starting rig for hd600

[darthsilverice]

Hello everybody,

I have to admit, I have asked this question in some way over at the other place. Good thing I was able to find this forum in time before falling into the hype of the Compass. I hope I am still welcomed here..

So here it goes, I started off as an IEM kinda guy. I enjoyed the sound quality it is able to deliver straight out of an Ipod and its ability to filter out people's conversations on bus rides.

However, I became really curious about circum-aural headphones this past summer and bought a used Sennheiser HD555 to try out. I love the soundstage and felt that it was a big step up from my old iems (Shure SCL3 at that time). I was just going to leave it at that until I inherited a pair of HD600 from my dad.

The HD600 sounded good to my ears straight out of the PC. After reading audio forums, I realized the sound is no where near the true potential of the HD600 and here I am looking for an amp and a DAC.

The more I read about amps and DACs, the more confused I get. There seems to be an overwhelming amount of options. I honestly don't know which ones are actually worth the money and which ones are just hyped-up by their respective owners.

Anyways, I will get down to business.

Here are some options that I am currently looking at. However, I am very open-minded and will consider any other suggestions.

1. Presonus Central Station. Seems to get positive reviews about its DAC. I kind of wanted this because it seems to be a nice combination for a starter like me.

2. Pico DAC/amp . I don't think this can power my HD600 properly but it is portable and I heard the DAC is very good.

3. Gilmore lite. Positive reviews about the amplifier but I need a DAC to pair with this.

Budget? I would just say reasonable for a starter. I don't want to set a number and limit your opinions.

Also, I will definitely eventually get into DIY amplifiers and DACs. Because I am on a co-op job right now, I cannot access electrical labs in my university, so I probably wont get a chance to work on DIY stuff until sometime in 2010.

Thank you for your time. I am looking forward to your replys!

[aardvark baguette]

Pico dac + millet starving student

or

Pico amp/dac

or

barrel roll

[darthsilverice]

^ Thanks for your suggestion. I will look at millet starving student(haha love the name).

And what is exactly is barrel roll?

[aardvark baguette]

[manaox2]

^ Thanks for your suggestion. I will look at millet starving student(haha love the name).

And what is exactly is barrel roll?

Press C or R twice.

[darthsilverice]

^ I still don't get the barrel roll thing.

Some kind of insider's joke?

[penger]

Clearly a SP Extreme is the way to go then.

[Asr]

[darthsilverice]

Clearly a SP Extreme is the way to go then.

I think it might be tough to find one of those for sale. I'll keep my eyes peeled though. Thanks!

[mypasswordis]

Uh, did we just do what I think we did?

Go go Singlepower Rangers!

[Torpedo]

Darthsilverice, read your welcome message again and disregard almost any advice you get, specially if it involves anything from Single Power.

[darthsilverice]

"We are sometimes quite rude, often irreverant, and regularly abusive. Think of it like the corner bar where everyone knows each other."

Must be the part I missed...

Some honest help please?

[grawk]

ok, honest help: google is your friend.

[darthsilverice]

To be honest, I did do many google searches. Most of the time, it brings me to head-fi threads where people recommend one of the FOTM equipments without any justification. Also, I don't know about the credibility of other sites.

I do hope I can ask better questions, but I've never owned an amp before and there is no place here to try out EQs. I just want a good well respected starting rig and in the future I can use it as a reference.

[aardvark baguette]

To my knowledge, the pico route is about as good as you're going to get, as far as buying blind.

[atothex]

A quick HC search shows that this thread is simply a retread of this thread http://www.head-case.org/forums/headphone-amplification/5402-help-hd600-amping-pico.html

Try harder with the searches.

[grawk]

heh, try harder with linking

http://www.head-case.org/forums/headphone-amplification/5402-help-hd600-amping-pico.html

[atothex]

I'm a noob.

[penger]

I just want a good well respected starting rig and in the future I can use it as a reference.

To be honest, who cares if it's well respected as long as you like it?

I like the Gilmore Lite with my HD650's maybe pair it with the pico dac only or gamma 1 or 2?

[mypasswordis]

To be honest, who cares if it's well respected as long as you like it?

Well, you generally don't want amps going up in flames and setting your house on fire and/or zapping you with a couple hundred volts.

[Torpedo]

Well, you generally don't want amps going up in flames and setting your house on fire and/or zapping you with a couple hundred volts.

Huh, don't you like fireworks? It's lovely when your amp burns in flames the rest of the rig and the carpet while you try to reach the extinguisher. Then there's the smell... highend audio is full of joy and emotions.

[darthsilverice]

To be honest, who cares if it's well respected as long as you like it?

I like the Gilmore Lite with my HD650's maybe pair it with the pico dac only or gamma 1 or 2?

Thats for sure. What I was thinking was that because I am buying blind, a well respected amp/DAC would be my best option.

Hopefully I can pick up a used pico within a week.

Thanks everyone.

[jp11801]

Picos tend to hold their price really well, I'd suck it up and buy from the source. Justin pumps these out pretty quick, I got mine in just a few days after paying him.

[darthsilverice]

Sorry to bother you guys again...

After some more consideration(mostly penger's suggestion), how much better would the Gilmore lite + say Gamma lite or pico DAC sound compared to pico DAC/AMP? I realized that portability is probably not one of my main priority and can probably get a better sound through a desktop setup.

any suggestions on this?

Thank you all again in advance

[grawk]

for an HD600 I'd say good chance it's significantly better. The gilmore lite is a great amp.