Hello everyone, so finally going back to audio after 3 years of stopping and saving. I was able to get a brand new he1000 v2 for a good price and now I am looking for a dac + amp setup or all in one for these headphones?
My choices at the moment are:
Hifiman Ef400
A90 + d30
Ex5
Thx 887
Budget is around 700-800 usd
If you have any other suggestions please let me know
Iirc he1000s are hard to drive and with that in mind An A90D will get you into the ball park for proper power. Outside of that Iād probably look at a speaker amp.
HE1000 v2 or se are both reasonably easy to drive. Keeping within your given budget the EF400 would be a decent choice. Iāve not heard it it myself but some folks I know and trust their ears were really impressed with it. They said the DAC implementation was really good and the amplifier also sounds good and plenty of power. Not enough for the hard to drive HE6SE v2 or Susvara but More than enough for either of the HE1000s.
IIRC one of our resident reviewers @WaveTheory did a review of that unit and an HE10000v2
Iād second this, other feedback was good - and I used multiple of those units auditioning HEKV2 and Arya on it. Liked it a good bit. If I was in need of both a dac and an amp for those headphones and budget matters, Iād definitely look at it. Limitations, this is USB-input only and no analog input ā those are key considerations. A Modius and Lyr+ or a Monolith Liquid Platinum at sale-price would be other good candidates for stacks towards the upper budget. Those will deliver lots of power (MLP would be a must to run balanced).
Should ask about sonic preferences, etc to fine-tune this reco.
Would suggest you add the FiiO K9 Pro (either version) to your list. Own that and very happy with it.
Howās your experience w the v2 and ef400? Was the synergy good?
How was your experience w the v2? I prefer a musical amp/dac.
Iāve heard that dude is somewhat sketch lol.
EF400 pushes HekV2 very well for a unit in its price range. It certainly doesnāt maximize it, but I canāt name anything near the price that will be as good or better.
Lovely. Beautiful cans. That said, it was in a limited environment. My wallet communicated with my mind that I would not need to pay more than the Arya to get what I wanted. Also - though the weights of those two models are extremely close ā something about the Arya felt lighter and comfier for me. SO, Iām not remotely as good a source as WaveTheory whose primary cans seem to be HEKV2, who extensively has reviewed them and their synergy with a number of source chains - and very specifically the EF400.
This guy sounds fishy indeedā¦.
Just watched your review on the hek and ef400. Keep up the good work 
My question is for a budget of 600-700 usd would that be enough for me to run the heks well since Iām on a budget and eventually might upgrade in the long run like the burson soloist or violectric. I know it wont maximize it as much but im no engineer or such but as long as its on a reasonable hearing level then maybe thatās okay?
I listen to music from Norah jones, daft punk, khruangbin and parcels to name a few
I was able to get the heks bnew for the price of a bnew arya (originally was going for that).
EF400 is a solid start amp for HekV2, yes.
Hey wavetheory, I was thinking on upgrading my ef400 to potentially a āend gameā worthy of an amp. I was thinking either the burson soloist or v281. What would you recommend between the two.
cheers!
(Disclaimer Edit! I typed up this whole massive thing before realizing the original poster had made this thread nearly 2 months ago and now already has bought a different DAC/AMP. - this is what I get for not reading the entire thread and typing up posts at 4 or 5 am right before going to sleep!)
Joshua_Amon1 Welcome to HiFi Guides! =) Glad to help with your question.
Consider this offering. Itās just a tad over your current budget, but itās about the best dac/amp that comes anywhere close. and itās really amazingly good.
This is endgame for the ā1k or lessā market.
The RME ADI-2 DAC FS
Donāt be scared of all the options, they are great to have, and not confusing once you have used them for a while.
You can buy it here for a good price. Itās cheaper through Thomann than you will find through any other reliable company. Almost everywhere in the USA will be charging you 1300 for this unit. Thomann only costs 942 shipped to the USA.
It has a switching power supply that will work in many different countries, but you will need to get a plug to operate if you are outside the EU.
I ordered one and I live in America so I had to buy a US power plug to go with it. You can buy that here at BHPhoto for 11 dollars (+$3.99 shipping)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/517363-REG/RME_NETZ_CB_NETZ_CB_Replacement_Power_Cable.html
A very important perk of this unit, RME has an actual office with actual people you can call if you have problems. And they have many offices around the world. And these are real offices with staff hired to work in each one, not just a fake message service that tells you to send them emails or re-directs you to some overseas support lineā¦
There is an RME office in Florida for example, which means no overseas costly shipping charges if you need service. RME makes professional audio equipment and they are a German company that makes their own products in Germany. No offense to those companies working from other countries, but German products have a very good reputation for durability, precision, and quality. Turns out - country culture does have an effect on the goods made in those countries, because culture effects the work ethic and attention to detail and quality made in those countries. And the German reputation for precision, durability, and quality is well earned & deserved.
I checked with UPS - the import fees are very tiny (under 10 dollars on this item from Germany) They ship via UPS and Thomann is a reliable company, they are one of the largest music companies to order from for the EU - thatās why the price is so much lower through them, they work directly with RME.
And it comes with a good warranty. 2 years from RME no questions asked, and they pay the shipping. Thomann extends that warranty to 3 years if you order from them although you would have to pay the shipping back to Thomann if you send it back to them, so use the manufacturer warranty first if you ever need to. You will have a hard time finding a better warranty at this price point. Most of the Chinese stuff for example only has a 1 year warranty - that short warranty tells you everything you need to know about ordering cheap/inexpensive Chinese manufactured goodsā¦ Of course they are not all this short when it comes to warranty, but below 1,000 dollars a lot of those products also come with short warrantiesā¦
The power supply can also be purchased there, but the one included with the unit should work fine with the proper plug attached.
(link to a replacement power supply)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1288513-REG/rme_nt_rme_2_2a_power_supply_for.html
I doubt you will find anything better for under 1,000 dollars.
Here is another review if the Zeos review doesnāt tell you everything you need to know. This is a newer review than zeosā review - 2021 compared to 2018.
And if you want to go higher than 1k someday? this will still work, because you can just get a dedicated AMP and keep using this as a DAC with all the same features.
One last thing, you can easily get a simple and inexpensive adapter to plug balanced headphones into an unbalanced DAC/AMP and it will still work fine. And it is safe to do so. Likely your headphones already came with those sorts of adapters. SO donāt be scared of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS just because the headphone outputs are unbalanced, it will still work great for your headphones. And if you want to go full balanced eventually, you can always add a dedicated balanced AMP to that unit later on.
Ah - it appears I was too late on my reply, I just noticed your first post was nearly 2 months ago. Iāll still leave in my suggestion, because it might be useful eventually later on. I wish you good luck with your setup! I hope you donāt go through the upgrade treadmill I went through. x_x
To be honest, Iād have a hard time suggesting an adi 2, especially as an all in one for something like a hekv2. Dac wise itās not impressive for itās price, I think you can get better performance for the money, and the internal amp is lackluster. It does have great features if you care about them, and the fit and finish is also great, but I think you end up paying a lot for that for something sonically mediocre for the money.
If you wanted to build a chain at or under 1k, Iād rather look into something like a schiit bf2 + Asgard 3, geshelli j2 + cayin iha6 or monolith liquid platinum, or perhaps an allo revolution dac with a Shanti lpa + lake people g111. All of which Iād find to be at a generally higher sonic level than using an adi 2 as an all in one.
In terms of other options as a pure dac, Iād personally say the adi is more on the level of something like the aforementioned geshelli j2 admittedly (a bit higher than that in technical performance, but falling behind other options at itās price point)
Really though for a hekv2, Iād want to be higher than any of the options mentioned anyways to maximize the performance of that headphone
I was thinking of a do-all combo unit, but he already has bought into the game, so itās changed now and heās on another path. I typed up that whole thing before realizing he had already bought a DAC/AMP, that purchase was not in his original post >.> I am guilty of not reading the entire thread before responding. (as I noted in my third post) - I should probably put that into an edit in the first of my posts to avoid further confusion.
I have not heard the Soloist so I canāt comment on that one. I know the V281 handles HekV2 well - if you can find one - if you like, warmer, wider, punchier sound. V281 is a bit DAC picky though and is best paired with a neutral, incisive, DAC that has very tight spatial control. Soekris and Chord usually match those well.
Is there a preferred/recommended 
% when it comes to source/chain and transducerā¦If I was about to buy or own a $3K set then Iād be looking/buying/planning similar+ for the chain.
Is that just me or 
As a general rule I think you should at least shoot for some reasonable level of balance between cost of chain and cost of headphone/speaker. If you get too out-of-balance you can get a false impression of what a really good piece is capable of. For example, the OG Focal Utopia received many meh reviews from folks who were using things like iFi iDSD portables to power it. Those iFi portables are fine products, but they donāt deliver power in the way that the Utopia needs it to sound like itās supposed to sound. And especially with amps, power delivery is often the biggest thing that changes with increasing price. More expensive amps, despite having similar specs to cheaper stuff on paper, deliver power more quickly and accurately, which more resolving headphones will reveal with, you guessed it, more resolution.
Clear as mud right? Lol. I donāt think there is one hard-and-fast rule here other than spend enough on each component that the system is reasonably balanced in performance ability between source gear and headphone/speaker.
Now, if youāre going extreme hi-end it gets a bit different. Headphone prices top out (currently) around $6000 for the Susvara. But, Susvara, Utopia, and some other TOTL models are also known to scale up really well, sounding better and better with more and more expensive source gear. At that point there is some benefit in spending $10k+ for each piece of source gear and still spending only (haha) $6k on a headphone.