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Heefty
1387
Jul 7, 2017
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HD650/6xx is a fun one to get some equipment experience on. It will sound great driven by a crap amp like those in your Apples, but will sound even better with real amps, all the way up to the multiple thousand dollar range. It will be just as much at home driven by a $2k amp as by a $200 amp. The standard OEM amps in computers or phones are really too weak to do a good job on these headphones. the Objective 2 amp is good, but was still too weak for these cans IMO. I was running an custom amp that I built for power hogs for a while and it made me happy, then I built this guy (http://www.pmillett.com/butte.htm) on a whim after having found the Innerfidelity review on it and knowing Pete Millett's reputation in amplifier design (suffice it to say, he does a better job than I do). It's a simple, but powerful amp, costs about the same to build as O2 (would be much cheaper without the enclosure purchased from Pete's ebay store), and it puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it with my HD6xx. If you have the resources to go to its range, the Airist Audio Heron 5 outclasses even the Butte.
Your amp will only be as good as the source going into it. A better DAC than the on-board ones in your Apples will pay dividends as well, or better yet, a decent phono. I would start with a good clean DAC since it appears from your post that you're stuck in digital land. I don't go overboard on these. $100-$200 range is sufficient to get a nice transparent DAC with a genuine high Z line level output. I'd take a look at the SMSL Sanskrit DACs were I in the market. I hear good things about them.
For an all-in-one, I hear good things about the Schiit Jotunheim with the DAC addition as well.
With those headphones you really are ready to make audio gear your playground (which sucks because it can be an expensive hobby; even if you're building your own...)
Jul 7, 2017
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