[pompon]

Guys I need your help !!

I have gs-x mini and I am using it with my HD650 (balanced cable from Stefan Audio Arts Equinox old gen). At the moment, it's my ultimate reference.
Strong bass, plenty of details, stage is quite big and mostly in front of me (ie not too much details left/right disturb me).

Before
I had stax oII + 007tII tube amp and another setup HD650 (SAA equinox balanced) and Audio-Gd Phoenix headphone amp.
I found stax pretty similar to hd650. The same details (on stax they was just louder) and depth was about the same. On stax, more disturbed with left/right details.
Dynamic/punch on the hd650 side (of course). So I sold the stax.

I had HD800 with dual mono cable (name was something like "complement").
Again, I found hd800 very big stage but not necessary very deep because stage was so big (height/lateral big).
I found the headphone on the bright side and not had enough presence in the bass to be like in front of firecamp with hot coffee ... you see ...)
I found myself often lost in big cold soundstage and I was not enjoyed that too much.
HD650 stage is much intimate, bass presence is very good and all details are there (just not as loud).
I sold the hd800.

...
So ..

I have in order meze empyrean II (ordered with silver cable XLR).
Do you think gs-x mini will be a good match ?

I read/youtube review qualifying the stage as lateral mostly. No reference how people find the hd650 (in balanced) ? For me it's front and deep. Intimate and warm sound.
Matched with ESS9038pro dac + wireworld platinum usb cable all the details are there for me but I am curious to know if I am missing a world of details ! lol

Stage is very important for me, headphone warm with layers in the music. I DO NOT WANT listen loud to destroy my ears!

While headamp don't seem to have process yet my order, I wonder If I let this baby coming to my home or I change my order for something like Susvara/LCD5 ?
Susvara will match with gs-x mini (while I do not want to play at 120dB) ? or I need something powerfull like cfa3 (I am on the preorder but don't know if I will order it when ready).
Or go with lcd-5 ...

Very confused ...

When I look the frequency graph for the empyrean the highs seem very strange and I am fear to have something hard or agressive to listen.

Thx!

 

[devilboy]

If you are looking for a GSX Mini, I have one I'm about to list for sale. PM me if interested.

 

[kajetanjazz]

While headamp don't seem to have process yet my order, I wonder If I let this baby coming to my home or I change my order for something like Susvara/LCD5 ?

Susvara is good out of the mini, but not great. Sweet and polite I would say. Haven’t heard the empy II yet, but the elite is quite unimpressive for its price point. Lcd5 kills it when it comes to detail and layering and pairs amazing with the gsx mini that adds a bit of warmth. I would take lcd5 out of these three, but that’s me

 

[kajetanjazz]

He1000se should also be on your radar, biggest stage out of those, great detail layering and positioning. With wrong source they’re brighter less weighty, but with the mini I find them full bodied and effortless. Also better bass than lcd5

 

[thehutch]

Guys I need your help !!

I have gs-x mini and I am using it with my HD650 (balanced cable from Stefan Audio Arts Equinox old gen). At the moment, it's my ultimate reference.
Strong bass, plenty of details, stage is quite big and mostly in front of me (ie not too much details left/right disturb me).

Before
I had stax oII + 007tII tube amp and another setup HD650 (SAA equinox balanced) and Audio-Gd Phoenix headphone amp.
I found stax pretty similar to hd650. The same details (on stax they was just louder) and depth was about the same. On stax, more disturbed with left/right details.
Dynamic/punch on the hd650 side (of course). So I sold the stax.

I had HD800 with dual mono cable (name was something like "complement").
Again, I found hd800 very big stage but not necessary very deep because stage was so big (height/lateral big).
I found the headphone on the bright side and not had enough presence in the bass to be like in front of firecamp with hot coffee ... you see ...)
I found myself often lost in big cold soundstage and I was not enjoyed that too much.
HD650 stage is much intimate, bass presence is very good and all details are there (just not as loud).
I sold the hd800.

...
So ..

I have in order meze empyrean II (ordered with silver cable XLR).
Do you think gs-x mini will be a good match ?

I read/youtube review qualifying the stage as lateral mostly. No reference how people find the hd650 (in balanced) ? For me it's front and deep. Intimate and warm sound.
Matched with ESS9038pro dac + wireworld platinum usb cable all the details are there for me but I am curious to know if I am missing a world of details ! lol

Stage is very important for me, headphone warm with layers in the music. I DO NOT WANT listen loud to destroy my ears!

While headamp don't seem to have process yet my order, I wonder If I let this baby coming to my home or I change my order for something like Susvara/LCD5 ?
Susvara will match with gs-x mini (while I do not want to play at 120dB) ? or I need something powerfull like cfa3 (I am on the preorder but don't know if I will order it when ready).
Or go with lcd-5 ...

Very confused ...

When I look the frequency graph for the empyrean the highs seem very strange and I am fear to have something hard or agressive to listen.

Thx!

Few people like Susvara on Mini, but most agree Mini can’t properly power. You probably don’t want to go that route.

I had the original Empyrean and liked it a lot on the Mini. HeadAmp had actually marketed the combo at one point. Haven’t heard the Empy II, but I suspect that’s closer to 650 tonality and timbre than LCD-5.

 

[EMINENT]

Guys I need your help !!

I have gs-x mini and I am using it with my HD650 (balanced cable from Stefan Audio Arts Equinox old gen). At the moment, it's my ultimate reference.
Strong bass, plenty of details, stage is quite big and mostly in front of me (ie not too much details left/right disturb me).

Before
I had stax oII + 007tII tube amp and another setup HD650 (SAA equinox balanced) and Audio-Gd Phoenix headphone amp.
I found stax pretty similar to hd650. The same details (on stax they was just louder) and depth was about the same. On stax, more disturbed with left/right details.
Dynamic/punch on the hd650 side (of course). So I sold the stax.

I had HD800 with dual mono cable (name was something like "complement").
Again, I found hd800 very big stage but not necessary very deep because stage was so big (height/lateral big).
I found the headphone on the bright side and not had enough presence in the bass to be like in front of firecamp with hot coffee ... you see ...)
I found myself often lost in big cold soundstage and I was not enjoyed that too much.
HD650 stage is much intimate, bass presence is very good and all details are there (just not as loud).
I sold the hd800.

...
So ..

I have in order meze empyrean II (ordered with silver cable XLR).
Do you think gs-x mini will be a good match ?

I read/youtube review qualifying the stage as lateral mostly. No reference how people find the hd650 (in balanced) ? For me it's front and deep. Intimate and warm sound.
Matched with ESS9038pro dac + wireworld platinum usb cable all the details are there for me but I am curious to know if I am missing a world of details ! lol

Stage is very important for me, headphone warm with layers in the music. I DO NOT WANT listen loud to destroy my ears!

While headamp don't seem to have process yet my order, I wonder If I let this baby coming to my home or I change my order for something like Susvara/LCD5 ?
Susvara will match with gs-x mini (while I do not want to play at 120dB) ? or I need something powerfull like cfa3 (I am on the preorder but don't know if I will order it when ready).
Or go with lcd-5 ...

Very confused ...

When I look the frequency graph for the empyrean the highs seem very strange and I am fear to have something hard or agressive to listen.

Thx!

Hylo.

Mini was great pairing with LCD5. At the time, the limitation was my dac as bottleneck. It has plenty of headroom even with EQ.
If you like tonality of 650 which many say is similar to 6xx, the 5 can go from mediocre on a dap to a supercharged 6xx with the right synergy, as previously mentioned in my review. On equal setup as I have now, think of 6xx with no soundstage barrier, excellent bass presence and soundfield imaging so grand rivaling all of the jam cans I heard.
Feed it well and be rewarded well.

 

[pompon]

Hylo.

Mini was great pairing with LCD5. At the time, the limitation was my dac as bottleneck. It has plenty of headroom even with EQ.
If you like tonality of 650 which many say is similar to 6xx, the 5 can go from mediocre on a dap to a supercharged 6xx with the right synergy, as previously mentioned in my review. On equal setup as I have now, think of 6xx with no soundstage barrier, excellent bass presence and soundfield imaging so grand rivaling all of the jam cans I heard.
Feed it well and be rewarded well.

You mean LCD-5 will destroy the 650's or 650 rivals all the high end headphone ?
(I am french)

 

[EMINENT]

You mean LCD-5 will destroy the 650's or 650 rivals all the high end headphone ?
(I am french)

I mean LCD5 with the right synergy can sound tonally like a supercharged and perfected 6x0 series with none of it's limitations. Even rivaling soundstage heavyweights like 1266 on tubes, HE1 and Aperio.

 

[pompon]

I mean LCD5 with the right synergy can sound tonally like a supercharged and perfected 6x0 series with none of it's limitations. Even rivaling soundstage heavyweights like 1266 on tubes, HE1 and Aperio.

Thx !

I just ordered a open box LCD-5 from headamp.
I will try both

 

[pompon]

Hylo.

Mini was great pairing with LCD5. At the time, the limitation was my dac as bottleneck. It has plenty of headroom even with EQ.
If you like tonality of 650 which many say is similar to 6xx, the 5 can go from mediocre on a dap to a supercharged 6xx with the right synergy, as previously mentioned in my review. On equal setup as I have now, think of 6xx with no soundstage barrier, excellent bass presence and soundfield imaging so grand rivaling all of the jam cans I heard.
Feed it well and be rewarded well.

Have you tried the preset LCD-5 with Roon ?

 

[EMINENT]

Have you tried the preset LCD-5 with Roon ?

Yes. I have tried Resolve V1 & V2, Oratory, Crinacle and both Linear and Zero Roon presets and they were good with additional bass shelves until I moved up gear and DSD rates.

 

[acassara]

I think the GSX-Mini is a really solid offering, provided you buy one used. At $2,000 there are so many other options within reach that I think are far better value, but if you can pick one up for $1200 or less, especially with the upgraded volume pot, you'll be really happy with your purchase. The added warmth in the mids is definitely noticeable and appreciated. My one gripe is it's absolutely not a fit for IEMs, I've had to resort to using an ifi iematch dongle with it if I don't want to swap sound output on my computer.

 

[cats4cans]

I think the GSX-Mini is a really solid offering, provided you buy one used. At $2,000 there are so many other options within reach that I think are far better value, but if you can pick one up for $1200 or less, especially with the upgraded volume pot, you'll be really happy with your purchase. The added warmth in the mids is definitely noticeable and appreciated. My one gripe is it's absolutely not a fit for IEMs, I've had to resort to using an ifi iematch dongle with it if I don't want to swap sound output on my computer.

Which IEM match are you using?

 

[acassara]

Which IEM match are you using?

ifi iematch 3.5 with the ultra setting

 

[planar shill]

It has some stiff competition now and realistically the difference between ss amps just isn't as vast as reviewers often make them sound. Of course, what good is a review that doesn't focus on the differences? Not a very helpful review for sure. But you get what I mean, it is a niche part of a niche hobby and Headamp isn't being competitive with the pricing.
I wouldn't recommend buying it new either.