What did you replace your sundaras for? I’m guessing a headphone that is a direct upgrade from them
I didn’t directly have the sundara, like I have said, I have spend a fair amount of time with it and enjoyed but didn’t buy it because I still have he560 v1 that I’m attached to, but it’s not something I would recommend in modern day tbh.
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M0N Do you change your headphones depending on what your listening to? Also do you change your DAC and amp depending on the headphone you are using? Also what headphone and DAC and amp do you use the most?
Yes, also depends on my mood as well
Yes, synergy is important to a good setup, on my profile there is a link to a diagram of my current dac and amp setup, I have it set up so I can easily switch to the dac and amp of my choice without unplugging stuff
To be entirely truthful, the koss ksc75 off my phone, because technically I use them most because I wear them when I get out of the shower each day, so by definition they get the most use time, otherwise it’s actually somewhat fairly split
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The koss ksc75 you use the most is also the cheapest thing listed in your profile. Can I ask why? Is it that they are the easiest/cheapest to replace or is there more?
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As I mentioned above, after I shower I wear them for about almost an hr every day, as I don’t want to get headphones wet nor do I want to mess up my hair, and I don’t want to put iems in my ears when they are wet, and the ksc75 do neither so it doesn’t mess with my hair. So if I actually calculate everything out they end up being the most used. I don’t think they are anywhere near close the top performers in terms of sound, but they might be one of my favorite bang for buck headphones. It’s more just a convenience thing here, so take that as a cop out lol
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My E30 hasn’t come in yet, but I have listened to the Sundara on the Liquid Spark using both a Modi3 and SMSL SU-8v2. I think it is a really solid pairing for metal/rock music. Sundaras have been a blast to listen to on a variety of genres and applications. I’ve also listened to the Sundara on a Magni 3 Heresy, and it was similarly enjoyable, but I think I prefer the Spark’s sound signature more with the Sundara than the Heresy.
Been doing some A/B comparisons between the Heresy and Liquid Spark (using Modi3 as DAC) this afternoon. The highs are a bit elevated on the Heresy when compared to the Spark. The mids on the Spark are more forward, but this may just be a product of the slightly recessed highs vs. the Heresy. Mid-bass on the spark was also more forward, and I think this is what I like about the Spark most with guitar driven music. Bass was cleaner and bit punchier on the Heresy as well, but I don’t know if I would have noticed without doing direct A/B testing. Amount of bass was about the same between the 2 amps. Image below shows volume knob position where I started getting discomfort due to volume on high-gain settings for each amp. (Excuse the RGB in the picture…my wife likes that stuff, and the Schiit stack is hers).
I know you are leaning away from a desktop stack in favor of something you can mount under your desk, but you could probably mount the dac/amp next to eachother or mount the dac behind the amp. Another note is that the Spark does run warm. I don’t think it is warm enough to be a concern, but something to consider if you plan to mount it under a desk.
A note on the Sundara stock cable: it is a bit shorter than I like (about 5ft from cup connectors to 3.5mm), and has a 90degree connector, which I personally don’t prefer. It also seems to have a bit of a shape memory, and can be a bit springy/stiff. I would recommend upgrading the cable at some point in the future.
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Got it. 
When I read the message I interrupted it as you wear them after shower onward through out the day. Not just with wet head.
I totally get that. Lately with all the lock downs I have reverted to speakers most of the time. My other stuff is just sitting. Some of it is even just starting to get a bit of dust.
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Ah I make a schedule of what I want to listen to at times lol, not always though, I then set my setup to automatically warm up the specific dac and amp I want to listen to with the headphones I set. It does really depend though, but typically if I find myself not wanting to listen to something or not being exited about listening to it I will sell it off (will happen with the sendy when I get time lol)
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They say variety is the spice of life. You have more variety than a spice shop… In all honestly, I am kind of jealous just because of the curiosity about the hobby. 
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How much am I actually loosing out on by just using the K5 vs getting the D30 and magni 3+? Because it seems like everybody is trying to talk me out of getting the K5 and instead getting the D30 and 3+ Also the heresy is tuned differently than the 3+. The heresy is kinda annoyingly percise. I am saying this because my friend has a heresy and we both agreed on that.
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That will be similar to an atom, so don’t grab an atom then lol. Also the 3+ and heresy do sound different, the 3+ is more similar to the asgard 3 in terms of signature, warmer balanced. Compared to the k5 pro, the k5 pro will lean a bit closer towards the heresy or atom than the liquid spark and 3+
I’m relatively new to the headphone game, and I haven’t listened to a K5. As such, I can’t speak to how much you’d lose. Not trying to push you onto or off of anything, as I don’t feel comfortable doing that.
Just giving you some points to compare the Spark to the Heresy when driving the Sundara. As well as some general tidbits about my experience with the Sundara. I was bored this afternoon and I happen to have the Sundara, Spark and Heresy in my house, so your thread gave me some direction in my afternoon listening. 
I have heard the same about the 3+ vs. Heresy. I haven’t heard the 3+, but I agree generally that the Spark is more “fun” and the Heresy more “precise” relatively speaking.
Given that the tagline for this entire forum is “Listen to M0N, he’s never steered me wrong” I wouldn’t hesitate to trust his advice/analysis on the K5 vs. a dedicated DAC and amp. He’s the one who turned me onto the Liquid Spark when I was starting out my headphone journey. It is a great little unit, and I’m really glad it is a member of my collection. I think as long as you get something that will adequately turn on the Sundaras, you’ll enjoy them. I’ve used them for a lot of listening across different genres of music. And even enjoyed them for immersive gaming/movie style applications.
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I can get a XX from hifiman directly on Amazon used for $440. Thoughts? I will also buy the K5 Pro because of my low desk space and hope I didn’t make a huge mistake. I am kinda also scared to buy a used XX directly from hifiman because I feel like it if most likely a defective returned unit.
As long as you have free returns it isn’t a bad idea, hopefully you get a good condition one
Yeah, my worry from buying used from hifiman if that they might just be selling used defective one and hope people don’t notice
it comes with standard return and warranty. should not be an issue I would think
Yeah that’s what I was thinking
I doubt a company would risk it’s reputation just to sell a few extra units
EDIT: In fact, hifiman already has a bad reputation for quality control. I would think they have spent some time and money trying to remedy that, and selling bad units as open box would undermine that completely. But I do not know enough about the company to say if that is the case