc) and some Classic Rock.
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Here are a couple reviews of the HPA-1 that might be helpful in case you haven’t seen them already… https://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-labs-hpa-1-headphone-amplifier https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/best-headphone-amps-series-pass-labs-hpa-1-review/ |
The amps that are recommended are all good but not what I would focus on. A friend of mine is friends with the Woo designer and told me recently that Woo has a new amp that is killer. However, I say forgot all of those because a phone is more important and should constitute about 90%+ of your budget. The Schiit AsgardX (mentioned before) or the Schiit Mjolnir v3 amp are under $1000 and get you to a very high level of performance. Use most of your funds on a phone. The place to learn about these things is at the head-fi web site. You can also get any phone you want a decent used price. Recently, I had one of the very best headphone amps in my home for a few weeks. The Allnic HPA 15000 OTL/OCL. This thing is incredible and very expensive ($15k). Even though it was better than the 2 Schiit amps I mentioned (AsgardX and Mjolnir v3), the phone was still the most important thing. I say this because I also had a demo RAAL 1995 Magna phone ($7.5k) in the house and I tested it with the Allnic and also my Schiit Aegir v1 amp ($400 used). With the Magna the Allnic was better but the Schiit was not embarrassed. If I had not heard the Allnic I would have thought the Magna and the Aegir v1 combo were end game.
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