STX stopped working - need an amp for HD600

stoke1863

stoke1863

stoke1863

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My Asus STX for what ever reason has gone super quiet when i started my PC today,

I have it on extra high gain and 80 volume to even be able to hear it, was all fine at 28 volume yesterday. Ive tried changing PCI slots and Power and its all the same.

I dont have much space cash, Whats a good budget amp for the HD600?

I dont think i can afford a DAC as well, Is it possible to use just the amp with my PC connected to the onboard?

I know the Schiit stuff is good for the money but i heard the Magni isnt great for the HD600?

I have a Fiio E10K i use at work, Would this do the HD600 justice? I can just go back to onboard audio at work, I use the MSR7 at work and they sound better from the Fiio but i can live with it.
 
The Magni 2 is just fine for the HD600, it's just that some purists prefer to use them with the colouration of valve amps.
The HD600 and HD650 need a good, healthy voltage swing in order to sound their best, the Magni 2 provides this and then some.
 
Another option, which gives you the versatility and fast transients of solid state and the ability to tune the sound that you get with tubes would be the Schiit Vali 2.

I have the Vali 1 with the internal tubes and that works really well with my HD 650s while the 2nd edition uses a single, external tube that allows easy (and cheap) tube rolling to tailor the sound to your personal tastes.
 
If you're gonna go tube amp get a proper one not a hybrid the little dot will be good.
Might be a fixable issue with the stx wouldn't give up on it without testing further as to me that issue sounds like a cable issue or floppy power cable
 
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The tube colour will depend mainly on tubes used but some amps like the Little Dot MKIII and Little Dot 1+ have an inherent warmth. The Vali 2 is s great amp but will lose out to the Magni for bass definition. The 650 + HD600 they have a mid bass hump(less so HD600) and don't have the most defined bass anyway so you could go either way. The best I've heard the 650(HD600 will be similar)on is tubes and I'd personally never use them with SS but it's a preference thing.

I'm a big fan of the original Vali it has a haunting character(slowish decay and excellent vocal emotion and focus) really good resolution and a natural tone..I preferred it to the Vali 2 and Valhalla 2 for enjoyment.

The Project Ember II is also excellent, bit more aggressive than the Vali and Vali 2 but I'd rank it above them for power and slightly better in dynamics and speed.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions,

I have been using the E10K just to tide me over and honestly it's fine,

Lost a bit of soundstage but they are decently loud with the High gain switch. Feel like im not missing too much from the STX maybe 90-95% the same. Im questioning if the difference vs a Magni or Little Dot is even worth the money. Sure it will be better but for someone who doesnt have piles of spare cash like me is it really worth it?
 
HD600/650 sound like gash on a lot of SS amps IMO - a lot of SS headphones amps either really are designed for 16-150ohm and/or are designed for delivering a lot of current without enough attention paid to voltage delivery. Might get the HD600s loud but the bass will be muddy and uncontrolled and the treble collapsed - they will sound very different on an amp with good slew rates and ability to effectively swing the voltage. (Decent amount of rail to rail voltage can help but with more experimenting I've found rids is right in that it isn't necessarily essential - depends more on the design).
 
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Would a DarkVoice be any good for the HD600? Seen a reasonable priced used one, but i heard they are not great on QC

Im split between DV, Little dot MK2 or MK3 (used) or just a Magni

but then id have no dac...

Another concern, how hot are the Tubes? My Two cats always climb on my desk and chase eachother, im worried one of them would get burnt.
 
Tubes on full tube amps get very hot while those on hybrid amps merely get warm, basically because they don't use them for the power amp stage.
 
rids57 said:
Tubes on full tube amps get very hot while those on hybrid amps merely get warm, basically because they don't use them for the power amp stage.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your help Rids, you a massive asset to the Sound forum:)

Sounds like proper tubes unfortunately might be a no go. My OH will murder me if the cats get harmed!

Looks like ive got to hunt down a used Schiit stack but that Little Dot MK2 is still tempting me .. but then i would need a DAC as well i guess.

Any opnions on the SMSL M6? It's dac is suppose to be decent but will its amp be good enough for the HD650? its very well priced and a 2-in 1
 
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I just dug some info about the tube temperatures after being run for 15 minutes:

Front (pre): 54C
Rear (power): 77C

This is means the power tube runs almost 50C cooler than it's predecessor, the ++,and while being hot to the touch, won't cause burns without prolonged contact and having owned cats, that wouldn't happen. :D

So I would say the Little Dot mkII would be ok, but I would still be wary of the Dark Voice, which is known to be a hot one.
 
Yeah im going to cross the DV off the list.

I think in all honestly ive got to go Hybrid tube or Solid State. I 90% of the time have my fan on in my PC room as it gets hot in this room and in general i hate being hot so adding more ambient heat just sounds uncomfortable.
 
The temperatures I quoted were for the tubes themselves, the case is considerably cooler, so the LD really wouldn't be adding much in the way of ambient heat.
 
How about this combo.

SMSL Sanskrit 6th USB DAC £65 - suppose to be good and matches the Schiit Modi apparently

Little Dot Mk2 £130

Would this sound better for a HD600 over the small Schiit Stack?

I keep going back and forth as you can tell :P
 
Better is a subjective term, they will sound different to the Schiit stack.

The Schiit Modi and SMSL will sound more or less the same, with most of the differences coming from the amps. The Magni will sound fast, detailed and punchy while the Little Dot will sound warmer, smoother and slightly less detailed, depending on which tubes are being used, which opens up a whole new can of worms. :D

Using a tube amp enables you to enter the world of tube rolling, which lets you fine tune the sound signature by changing to different tubes (within the same family). Tubes can affect the bass, mids and highs, sound stage and imaging but the search for the perfect tubes can become a pricey hobby in it's own right. There are tube rolling threads on Head-Fi that run into the many thousands of posts should you feel the need.

This is actually an area where the Schiit Vali 2 scores highly - it only uses one tube, so is very much cheaper to experiment with. ;)
 
Well some good news.

I completely forgot about £140 cashback i had sitting in my Top Cash Back account :P

So now my budget is around the £280 mark but the less spent the better for me unless the extra really is worth it.

So now to choose between 4 combos.

1. Magni 2 & Modi 2 - £200 new
2. Modi 2 & Vali 2 - £265 new
3. SMSL Sanskrit 6th USB DAC & Little Dot Mk 2 - £195
4. JDS Labs O2 Dac & Amp - £140 used
 
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