Headphone AMP/DAC Combo

RSR

RSR

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I've been looking over a numerous reviews over the past month in order to buy a amp/DAC combo as I am going to be picking up a pair of HD650 or HD700 at the end of the month and as well to replace the on-board sound from my PC.

I've been looking at the following:

Arcam ir-DAC II
Audioengine D1
Objective 2 amp/dac combo

At the moment, the Arcam seem to be my preferred choice at the moment but it doesn't come with a volume adjustment dial and it uses the 3.5 headphone jack but it does come with the DSS Sabre DAC

Does any one have any experience with these or have any other recommendations to look into?

Thanks. :)
 
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The Sennheiser headphones, more so the 650/HD600/HD800 are very DAC dependant and will sound like crap if the DAC isn't up to par. What is your budget? A Modi2 and Vali2 would be awesome for the 650. Vali2 is on par with the more expensive Lyr2 and an effortless and resolving sound and will drive the Sennheisers really well.

Do yourself a favour and skip the HD700 it's mid to treble transition is shocking and the overall tone is just off with spikes and dips in weird paces. The 650 is much more natural, smoother treble and much more musical and fun to listen to.
 

RSR

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Thank you for the detailed reply that's really helpful. I don't really have a budget in mind to be honest but at the same time, I wouldn't spend more then twice the headphones value on amp/dacs. So I'd say 500/600 would be the roof for this.

I'd love the Oppo HD1 but fear it's it's not worth it for these headphones.

I have also been reading a lot of people suggest the same thing with the headphones well preferring the 650's over the 700's due to the brightness of them (700)

Edit:

So it seems the following seems to be well paired with the HD650, so ill do a bit more research on these but I think its a done deal.

Schiit Vali 2
Schiit MODI MULTIBIT
 
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One thing about the HD650s, they scale like no other headphone. What I mean by this is that the better the equipment you use them with, the better they will sound and they can go all the way up to summit-fi - no other headphone does this anywhere near as well.
 
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Even at that budget you won't get a better Amp than the Vali2 unless you went with the Valhalla2 which has better special presentation and sightly better resolution although they are pretty close but the Vali2 has a better tone and a more natural sound. Might wanna look into the Bifrost for a fuller sounding DAC but the Modi2 is great value.
 

RSR

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Thanks guys, I think I’ll start off with the above two and see how I get on and then the beauty of separates is I can upgrade over time.

From what I have been reading the Modi Multibit comes very close to the Bifrost as it now runs the same mulitpoint DAC rather than the single point on the Modi2 and Modi2 Uber. However, thats only from what I have been reading id like to demo them ideally first but most of the reviews do speak very highly of them.

I also like the fact I can use the pre-amp output to connect it to my external amp when not using the headphone as that was another feature I was looking for.

Ill post some pictures once its all arrived. :D

Thanks once again.
 
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I've not tried it . But give the chord mojo a look. Personally I've got a graham slee srg11 headphone amp with an arcam irdac 1 . I've got the hd700 and it's not as bad as some people make out. On day 4 of owning hd650 , so breaking them in.
 
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It's these two treble spikes that cause problems for a lot of people...

graphCompare.php
 
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The treble can kick in once and again , but overall the hd700 is fine for my ears . Must say tho , enjoying breaking in my hd650 . Although still cant shake the slight vibration yet on them . Will give it a week and take them to my local audio-t to have some advice . they will help me even tho I didn't buy it from them . regular customer :D
 
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I've experience of several pairs of HD600 though not heard any 650s from new as mine were hand me downs but never had any kind of vibration, etc.
 
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I've been researching various AMP/DAC combos for nearly a year now and it's been very hard to pull the trigger on one, very hard, I want an 'all in one' that also has RCA out so I can use the DAC with a stereo amp, at the moment I've narrowed it down to the Project Head Box DS but outside of a few reviews online there really doesn't seem to be much feedback about it.
 
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Personally, if I was looking for an all in one I'd have a very long look at the Schiit Jotunheim with DAC module, which I think comes in at £385.
Not only does it provide superb sound quality but it also gives you the option of balanced output, both to headphones and amp / active speakers.


It also has pre-out RCA connectors which mean the volume control also controls the output to the external amp.
So you could set a maximum level on your amp and then use the Jotunheim's volume pot to control the volume you hear.
 
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Personally, if I was looking for an all in one I'd have a very long look at the Schiit Jotunheim with DAC module, which I think comes in at £385.
Not only does it provide superb sound quality but it also gives you the option of balanced output, both to headphones and amp / active speakers.

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It also has pre-out RCA connectors which mean the volume control also controls the output to the external amp.
So you could set a maximum level on your amp and then use the Jotunheim's volume pot to control the volume you hear.

I really like the look of that but I'm finding it hard come near £385, are you including the price of the dac module and delivery?
 
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