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163K views 1K replies 186 participants last post by  Joe Gunawan 
#1 ·
Well, I've been haunting the "What gaming headphones to buy?" thread. The only problem, many of the people there have gone to strictly from Gaming setup to more 2 channel and then Audiophile setups. So here I am. This is what I currently own, and what I have planned.... What are your setups?


Own:

Source:

Dell Studio XPS 435MT

iPod 5.5G running RockBox for FLAC support


Dac:

NuForce uDac


Amp:

Little Dot I+ (Stock - for now)

Astro MixAmp

Fiio E5



Headphones:

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohm (going under re-cable shortly)

Turtle Beach HPX (for Gaming, LOVE THEM)!

Grado SR-80i ( Modified )

Sennheiser HD428 (in the mail)

Sennheiser CX-250 (Maybe they'll go under the knife)


Headphones being acquired:

AKG K701 or K702 (of course, to be modded)


Future:

I will eventually migrate away from my computer as a listening station and get a stand along setup where I will get me a Crazy comfy chair, a very nice tube amp setup (and hopefully Electrostatics).
 
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#28 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18552760


It looks AMAZING! WOW! Now that is a setup! I want to get the WooAudio components also... but what you did with them is a cut above!


P.S. Thank you for opening my eyes to Emotiva! I like what they have, and like the prices too (though, headphone stuff first)...

P.S.S. Are you doing the Wood bits yourself?

There is a gentleman on the Emotiva forums that made the wood trim pieces on my Emotiva gear and the Woo amp. He does fabulous work. Thanks for the compliments.
 
#29 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoingOK /forum/post/18552918


There is a gentleman on the Emotiva forums that made the wood trim pieces on my Emotiva gear and the Woo amp. He does fabulous work. Thanks for the compliments.

I would wait and see how the heat from your Woo and tubes affect the wood and also the Heat displacement from the Woo is affected. You may want and try a EML 5U4G mesh in place of the Princess Rectifier.


ss
 
#30 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18550063


Maybe Denon D7000?



DIY the cables. They're easy. I build Gaming Cables for the 702, I can give you a wiring schematic. I've built a few, and the people I've built them for actually use it for listening to music too. They say it improves the bass and mids (I use Mogami W2534). Worth a try anyway. I'm gonna try with other types of wire... but I think I should probably acquire the 702s first...

The Denon D7000s are a much nicer headphone than the AKG 701/702. However the D7000s have a more vertical soundstage than the 701/702s.


When you re-cable your 701/702 i hope you re-cable with both right and left cords as apposed to a single cord. The 701/702 are a very bright headphone and can cause ear fatigue because of there harshness. Also if you want Bass the 701/702s are not for you.


Probably the best headphone on the market now is the Sennheiser HD800 however you may want to re-cable those also.


Keep in mind that just because you have a audiophile headphone like the D7000 or HD800 you still need a audiophile headphone amp and source like the Woo. And yes the new Woo 6 is a nice starter tube amp if you have the right combination of tubes.
 
#31 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by sillysally /forum/post/18561940


I would wait and see how the heat from your Woo and tubes affect the wood and also the Heat displacement from the Woo is affected. You may want and try a EML 5U4G mesh in place of the Princess Rectifier.


ss

doesn't the stock version have metal plates over those portions? I would assume those conduct some heat, but his setup looks amazing!

Quote:
Originally Posted by sillysally /forum/post/18562026


The Denon D7000s are a much nicer headphone than the AKG 701/702. However the D7000s have a more vertical soundstage than the 701/702s.


When you re-cable your 701/702 i hope you re-cable with both right and left cords as apposed to a single cord. The 701/702 are a very bright headphone and can cause ear fatigue because of there harshness. Also if you want Bass the 701/702s are not for you.


Probably the best headphone on the market now is the Sennheiser HD800 however you may want to re-cable those also.


Keep in mind that just because you have a audiophile headphone like the D7000 or HD800 you still need a audiophile headphone amp and source like the Woo. And yes the new Woo 6 is a nice starter tube amp if you have the right combination of tubes.

I would like to get the Woo as my next amp. I actually have a Denon AH-D2000 coming in for my starter Denon headphone. I plan on re-cabling those with either the D7000 cable or a different cable altogether. I also have plans on doing the Lawton mods to it. I just like the fact that I can do 1 step at a time to see what works best (first thing is the J$ pads and then re-cable). I'm not sure what I'd like to get for my dedicated setup (as my current one is at my computer desk). I do like what 'DoingOk' has going though. That is in-line with what I want (comfy chair, 2-3 different headphones for different styles of music).
 
#32 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18562763


doesn't the stock version have metal plates over those portions? I would assume those conduct some heat, but his setup looks amazing!

I am not saying the wood will defiantly harm the Amp, and yes those are metal plates and also thick. The reason for the thick metal that is used on the Woos is because of heat displacement, there are no fans on the Woo.


Just to give you a idea, my Woo's PSU is 40 pounds the amp is 35 pounds. And I can say I would never put that wood on my Woo, not only because of the huge PSU and Amp but because of the heat those tubes give off. Woo's are custom built one at a time, there is no PC board its all Point-to-Point wiring.

Quote:
I would like to get the Woo as my next amp. I actually have a Denon AH-D2000 coming in for my starter Denon headphone. I plan on re-cabling those with either the D7000 cable or a different cable altogether. I also have plans on doing the Lawton mods to it. I just like the fact that I can do 1 step at a time to see what works best (first thing is the J$ pads and then re-cable). I'm not sure what I'd like to get for my dedicated setup (as my current one is at my computer desk). I do like what 'DoingOk' has going though. That is in-line with what I want (comfy chair, 2-3 different headphones for different styles of music).

Yes that is what I have, a comfy chair in my man cave. I also have the Denon D7000, AKG701 (never use those), Sennheiser HD650 with a Cardas Cable, Grado 325i, and of course Sennheiser HD800 with a Cardas cable.

The Sennheiser HD800 is the only headphone that I use its that good.

If you like to recable the Sennheiser's are great for that. The cable plugs in both the left Ch and right Ch of the headphones. There are many differant cables to choose from that come with the plugs attached and with different sound signatures.


My source player is a Oppo BD-83NE and its hooked directly to my Woo amp via interconnect King Cobra cables (1M). So not only do I use my headphone amp for CD/SACD(DSD), DVD-A I use it for my BD movies. The Oppo BD-83SE/NE is a really a great player for most any music and does a fantastic job of downmixing the HD audio tracks from BD movies. With the BD-83SE/NE I don't need a external DAC.

I also have a Onkyo TX-SR705A/V and Onkyo SKS-HT240 7.1 speakers(added 1 SKB-240) but I never use the Onkyo HDMI sound system because my headphone rig just blows my speaker rig away, and that goes for movie soundtracks also.


ss
 
#33 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by sillysally /forum/post/18563028


I am not saying the wood will defiantly harm the Amp, and yes those are metal plates and also thick. The reason for the thick metal that is used on the Woos is because of heat displacement, there are no fans on the Woo.


Just to give you a idea, my Woo's PSU is 40 pounds the amp is 35 pounds. And I can say I would never put that wood on my Woo, not only because of the huge PSU and Amp but because of the heat those tubes give off. Woo's are custom built one at a time, there is no PC board its all Point-to-Point wiring.




Yes that is what I have, a comfy chair in my man cave. I also have the Denon D7000, AKG701 (never use those), Sennheiser HD650 with a Cardas Cable, Grado 325i, and of course Sennheiser HD800 with a Cardas cable.

The Sennheiser HD800 is the only headphone that I use its that good.

If you like to recable the Sennheiser's are great for that. The cable plugs in both the left Ch and right Ch of the headphones. There are many differant cables to choose from that come with the plugs attached and with different sound signatures.


My source player is a Oppo BD-83NE and its hooked directly to my Woo amp via interconnect King Cobra cables (1M). So not only do I use my headphone amp for CD/SACD(DSD), DVD-A I use it for my BD movies. The Oppo BD-83SE/NE is a really a great player for most any music and does a fantastic job of downmixing the HD audio tracks from BD movies. With the BD-83SE/NE I don't need a external DAC.

I also have a Onkyo TX-SR705A/V and Onkyo SKS-HT240 7.1 speakers(added 1 SKB-240) but I never use the Onkyo HDMI sound system because my headphone rig just blows my speaker rig away, and that goes for movie soundtracks also.


ss

Very Nice! I have shifted from getting a killer HT rig to more attention to the Headphone Rig. I figure I could get a nice Headphone rig for about $2500 or so...versus $6-7000 for a comparable (sound wise) HT setup. Then again, I'm greedy and want to enjoy my music in private anyway.
So, all my effort has been going into learning as much as I can about headphones, Amps and Dacs, etc... So I can eventually get my close to perfect rig setup. I actually started building gaming cables and other items (including modded headphones) to supplement funds to get my rig together.
 
#34 ·
New to this stuff myself, but here's my "rig" so far.


Old Sony Discman to line out RCA -> Marantz 7001 receiver -> AKG k601

iPod classic 80Gb -> UE Triple.Fi 10


I like the triple fi's quite a bit and are a nice change from the airy highs of the AKGs though I thing my sources for both are severely under spec. But that's what I have for now as I seem to have blown the budget on the phones.


Looking for a dac and amp to use with the AKGs at the moment. Really debating what Emo is looking to release for the DAC and possibly something tube, maybe Woo, as an amp.
 
#35 ·
Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.
 
#36 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by D_Strasse /forum/post/18563141


New to this stuff myself, but here's my "rig" so far.


Old Sony Discman to line out RCA -> Marantz 7001 receiver -> AKG k601

iPod classic 80Gb -> UE Triple.Fi 10


I like the triple fi's quite a bit and are a nice change from the airy highs of the AKGs though I thing my sources for both are severely under spec. But that's what I have for now as I seem to have blown the budget on the phones.


Looking for a dac and amp to use with the AKGs at the moment. Really debating what Emo is looking to release for the DAC and possibly something tube, maybe Woo, as an amp.

Definitely a good start... I'm very new to all of this too. Slowly going up the ladder in quality of products.
 
#37 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoingOK /forum/post/18563188


Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.

Nice, I wonder... would adding those 'generic' aluminum fins to the sides of the Amp reduce temps even more, or are they more centered around the tubes?
 
#38 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoingOK /forum/post/18563188


Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.

Glad to hear it. Yes Woo does a very nice job of hand winding there transformers. My WA6SE never seemed to get hot on top of the 3 transformers it has and my WA5LE seems to be the same way, and as you may know those 4 are huge on the WA5s.

I would caution you, if you make your very nice wood plates for a WA5, be warned that the area around the 300Bs and 6SN7s particularity if you are running the Shugang Treasure 300Bs and the CV-181s can get very warm.


ss
 
#39 ·
I just need to polish her up a bit, but here's my latest 'phones... all modded up, and she's only a week old... hehe.
 
#40 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18543682


What are your setups?


{big snip}


where I will get me a Crazy comfy chair, a very nice tube amp setup (and hopefully Electrostatics).

I have STAX 404 and an old SRM1 SS amp for them. I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well. I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.


The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.
 
#41 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18570866


I have STAX 404 and an old SRM1 SS amp for them. I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well. I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.


The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.

I wish I knew what that all meant...
 
#42 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18574765


I wish I knew what that all meant...

Magic decoder ring on....

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18570866


I have STAX 404 and an old SRM1 SS amp for them.

The headphones are STAX 404 electrostatic headphones....



.... currently driven by an old SRM1 solid state amplifier.




Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18570866


I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well.

I'm building a tube amplifier to replace the SRM1. This will use EL34 output tubes which are pentodes, in this instance converted to triodes for better sound. The amplifier will need another stage before the output tubes to get enough signal. My preferred driver stage has a bit too much, so I will use some feedback to lower the gain and the amplifier's output impedance. If I'm not happy with this, I'll use another driver stage design I have.


Direct coupled simply means that between the output tubes and the headphone elements there will be no other components, eg transformers, capacitors except for the connecting wire.

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18570866


I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.

I'm experimenting with feeding a small EQ'd portion of the LH channel into the right and vice versa, based upon an article by Jan Meier to try to create a more spacious, less in the head experience.

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18570866


The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.

If I were to connect a conventional tube amp output transformer and use this amp with speakers, it would put out about 10W class A (with ES headphones, almost nothing). The power supply transformers I have spare would more suit a 100W or so amp, so are very oversize (about 16kg), but they are already here and so effectively free. The amp will be large and heavy because of this.
 
#43 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18575170


Magic decoder ring on....

Interesting... How do you like your Stax 'phones? Do you like them better than a normal dynamic headphone? I've always been interested in listening to such a setup.
 
#45 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_Morr /forum/post/18575677


Simple and portable:


I have a Red Wine Audio modified iPod with lossless files on it. It goes into a Ray Samuels Tomahawk which feeds a pair of Ultimate Ears UE10s. The setup takes the edge off having to travel away from my home system.

Nice, I took a look at the Red Wine Audio mod... ouch, that's a lot of money (to me anyway). Does it sound that much better than a LOD going into an amp? Does using a LOD bypass the internal amp section so it dumps out after the internal DAC, no? I don't know about these things... as I don't listen to my iPod much.
 
#46 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18575695


Nice, I took a look at the Red Wine Audio mod... ouch, that's a lot of money (to me anyway). Does it sound that much better than a LOD going into an amp? Does using a LOD bypass the internal amp section so it dumps out after the internal DAC, no? I don't know about these things... as I don't listen to my iPod much.

No it doesn't.
 
#47 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hd_newbie /forum/post/18576127


No it doesn't.

So, it doesn't sound better, or it doesn't exit the the ipod before the amp section in a LOD? Not sure what "No it doesn't" refers to (which part).
 
#48 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18576308


So, it doesn't sound better, or it doesn't exit the the ipod before the amp section in a LOD? Not sure what "No it doesn't" refers to (which part).

I tried switching back and forth so many times between an I-Mod and a regular I-Pod, the difference I experienced, if any, is so miniscule, that I feel it is placebo more than anything else. I would highly doubt that I could identify them one from the other in an ABX test.


I tried this with a Pico Amp and Shure 530SE headphones.
 
#49 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hd_newbie /forum/post/18576540


I tried switching back and forth so many times between an I-Mod and a regular I-Pod, the difference I experienced, if any, is so miniscule, that I feel it is placebo more than anything else. I would highly doubt that I could identify them one from the other in an ABX test.


I tried this with a Pico Amp and Shure 530SE headphones.

Awesome! Thanks for saving me a bunch of money (No, this is not a Geico commercial
)! I think I'm going to contact Apple (or stop by) and have them take a look at my iPod to fix the center button. Then, gonna build myself a LOD to use with my Fiio E5 (used it once since I got it), and call it a day. I think I might get the KSC-75 to go with it too... since I'm not really going to use the Sennheiser CX-250 (as I got them before I realized I don't really like IEMs).
 
#50 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SID3W8Z /forum/post/18575599


Interesting... How do you like your Stax 'phones? Do you like them better than a normal dynamic headphone? I've always been interested in listening to such a setup.

I find them so much better than dynamics that I'd rather not listen to anything else. Not heard everything like HD800's though.
 
#51 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by A9X-308 /forum/post/18577033


I find them so much better than dynamics that I'd rather not listen to anything else. Not heard everything like HD800's though.

Comparatively speaking, what was the best Dynamic headphone setup that you've had/heard that your Stax setup trumps?
 
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