That PortaPro on the Formula is surprisingly nice, right? I didn’t actually care for the PP much until I tried it on a couple higher tier amps lately
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Personally I think grabbing a koss along with a few other different headphones (I wouldn’t suggest grabbing multiple koss though) is still worthwhile, it’s cheap enough to where you can throw it in an order, and they punch above their price, so I think at least one koss is worth a try, along with other headphones of a higher caliber
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I’ve been walking this path for the last year - covid-19 lockdown turned me back onto my love of audio. I’ve really learned a lot about music, and what to look for when listening to music, with just my HD6XX and Sundara (and kph30i). I’ve got a good sense of what I like and what sounds good with my music. And when the funds refresh I know where I want to spend $$$. Get a few and have fun.
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It is pretty great considering how cheap the Porta Pro is. The k75 sounds great too. They FOR SURE scale well. The kph30i has always been kinda meh. I really only keep it around for the mic.
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Not responding directly to anybody as there’s too many posts to catch up on!
Been doing a bit more research and I’ve narrowed down what options I am considering. Basically, it comes down to Sennheiser vs. Sundara. As prices are a bit out of whack down here in comparison to the US, the conventional thinking on the internet around value isn’t all that relevant to my circumstance. What would be the best option for me? All prices include shipping and taxes.
Sennheiser HD560S - $175 USD
Sennheiser HD6XX - $280 USD (imported)
Sennheiser HD660S - $385 USD
HIFIMAN Sundara - $430 USD
If I end up going with the HD6XX I’d throw in at least one Koss model onto the order too 
And this is the amp/dac combo I’m thinking of. Thoughts?
Amp - Schiit Asgard 3
DAC - Schiit Modius - $505 USD for both ($199 USD ea + shipping)
Again, cheers for the help!
You amp/dac combo is mine, so you know my vote.
Considering that’s the DAC/AMP you’re going to do and the budget - I’d go to the Sundara.
I think it is ultimately a better all-arounder for desk-only circumstances. Faster, better detail, potential for better LF performance. Very positively responsive to equalization, the little bit that it can actually use. It might not have the intimate perfect female vocal timbre trick at the level of the Sennheiser 600-series. But it comes with less limitations than the Senns, wherein some users will find the narrow soundstage a touch claustrophobic. Debate about the “veil”, the “three blob imaging”. There’s truth in all those things. That said, if you go with the Sennheisers, it is still a good choice. Picking nits here. Of these, the 6xx makes sense from a value perspective, and that you can add some Koss on there.
Great all-arounder choices which should do well for many things as you learn what you like.
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Haha no way! I mustn’t be too far off base then 
what was your reasoning behind getting them? From what I’ve read, the Asgard is a more ‘musical’ amp as opposed to the Magnius. And the Modius seems to be the best DAC for the money. Am I far off?
Yeah I’m pretty high on these too. If I were to pick up a pair of Sennheiser’s also, with the prices as I’ve laid out, do you have an opinion on which you would choose? They all seem like good picks but dunno I’m finding it hard to decide with the prices all about $100 apart from each other.
I think a sundara would be a nice choice from those. Really good on solid state amps. And a generally very nice headphone. I have very little problems with it and there’s alot I like about it!
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Sorry, didn’t read this properly.
What do you mean by this?
Think it’s because it’s fairly cheaper. 6xx that is. Also some people still believe it to be very good for the price, but others believe you don’t get it’s true abilities until you buy a fairly decent tube amp. While the sundara makes sense with solid state but is also more expensive than the senheisers
Altho since u r importing the senheisers probably aren’t as good value in comparison anyways
Sundara or HD6XX. Asgard 3 and Modius are good…except I would get the Modi MB instead of the Modius.
I’ve heard that modius is a weird price range. Worth skipping. Go modi or bifrost but not in between
I’m a little bit of a Schiit fan-boy to begin with.
The Magnius really requires you to be running items as balanced to maximize what it does. It’s Schiit’s attempt at making a “numbers amp”, which if they could they’d admit they do not prefer. I tend to like a lot of neutral bright cans, and wanted something that would be robust as a single-ended unit. Having amps that are a bit more wider, almost more “analog” is attractive in terms of synergy with what I run.
Choosing Modius came down to matching size/form factor as much as anything here. I was a bit skeptical initially, as I knew I wouldn’t be running balanced now (but does offer the flexibility down the road) but had heard enough positive comments from neutral parties here that I was in. I am not paying for a BF2 (yet). In this price range, A3/Modius seemed the logical choice for me for the workhorse solid-state solution I needed. The capacity to add the internal phono card to A3 is interesting to me, I’d love to hear from more people who have used it. (Though I am opposed to utilizing internal DAC card with it) Also, Magnius has limitations as a preamp device - depending on your implementation. That it never mutes its preouts when headphones are plugged in is a detriment.
I’ve not used a Modi MB, but have seen some negative feedback on that. Suggestions that it may be dated. It also did not pick-up Unison USB like the Modi 3+ did.
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I meant regarding fast broadstrokes comp of the Sundara vs the Senn 6__ series.
I find the Sundara to offer better detail retrieval, a “quicker” livelier sound with better instrument separation. The bass performance of the Sundara has better extension out of the box, and flatter. I think responds to EQ particularly well if you want.
I say all this while obviously regarding the Senns very well, but I’ve gone down this same path before, observed the experience of others, and would bet on Sundara as overall more satisfying. (Long term, own them all! 
)
What does LF performance mean in particular?
Ha I can see that happening too! I’ll probably pick up the Sundara’s first and the Sennheiser’s afterwards, whichever ones I go with. Still unsure with the prices being so close between the 6XX and the 660S. After that who knows!
“Low Frequency”
I see the Sennheiser 6__ cans as leading someone eventually to the world of OTL tube, where I might rather have the 300 ohm impedance vs 150 ohm. And save a hundred dollars.
I have a pair of 58x (150ohm) and they’re convenient to be able to use lighter amps. I’ll use them portably where a lot of things I wouldn’t try. The 600 have been my favorite of the lot. Small differences between them.
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What your considering is very similar to my setup. I’m using a Topping E30 with an A3 for most of my listening. Really the A3 is the king here. The DAC plays it’s role, but in this price range not much magic to the DAC.
Headphone wise I have both the Sundara and the HD660s. The HD660s is a very very good headphone, but it doesn’t jump out and surprise me very often. It’s a great day in day out listener. It is smooth and blends into the background when you are distracted. And when you focus it does bring great detail to you. It’s not boring at all. Just very predictable, which is good and bad. The Sundara I find still surprise me. They’ll pull out a detail, or make a song sound big and exciting that I didn’t expect.
Both are great. You’ll be glad you have either one. And then you’ll buy the other one when your funds refresh 
Just have fun
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Koss is Audiophile. listen to some KPH30i’s on a tube.
KSC75’s with Yaxi pads has incredible imaging probably as good until you hit the focal elex range.
Audiophile doesn’t mean spend more money it means find a synergy that gives that lush, rich and detailed sound.
Audiophile doesnt last word in sound. What about an X00 complete audiophile closed back and its not remotely accurate in anyway. Incredible bass extension, super intimate soundstage and mids and downsloped treble. And its never going to be the last word in audio ever. But it’s audiophile.
Same with a 6XX on tubes. Won’t ever be the last word in audio but its the most mid blowing audiophile experience.
There are some interesting models in this price range, including some that have not been discussed here at all, but which can definitely be described as audiophiles and which consistently perform above their prices.
Starting with the already mentioned Koss KSC75, which is slightly pimped and offers by far the best price-performance ratio.
Paired with my FiiO BTR5, I achieve the best sound result for me personally.
Then I personally recommend the Sennheiser HD 560S, which in my opinion is a real burner in conjunction with ifi Audio Dac / Amp combinations (in this case the Zen Dac is shown)
In order to stay within the price limit, the GRADO Hemp gets the highest praise from me, contrary to the general skepticism about GRADO headphones, it is a real recommendation.
You can also pair that well with the Zen Can.
If you want to invest a little more money, there are a lot more recommendable things that are not on the screen of most, for example a Dan Clark Audio RT, iBasso SR2,
Denon 5200 and others, which are consistently recommendable and some of them also do not place any great demands on the Dac / amp performance.
All of my recommendations are based on the fact that you initially invested less budget for your amplification. Since Schiit Audio is difficult to get in Europe and I assume that this is also the case in New Zealand, I recommend you to look around at ifi Audio, Topping, S.M.S.L or similar.
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I recommend the Hifiman Ananda even one step higher, it is also relatively easy to drive and a bang for the buck.
But I don’t want to fixate on you too much, otherwise you will end up like this:
God forbid 
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