[headlong]

i promise ive read pretty much all that is here already on this forum
 
ive been sold on the he-400s. seems prudent if not somewhat necessary for an amp. ive exhausted myself in this search for headphones, and i do not want to do so with amps, something i have little knowledge of anyway. i also dont want to spend much. i think that 300-350 dollars would be the absolute max, and not only would it require a very hard sell, but it would make my choice harder, as it would put the sennheisers back in contention. id really prefer to spend $200 or less, but i appreciate quality and dont want to sell myself short, so again there is some room there. 
 
as i said, i know little if anything about this, and have read about pairing amps with a DAC (i dont know what that is), among other terms. so if there is an alternative, or if i need to look into some sort of grouping, please let me know  
 
thanks in advance 

 

[headlong]

would anyone recommend the fiio e17? thats what im leaning toward. 

 

[formula1]

The Matrix Quattro (balanced) or the Matrix M-stage both match really well with them. I cant comment on the E17. 

 

[headlong]

thanks. ive seen at least one other (i think more) say the matrix mstage worked great with them. 
 
i am pretty certain ive just found these headphones for $139, new, with no catch. if that turns out to be the case, i may want to consider a more expensive amp. 

 

[formula1]

The HE-400's are easy to drive really. Unless you are planning to upgrade to more power hungry headphones later. Is this the case? 

 

[headlong]

no plans. i mean i suppose i would in around a decade if the things were suffering. but not in the forseeable future. it had just been recommended to me that they would still benefit from an amp. their primary use will probably be to play music from a laptop though, and i have no idea about the laptops driving capabilities. 

 

[formula1]

Quote:

their primary use will probably be to play music from a laptop though, and i have no idea about the laptops driving capabilities. 

 
Laptop's driving capacity is ok, but always going for an external amp/dac is recommended if you want to have optimal performance with your cans. 

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

would anyone recommend the fiio e17? thats what im leaning toward. 

 
I can verify that the e17 drives the he400 quite well. Good budget pairing!!

 

[PurpleAngel]

For something that is portable and plugs into the laptop's USB port.
I'm guessing the E17 is the best option.
The HiFiman HE-400 are 35-Ohm  and I'm guessing (?) the E17 can work at least very decently with headphones up to 250-Ohms.
I'm using my Fiio E11 as the reference.