Headphones and Amps and DACs... Oh My!

[Jon]

Valhalla is a great amp for its price, the quality-price ratio is great, though I'm sure Little Dot MKIII is great too. I've heard good things of it and it was my other choice for headphone amp when I bought the valhalla. As for the DAC:s I've heard good things about the Bifrost.

Haven't heard the HD600's, but they are more brighter than HD650 I presume? HD595 are nice headphones too (I upgraded from 595 to 650), but I prefer the sound of the 650.

I've always heard the 600's referred to as more "neutral" than the 650's. I can't personally hear too much difference between the two, with the exception of the 600's having a higher top-end. The major complaint of the 600's is that they are not bassy enough. For me, it's about perfect. I listen to a huge amount of jazz, and the snare stands out perfectly without any bassy bloating on the 600's. I'm able to hear every nuance and difference in the way the drums are hit.

One of the songs I use when testing out headphones/amps/dacs is "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane. There is so much going on "in the background" with the snare and piano. This gives me a good idea of the capabilities for the equipment I'm testing.

[qotsa_1992]

Totally kidding, I have a pretty easy setup i usually use. Imac-->itunes-->m-audio usb interface---> and either sennheiser 120 ii, sennheiser 595's or my m-audio av 40 monitors. Can anyone give me a recommendation for a decent headphone amp under $200?