[canthearyou]

I'm looking for an amp/dac and headphones for under $550.
I listen to everything except classical and jazz and almost every single new "artist" in the last few years.

I have a JDS Labs 02 amp and Beyer DT990 250ohm premium. I actually bought this for gaming, the Premiums have a straight cable which was necessary for my setup.

I ended up listening to some old cds on my laptop and was blown away at the sound.

Less than a week after ownership the Beyers developed a short somewhere. For an over $300 set of phones I found this unacceptable and returned.

With the 990s being my first "real" headphones I was amazed at what I was hearing. Even through an old Acer laptop and 02 amp, it sounds great.

Few things:
1. New HPs can have either coiled or straight cable(prefer straight)
2. Good balance for all music types.
3. Would like an all in one AMP/DAC
4. Less than $550 total.

Thanks!

PS. I bought an AKG 612 Pro along with the 02 and Astro for my PS4. So far so good.

 

[jazzwave]

Headphone:
1.Sennheiser HD650/600
2.PhillipsFidelio X2
3.AKG K701 or K7XX Massdrop version

you can use your O2 to drive those cans, or sell the O2 (lets say $150). Add $200 from remain budget after buy the cans. With $350 you can buy good used amp like Bottlehead Crack, Schitt Valhala/Lyr or Audio GD.

just my 2 cent advise..
Good luck and happy shopping..

 

[Youth]

What did you not like about the DT990's?

 

[cel4145]

Why not add a DAC to the O2? That would give you more budget for headphones--or save you some money for buying more music

 

[canthearyou]

Headphone:
1.Sennheiser HD650/600
2.PhillipsFidelio X2
3.AKG K701 or K7XX Massdrop version

you can use your O2 to drive those cans, or sell the O2 (lets say $150). Add $200 from remain budget after buy the cans. With $350 you can buy good used amp like Bottlehead Crack, Schitt Valhala/Lyr or Audio GD.

just my 2 cent advise..

Good luck and happy shopping..

The 02 amp I have will stay connected to the PS4. I want a dedicated amp/dac/headphones for music. I honestly do not like the look of the Senn 600 with that blue paint.I have been looking at the X2s, seem a great set of cans. I just got a set of AKG 612 Pros for gaming. They sound good, but not DT990 good. Are the K701/K712/K7XX a big step up in sound quality over the 612? 
 

  What did you not like about the DT990's?

Nothing, besides them shorting out in less than a week. I read quite a few reviews of people having to pay $80 to have an out of warranty repair. Kind of put off by that. They did sound amazing though!

 

[canthearyou]

Why not add a DAC to the O2? That would give you more budget for headphones--or save you some money for buying more music

I wouldn't mind picking up an 02/odac combo. Is it worth the money? The only amps I've ever owned is the $65 SMSL and the $130 02. The SMSL was loud as heck, but definitely colored/changed the sound of music. Plus it has a very noticeable hiss.The 02 has much much less hiss at normal listening volume.

 

[cel4145]

The Schiit Modi 2/Magni 2 is comparable to the O2/ODAC for less money.

SMSL's stuff is not very good quality. Pay for what you get with that.

 

[Youth]

Nothing, besides them shorting out in less than a week. I read quite a few reviews of people having to pay $80 to have an out of warranty repair. Kind of put off by that. They did sound amazing though!

 
I guess you were unlucky. If you like the sound why not just get them repaired or replaced by new ones? Doesn't cost anything if you've only had them for 1 week.
 
Anyways, if you're set on trying different headphones you could take a look at HE-400, Philips Fidelio X2 or Soundmagic HP200.
 
You could also get HE-500 and use them with the O2 amp and save up for the ODAC afterwards

 

[canthearyou]

Nothing, besides them shorting out in less than a week. I read quite a few reviews of people having to pay $80 to have an out of warranty repair. Kind of put off by that. They did sound amazing though!

 
I guess you were unlucky. If you like the sound why not just get them repaired or replaced by new ones? Doesn't cost anything if you've only had them for 1 week.
 
Anyways, if you're set on trying different headphones you could take a look at HE-400, Philips Fidelio X2 or Soundmagic HP200.
 
You could also get HE-500 and use them with the O2 amp and save up for the ODAC afterwards

The one thing I didn't like about the 990s was the bass. It was there, just not in quantity. Is that normal for these HPs, or is it the amp or lack of DAC?
I'm not looking for artificial/boosted bass, just more of what's there.

 

[Youth]

The one thing I didn't like about the 990s was the bass. It was there, just not in quantity. Is that normal for these HPs, or is it the amp or lack of DAC?
I'm not looking for artificial/boosted bass, just more of what's there.

 
Well Premium 250 isn't the best version. Pro 250 ohm has more bass qantity but Premium 600 ohm has better quality. In any case I think you need another pair of headphones from your descripion since switching to a different version won't make that much of a difference that I think you are looking for.
 
HE-400 might just be what you want. I haven't heard them myself but some weeks ago I saw a post where some guy was looking for an upgrade from the DT990's. He ended up ordering the HE-400, HE-500. HE-400 basicly had what he craved for but he later tried a TH600 and stayed with that. Be aware that some people find the HE-400 to be a bit uncomfortable for longer listening sessions, not everyone agrees on this though - and even if that is the case then I'm sure there's some way to fix that.
 
A good dac will present the music like it was recorded so you shouldn't be looking at that in order to fix the bass. The O2 amp is also fine but if you want a more warm sound you can try to switch to tubes.

 

[cel4145]

The one thing I didn't like about the 990s was the bass. It was there, just not in quantity. Is that normal for these HPs, or is it the amp or lack of DAC?
I'm not looking for artificial/boosted bass, just more of what's there.

The DT990s are "boosted" in bass a bit over neutral in the midbass region. What kind of bass did you feel was lacking?

 

[canthearyou]

The one thing I didn't like about the 990s was the bass. It was there, just not in quantity. Is that normal for these HPs, or is it the amp or lack of DAC?
I'm not looking for artificial/boosted bass, just more of what's there.

The DT990s are "boosted" in bass a bit over neutral in the midbass region. What kind of bass did you feel was lacking?

I would say the sub bass.

 

[canthearyou]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

 

[cel4145]

HE-400 has good sub bass extension, although the bass is not overall heavily boosted.