You are correct! I haven’t used variable out for the rear.
Still, the Signature is a single-purpose unit with no 6XX button:
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I wasn’t aware that the Signature did not have any xbass / power adjust.
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I went ahead and bought the sciit dac to match with the amp. Thank you though.
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Congrats Mick. Be sure to let us know what you think of it when it’s all settled. Be warned…the seal has been broken !!! 
The 6xx is a gateway can for many, self included. Me since I got it…
Explaining another headphone/gear purchase to wife…
Me when I saw the Nautilus…
Me rationalizing getting the Nautilus…
It escalates quickly…Good luck 
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Way to go Bro! You’re all set.
If you ever want to go portable, away from your primary Schiit stack listening station, you can consider the iFi Hip-DAC as an affordable solution for on-the-go listening. That’s what I did. Bought it from this very site… headphones.com.
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I can second @InvisibleInk ’s suggestion: the Hip DAC is a neat little device and has no problem powering even my 250Ohm DT880 for a couple of hours.
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Hi, guys! It’s me again, this time I was doing a bit more research into what should I pick, and I’ve assembled a list of what I think are great headphones that fit the criteria of what I’m looking for:
- BEYERDYNAMIC DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm
- BEYERDYNAMIC DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm (will need an AMP probably)
- BEYERDYNAMIC Custom One Pro
- Sennheiser HD 280
- Sennheiser HD 569
- AKG K-361
- AKG K-371
- AKG K72
- Shure SRH440
- Shure SRH840
- Meze 99
- Sony MDR-7506
- Cooler Master MH 751
- Kingston HyperX Cloud Alpha S
- BEYERDYNAMIC MMX 300
I have to read up a bit more on the details and nuances of each of these headphones, but before I do that, I would like to hear your opinion on which headphones from this list should be ignored (whether if it’s because of a design flaw, inferior to the other headphones within this list, bad rep brand, etc.)?
Most of these headphones are similarly priced, so I’m looking for whatever reason I can to filter down this list and get myself only the one that’s best.
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- BEYERDYNAMIC DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm - I own this but I never use it. Might do the job. Sounds WAY better than the 250 ohm.
- BEYERDYNAMIC DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm (will need an AMP probably) I bought this two times and sold it each. Very bad headphone to my ears. Bass was overbearing and hurt my ears trying to listen to the music through all of the crud.
- Sennheiser HD 280 - I own this. It is an updated version made now that is very different than the original. It can be tubed. (credit to Zeos for discovering this)
- Cooler Master MH 751 - I own this and would recommend this to someone looking for cheap closed. I have put thousands of hours on mine. Cheap, comfortable, and sounds pleasing.
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I’ve heard about half of headphones on your list and the only one that I still have is the MDR-7506, its been around for a very long time like a few of the others on your list but its great for what I use them for, traveling, since they fold up to a compact size, have decent isolation (pads changed to Shure velour) and are built quite well to stand up to studio work. The only down side is the non-detachable cable (I’ve modded mine to be detachable) and since they aren’t really pricy I’m not overly worried about losing them. These are not great sounding but at low listening levels the bass and treble are slightly boosted so its pretty good IMO, like the old “loudness switch” found on older gear. The only other headphone that I’d take traveling if I need more compact is VModa XS but its a bit higher priced
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Did you copy/pasta that list from r/headphones? Just curious.
Instead of going through that list and nitpicking every headphone, why don’t we start with what your preferences are and we can make suggestions from there? What equipment do you have already? Do you want open back or closed back? Budget?
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Greetings all,
Just doing some due diligence here to make sure I am not missing out on any common knowledge from hive mind; I listen to a lot of classical music through Qobuz, AmazonHD, and CD. I typically use a Hugo2 either alone or through a DarkVoice tube amp. Question, for up to 1,000 USD, any thoughts on headphones that provide a concert hall like sound stage? Without the benefits of any DSP, of course.
Thanks for any thoughts!
Perhaps too far under your budget, but have you listened to Beyerdynamic DT880 with your Darkvoice? It is my favorite headphone to pair with the DarkVoice 336SE. It sounds great with classical music.
To alter the sound stage, you could try some different tubes until you achieve the reverberations that you are looking for.
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If you don’t mind purchasing used headphones, the HD 800 / HD 800S would be strong contenders for the best headphone for concert hall-like soundstage.
Edit: if you’re not in a rush, and if you can stretch to $1,100, there will be the Drop HD 8XX in 7 months’ time. Beware, though: there are very few reviews or impressions of it out there.
Edit 2: note that the HD 800 (S) requires careful amp matching. The HD 800 may be too bright for you - it has a sharp treble peak.
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My idea of concert hall headphones ranges from Hifiman Arya to Sennheiser HD800s but they are out of price range.
Hifiman Ananada would fall in that category and are in the given price range.
Well under the given price range you have Hifiman Sundara and Sennheiser HD560s.
I have a pair of bluetooth headphones that are out of production, Parrot Zik, that had a dedicated app for tuning them according various sized concert situations.
I generally don’t like this kind of headphone but that function was incredible for things like “Digital Concert Hall” live streams.
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The Sundara are my favorite. But, since the OP is using DarkVoice 336SE to power his headphones, the Sundara will not sound good as it sounds lifeless with the DarkVoice 336SE.
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I should add that headphones, by their very nature, are not ideal transducers when it comes to reproducing soundstage. Their sound will almost always feel closed-in compared to speakers. I mention this so you avoid having overly high expectations.
Reproducing the concert hall experience - I assume you mean for orchestras - is particularly difficult because it requires having a large, open soundstage, with plenty of width, but also lots of depth and height. Those are qualities that are also brought out by better amplification. I’ve not heard a DarkVoice amp so I can’t comment about its abilities. But, again, I don’t want you to get your hopes up too much about how great the experience can be.
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And it should also be added that not every recording represents the venue well. You could have the greatest staging headphone setup out there but the album may not portray the acoustics of the hall very well at all or you feel like you are in the last row squinting to see the musicians. Lots of variables in play.
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Absolutely. I also find that the recordings vary sometimes according to the kind of music. The recordings of operas, for instance, can place an emphasis on the singers on the stage, leaving the orchestra in a subordinate, smaller space, one with poorer positional cues.
This tradeoff can be acceptable, depending on the piece of music. But Wagner’s operas, with their longer instrumental passages - especially the prologues - tend to complicate matters.
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Recorded music is about recording the instruments in a specific environment. Microphone (mic) placement is absolutely critical. There is an art and science of placing mics for rock drums and amps (e.g., close, one inch up, one inch to the side). They then add room mics for echoes and atmosphere (e.g., Led Zeppelin recording in a tall stone building; David Bowie’s Heroes had three mics at different distances).
The famous audiophile album Jazz at the Pawnshop is famous largely because of the mics – especially that one placed next to the bell/chime.
Live theaters often have challenging acoustics, and the sound is fixed by the placement of mics during recording. They often have echoes, hot spots, dead spots, etc. Any reproduction system can (at best) reproduce the original sound.
The Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session is famous for recording everyone live at the same time. They spaced out the musicians across the stage area of a church so the volume levels matched when they hit the mics.
[And these are some reasons why I gravitate toward neutral headphones and ignore staging.]
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