That’s great! Looks really good man. Sorry for the burn. 
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Given the recent conversation around Roon and Roon ROCK, I just wanted to chime in that I relatively recently built a fanless NUC and set it up as a Roon core running ROCK. I’d be happy to advise others on how to do that, or would even consider building some for a small fee (on top of parts). Here is mine:
It sounds awesome running Tidal, Qobuz, and local files, and I control it with my work PC or iPad, depending on what I’m doing.
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Man hifi headphones is an expensice hobby. Currently Im saving up for the Hifiman Susvara… Was reading couple of blogs on Best Planar Magnetic Headphones
Currently Im trying to save enough to buy these. Do you think the Hifiman Susvara is better than the Audeze 4s ? im confused betweeen the two.
Also i guess I would need a good external amp as well to juice these energy hungry headphones.
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First, please tell us about your tone preference. Neutral? Bright? Warm? Do you find heavy headphones to be uncomfortable (some brands are very heavy)? Are headphones with a strong clamping force (e.g., Sennheiser) comfortable? What kind of music do you prefer? Do you have experience with tube amps? Do you like the sound of tubes?
As a general rule, A/V receivers are so-so music amplifiers and sometimes have poor quality headphone output. Headphone amplifiers are designed specifically for headphones, and they too vary based on tone preferences and the type of headphone.
My strategy would be to split the budget between a set of headphones, a dedicated amp, and a new DAC. For less than $2K, the Focal Clear ($1,500 retail/street less) is probably the most widely recommended product on this website. It works well with most hardware and should sound fine with an A/V receiver. However, you may still realize genuine improvements with a $100-$500 amplifier and $100-$200 DAC too.
First couple of items are very inexpensive. YAXI pads for your Porta-Pros and the Tape Mod for your Grados. The Grado Tape mod consists of a gentle wrap along the perimeter of your L-cushion pads. I used plastic electrical tape, but others have tried different kinds. In all cases, it creates a slightly denser edge and for some reason this smooths out the frequency response in the higher end. Looks like hell. I didn’t really believe it until I tried it. This was from Tyll at Innerfidelity, (RIP). Sounds good. I do this prestige series. I don’t do on my RS1e.
Denon makes some nice receivers, although I don’t know your model specifically. Most receivers have a mediocre headphone output. According to the specs I looked up, you also have an “audio line out” which you might consider pairing with a headphone amplifier; you’d probably get better sound, even in the under $150 range.
The limitation is that you don’t seem to have any digital out (just digital in). This limits you to whatever electronics (DAC) that came in your receiver.
I hope this helps. Others will jump in to help you spend much more money. 
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Just above is @generic’s question to @Cyan69. You might respond to the same questions.
There’s a thread you can find if you search for 95% solutions. That’s worth reading because it discusses how you can spend less to get ALMOST what you want. If you think hi-fi headphones are an expensive hobby, you should avoid auto-restoration, horse-breeding, and conversations with the opposite sex.
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You got that right, you never get your money out of it unless its a choice wanted model that someone just has to have.
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Per a quick check (not experience) these seem to have neutral to bright tone profiles. The CMA-400i uses the very common AKM4490 DAC chip, while the Klipsch uses an ESS 9018 chip. The ODAC is an older design (circa 2012) with a 2015 revision – ESS 9023 chip.
The Denon AVR-687 receiver appears to have been released in 2007, and the documentation focuses on its home theater functions. I didn’t find any details on the headphone technology. The odds are that it would be more mid-range focused versus the headphone systems you heard (i.e., less bass and less treble content or clarity). Many people do indeed find technically accurate amplifiers to be unpleasantly analytical, clinical, or harsh – this often pushes them toward tube amps.
Were they all fed by the same quality source music? If any of the tests were based on compressed sources (e.g., MP3, Apple, etc.) they’d generally sound worse.
This partly follows from personal hearing, partly from experience, and partly from hobby interest. Many (myself included) started off with similar low cost equipment and then upgraded to $2K or $20K headphone systems. Again, if you use basic sources or have a limited amp or DAC then you may not hear the differences. Learning follows from exposure, trial, and error.
My hunch is that you’d prefer a warmer, softer, smoother tube amp too. The amp threads have recently covered both tube and tube hybrid amps.
Specific setups will be warm, neutral, or bright. Some will be “V” shaped to emphasize treble and bass while others will be flat or mid-centric (e.g., likely your AV receiver). Tube amps will generally be smoother, warmer, and easier on the ears (excluding many of the $50 tube amps on Amazon or Ebay).
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Hey Guys, hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy and safe.
As I fall deeper into the rabbit hole. I am doing about two hours a day on research for the best decision for my upcoming purchases. I am fairly torn and really leaning towards a separate dac and amp instead of a combo.
So back to the rabbit hole. I see that some people have suggested USB regen for the audiophile. Not that is was targeted for headphone users. I see that it seems like a speaker accessory between a dac and its source. My source will primarily be a PC and as of now 99% headphone use.
So it got me wondering is there any use for this or am I just over thinking this financially crippling first timer set up?
I will be going with the Sundara’s as my first headset just in case you were wondering, which is pretty much set in stone. As I really am primarily seeking magnetic planar headsets from my first Audeze experience.
Some may wonder if my middle name is overkill by the questions I post.
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Would a Schiit Audio Eitr work for you? It’s $89 on b-stock sale right now, which is a great deal. And it’ll stack perfectly with the b-stock Magni 3+ amp, for another $89, as well as the Modi DAC.
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There are two types of categories you can lump headphone equipment into. Primary equipment, and everything else.
The primary equipment directly dictates the sound the chain produces. This is (in order of importance) the headphones, amplifier, DAC & source files. These items are responsible for 70% of the quality of the sound you hear when listening to your music.
The remaining 10% is anything else you add to the system. Interconnects, headphone cables, usb regens, exotic master clocks, etc.
Don’t put the carriage before the horse. Get the dac, amp, and headphones figured out first. Then tweak the system with the other stuff.
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What’s the other 20%?
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Experience, preference, bias, placebo, and mental burn-in.
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Okay, I wasn’t sure if you meant 90% or didn’t write the personal part. I agree with 70%, 20%, 10% on average. However, the 20% ‘bias’ part seems exaggerate the value of the 10% add-ons. For some people personal preference and style = 70% too.
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I’ve never had a headphone cable impact the sound as much as bias or mental burn-in can.
For example, I’ve had such negative experiences with some specific manufacturers’ products over the years that I doubt I would enjoy, let alone purchase, anything they made. That’s a very big impact. Bias. It’s pretty powerful stuff.
Further, mental burn-in currently has me disliking the Auteur over the HD650 because I’ve been listening almost exclusively to the T4/650 combo for the last few days, and my brain has adjusted to the sound. (The two also synergize extremely well.) I put the Auteur on, and I hear a recess in the mids and it just doesn’t jive. I know the Auteur sound great, and in so many ways they are better than the hd650. Why then would I like an inferior product? Again, powerful stuff.
So, yes, I personally would weight bias, preference, mental burn-in and placebo as being twice as impactful as the other stuff. Just my 2¢ though. Ymmv.
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I’ve had my LCD2-C for 9 months now and can’t decide if I like them or not. I’m leaning towards not - and each time I try them, I can’t help but be aware of their shortcomings. The shortcomings are like a nagging thought I can’t get out of my mind. I suppose this means I should just pull the ripcord and sell them. But I hold off, hoping that in spite of my bias, I’ll have mental burn-in eventually.
In other words, yes, it’s hard, if not impossible to escape bias and not have it be important to the listening experience.
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Amen. I had the LCD-2C (Classic not closed) and never warmed to them. Jaw pain, penetrating treble, weird hollow middle range.
It’s not you, it’s not your burn-in.
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Thank you, that’s good to hear (and, yes, I meant Classic, not closed as well). The funny thing is I got them b-stock so I wouldn’t take too much of a hit if I didn’t like them and decided to sell them. But that hasn’t made it easy to just say no.
Now I need to find a headphone that does what the Audeze are supposed to do, namely be great for rock and electronic music, have good bass extension, excellent texture (for instance, crunch and growl with 90s alternative rock electric guitars), a nice dark sound signature, and not be fatiguing or have that weird hollow mid-range you mention, or the general haze to the sound, or the weird treble spikes (depending on the music), and the overall lack of resolution.
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I’m looking to get some noise canceling headphones under $200. If they’re wired noise canceling, is the ANC feature better than if they were wireless? Do you have a suggestion of a pair under $200 that does the best job at noise canceling?
I have a Sony - WH-XB900N, which I’ve used on flights (remember the days when we would fly to places?) so the ANC is excellent. My wife has the next model down and that also has excellent ANC. The 900N is wireless, but you can also use it with a cable, and the ANC was the same as far as I can remember.
You might also be able to snag a Sony - WH-1000XM3 at a good price, now that the replacement Sony - WH-1000XM4 has come out. I might do that, and give the 900N to my wife.