Which headphones of Drop's currently available?
I have some rewards points to burn but there's no obviously good options on Drop right now for headphones Contenders Ultrasone - maybe? I don't own any Ultrasones, so curious. Looks like garbage travel headphone which could be useful also. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro. - Maybe? I have the DT 880 Good price point, really uncomfortable headphones but could be interesting to try the upgraded version. E-MU - strong contender but $400 is a bad price point for what it is. Which of the above would you choose and why? Nothing else on Drop is relevant to my interests, because Already own 6xx 820 800 s Ether cx Garbage / Consumer grade Meze 99 - garbage bass canons, hard pass No gaming headphones obviously Sennheiser wireless - no to wireless/bluetooth Hifiman - I have 2 of drop hifimans and they make really bad cheap shit on Drop, hard pass on HE-R7DX Aeon - I own the closed, Drop refuses to address #padgate so no reason to buy open Beyerdynamic 177x - wireless, nope Too similar 8x / 560s...
Mar 28, 2024
A30 does a great job in powering hard to drive headphones. The switch to increase decibel is handy, and have no issues powering HD650, AKG K612s, and my Beyerdynamic DT990.
VX3 is great, as there's a Bluetooth receiver. Play music from your phone straight out to your speakers. Bluetooth connection is stable and little to zero distortion was known during my usage.
Overall, a greater starting point to begin with for your audio journey. By no means I'm an audiophile, but just sharing my thoughts on it.
BTW, right now I have a Little Dot I+ with some good tubes, and I'm thinking about going full tubey and buying the LD MKII, since I could use the same tubes I already have, and OTL seems to be the best match for my HD6XX. What do you think about OTL amps? You know something about the MKII? Any other remarkable options in this price range?
Why do you prefer AKGs to Senns, brightness? Which AKG model do you like the most? I considered the AKG K702, but I read that they lack bass presence, and even more sub-bass than the HD650/HD6XX. So my next purchase will be an OTL amp for the HD6XX or other sub-$200 headphones with solid sub-bass (maybe Hifiman HE4XX, if they come available again, which I really really hope). Suggestions?
Topping have got a good thing going!
As for you headphone choice, I believe the HD6XX don't reach that low in the bass section, reading feedback the HE4XX go a bit lower and has a little more presents down low but aren't sub-bass monsters. If you can save a bit more money then perhaps something like a Monoprice M1060 might get you what you want or perhaps wait for a used pair of Fostex TH-X00 (any of the range PH, ebony, mah), these will deliver you some decent sub-bass.
Just a word on amps and bass extension, I find my SS amp's would perform better in the bass region than my tube amp, but sometimes with the right tube, my tube amp would sound more euphoric than my SS amp, that's if you take music genre's and different headphones in to account as well.
Synergy is the key to this hobby! But it is all subjective as well.
Hope this helps.
None the less, I just bought the Musical Paradise MP-301 MK3. I am doing an A/B comparison right now against the A30, based on D30 (DAC). First initial thoughts, the difference are night and day! MP301 is so much more spacious and bassy. But of course, they are tubes which sound signature could be altered by rolling.
Do consider MP-301 MK3 if you're into tubes. Tell me how you feel about it too :)
BTW which tubes you got? I read some tubes can make a noticeable hum, specially driving low-impedance headphones, so be careful with that! Good luck, enjoy your new tubeys!
As for hums, I am not experiencing it as of now. There are some floor noise which is more audible when the volume is maxed. But I am quite sure it's the tubes that causes that. Time for some tube rolling session. I'm currently on stock tubes right now, giving the system a test run to see if all-system(tubes)-go. I am considering to change to maybe a tung-sol 6550 or a KT88. As for the preamp, I'm not too sure what to get....probably a Russian OTK6*8? What would u suggest ?
Please share :)
The more I look at your amp, the more I like it... It looks gorgeous! Good amp you got there, I hope you enjoy it a lot :) BTW the Massdrop x Hifiman HE4xx drop is available again, maybe you're interested, I've already ordered my pair!
I would highly recommend you Musical paradise MP-301 MK3. It's really well built, in terms of construction and totally a quality product. I streeeeeetched my dollar that much, gave in skipped DV and others and got this. No regrets. I guess I got to skip the HE4xx, I'm overstretched at the moment. Hahaha !
Well, here's a picture for you ;) Enjoy!
Thank you for your generous input :)
I'm looking at various amps and whatnot and I was wondering how you set this up. Is it D30 into A30 into VX3, then out to speakers? Does plugging the headphones into the A30 mute the VX3? Or do you have to turn the volume down on that?
Hope this helps
Check out this example: https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32811541379.html