Hi. I’m looking for a high-quality DAC/Amp combo for my Sennheiser HD650, I’m using it indoor, so I Don’t need any portable thing, I’m ready to pay less than 600$ on the combo.
I’ve also read about some choices like:
Emotiva BasX TA-100
iFi Micro iDAC2 DSD DAC&
DarkVoice 336SE Headphone Tube Amplifier (combined with Schiit Modi 3 D/A Converter - Delta-Sigma DAC)
but I’m confused about the best one to choose. any other Higher-end suggestions will be appreciated, thanks in advance.
Hmmm, would you be looking to go solid state or tube? The 650 really open up on a tube amp
Also what are you using currently for them?
well, that’s my question since I don’t know the difference, xD.
I’m using them for gaming/music/movies.
I mostly care about music, others aren’t as important as music, at least for me.
Gotcha gotcha. So to make it easy, a tube amp like the darkvoice will create a larger soundstage, boost the bass a bit but roll off some subbass, it will reduce impact and make everything sound a bit more smooth and thick if that makes sense. A solid state will be more neutral and accurate, but might sound a bit dry or lifeless in comparison, and would be more aggressive in comparison. People typically prefer the 650 on a tube because it kinda fills out the headphone, it gives them more stage and more weight to the sound, kinda makes them sound more complete overall. That being said, if you are looking for subbass, perhaps what we could do is use 300 of that budget on a dac amp setup and the other 300 on a headphone that would have the bass you are looking for
Tldr if you want fun, warm, thick and specious, go tube. If you want clean, neutral, accurate, revealing, go solid state (with the 650 that is, not all headphones respond well to OTL tube amps)
Sorry for my English if I got mistakes, since it’s not my main language, I can get that Tube Amps will have warmer sound since they boost the bass, And yeah I really really like bass. and also a wider soundstage, perfect for gaming & movies.
but to be clear I meant less than 600$ for the DAC & Amp only.
Ok understood. So personally I would pick up a darkvoice 336se and a dac like the recently released topping e30, should be a very nice combo. I personally don’t think you would want to spend over 400 usd on a dac amp setup unless you are really attached to the 650, I think the darkvoice and e30 would offer very good bang for your buck. If you wanted to actually mix it up, you could also grab a rca splitter and a magni heresy, so you could have the option of using solid state or tube, and also have a good solid state for other potential headphones
will the e30 perform better than Schiit Modi 3?
TBH im just looking to get the best, and thanks for your time, much appreciated.
Imo yes, the modi 3 is outdated at this point and has some issues like a peaky and unrefined sound and some dynamic range compression that make it unpleasant to listen to for me. Schiit is slowly starting to update and release new products, and I wouldn’t get a modi until they upgrade it, so personally I would recommend the topping e30 because it’s a good price for what it can offer and it’s going to be clean and accurate and offer better price to performance than the modi 3 would
is this it ?
That is correct
ordered it, thank you!
Nice, and going with the darkvoice as well I assume?
Also I may have forgotten to ask but what are you using to power your 650 at the moment?
Yup for sure, currently using Fiio E10K, so this purchase will be a huge upgrade.
Ah yeah it will, nice, hope you enjoy it 
Nm that last comment, I’m tired and dumb lol. You can also add a cheap chifi tube preamp to go with the darkvoice, they are like 40$USD. Will add a little more width and tubeyness
The poorman/cheapman way to higher end tube sound
I missed this thread but m0n as usual has guided you in what I think is the perfect direction… I love the 650 but it’s on a new level with the darkvoice… hope you enjoy it too