Indeed. But what about the 500s, for which the reviewer says the gain was more than adequate?
(So far thinking about Atom. Used ones tend to cost ~$130-ish here. I’ve read it tends to help Sundara’s soundstage.)
Sorry, don’t own the 500s.
I get them confused at times as well…
I sure dont think so lol. After like $500 the returns are very minimal imo. To many very good choices
Absolutely
Yes but a hard maybe on ananda… not as much quality gain as the first two.
At sundaras level it’s more power hungry and synergy required ananda is the same… 400se is recommended as not only do you gain a ton per dollar value but it’s very low power requirements make it easy to fit into a starting setup
Lol
Youd avoid the rabbit hole, good luck lol
I’d say about 75% but I like pad swaps for 400se more since it’s also the cheaper can too
Agreed… but I’d say take your time from there…
Tygr and 400se can definitely compliment each other
Certain amps of the sort will yea, I prefer schiit or lake people due to that personally… monoprice isn’t too bad there either but that’s more warmth and depth rather than space
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Yeah the jump from Sundara to Ananda is euh… Minimal imo. Better stick with that Sundara a few more years and save up for that Arya 
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Looks like the 400SE would be awful to never experience, but at the same time avoiding it and going straight for the Sundara looks like a reasonable thing to do considering I would be upgrading to the $300 range anyway. This almost makes me regret buying the Tygrs, but never mind that, at worst it’s gonna be a small loss on resale or a 60-day return to Beyer or a gift for a family member.
So… having already invested in the Tygr makes me want to hold my horses with the Sundara because the likely outcome is a medium-to-big win for the Tygr on stage and imaging and small-to-medium loss on everything else (tonality, separation, speed, etc.) in such unequal contest between $130 and $299 headphones. It would also be awful to have to choose between slightly better stage/imaging/out-of-head experience vs better tonality, clarity, precision, speed and everything else.
And then, if don’t buy the Sundaras, then maybe it would make sense to get the 400SE for $129, for almost the exact price of the Tygrs and compare them from this perspective. That would be quite the learning experience. Quite enlightening, I’m sure. Again, pity I missed the $109 deal on the open box.
But if I buy Hifiman again, then it probably makes more sense to skip to Sundara anyway, so I’m back to the starting point and making circles.
And meanwhile eyeing up Atom.
While at it, I recall someone saying that the Sundara places characters directly to your left or right when they are like ten yards ahead of you and one yard to your side (and generally forces everything to the sides). Does this seem to be correct or more down to specific user experience/case/EQ/synergy/game?
N00b question but stage depth or deeper sound or deeper immersion?
well TYGR and Sundara have different sound signatures so might wanna keep both for different tasks? 
Well, I guess I could keep the Sundara on music duty and Tygr on game duty if it proved better than the Sundara.
What I’m ‘afraid’ of is having to make the sort of choice where you can’t have both top quality and top scene+imaging for gaming, but I’m pretty sure this will ease up as the time passes because the thirteen hundred bucks I paid for the Tygr is not the kind of sum you keep thinking about a couple of months after spending it. Compared to the hassle of selling it, I might even end up keeping it as a handy benchmark for game-testing of whatever I end up buying later.
In case I get really bored or curious, I wonder if there’s a way to make a 600 ohm mod of the Tygrs, e.g. by using a 990/600 as a donor. Moving whatever you can detach from a Tygr onto/into a 990/600 would probably be easier but probably not quite there. I hope Beyer enables 600 ohm Tygrs through the Manufaktur some day.
This thread must hold some kind of record for the longest average post length 
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Skip sundara. Edition XS is new king.
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I’m getting to the point where I might be inclined to agree…
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can’t personally comment on that one, haven’t sat with yet
depth sounds and drives a bit deeper. Immersion is a bit more subjective imo
Dump some thoughts on the XS thread. I’m dying for more input from people.
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I’m planning on it. Wanted to give them at least a week before writing something up.
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As an interlude, $110 for Xduoo TA-01B, also $110 for Cayin C5, $140 for Atom. Take or pass?
I love my Atom but $140 seems expensive, did JDS increase pricing?
(I am guessing you are talking about the JDS Labs Atom amp?)
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Pretty sure region prices change… usually like $100 iirc. Used atom are like $60-$70
Side note, dont put tygr on tubes… it’s not high ohms… doesnt work out really. Same for planar like 400se, hybrids work for planar otl tube amps not so much
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Yeah, JDS Labs Atom. Well, this is the EUSSR, so all the sales tax, customs and cross-continental shipping takes its toll.
I’ve just read that the SBZ is supposed to only go well with high-impedance (up to 600 ohms) low-efficiency headphones (Beyer DTs?) and below 200 ohms it may cause distortions. Also something about 125 miliwatts. Also 1.3Vrms at 33 ohms and 2 at 600, whatever that means. Front channel out is 2Vrms 192 Hz vs 96 Hz on headphones. Can’t find the corresponding stats for Titanium (in case they’re better, as I suspect some of them might be) because Titanium HD or Titanium Fatal1ty always pops up in all searches instead.
As far as new units go, Zens and Butterflies tend to be priced similarly, out of the most recognizable brands. There’s plenty of e10K and HA–101, but I don’t want to go there (frequency response), or stuff like FX-AUDIO X6 or FiiO K3 at the price of used Atom or G6 or AE-5. Topping L30 is like $160. Closer to $200 there’s FiiO Q3, Topping NX4, Hip and Zen. Used units? Just the three I mentioned above and a hip and that’s it. The rest are G5, G6 and stuff like Omni or X3.
Thank you. I guess tubes and cats don’t go well together anyway. 
If we’re getting to talk on amps really depends on the sound your after too… like theres going to be a difference with say an atom to a zen or spark as atom will be cleaner and more neutral while a zen is warmer and spark is warm/rolled and deeper. It’s not as severe early on less it’s like 600 ohm beyers which can change dramatically but something worth noting…
If your after tubes a 600 ohm beyer or sennheiser do well
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Oh, if it’s $140 to your door in Europe, then that is a decent price for a new Atom.
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For Sundara, it seems just getting enough power for them without going bankrupt would be enough of a challenge, as it seems that for them to reach the full potential with a large circle-shaped soundstage, out-of-yer-melon presentation and all tha jazz requires more power than the rest of the building combined. 2000 mW or something? For Tygr, a tough call, but what I’m after comes down to immersive experience. Sometimes being clear, crispy, snappy and fast seems to be the answer, and sometimes more warm, deep and so on, though I usually want my RPGs to be more energizing than relaxing. Maybe I’ll be in a better position to tell after I’ve listened to it from my potato.
Oh, and on a different note — Monolith/Monoprice sports M1070s for $250. Hot or not?