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What headphone amp to buy-Sennheiser HD 600?

Well, thanks to the kindness and patience of my fellow A'gon-izers, the hook-up "problem" for the headphone amp I have is solved. The amp is a Ramsey SHA 1. The phones are Sennheiser HD 600. I had remembered that amp sounding great. Now I'm spoiled by the new speakers I have, and even though the signal path to the amp is thru the Dodson DAC, I still think it sounds........not so great. Decent I suppose, but harsh on the upper end, yet without the mitigating detail, and you know, just.....unsatisfactory.

OK, OK, so here's the question(s): What's a great, fairly cheap (like, at LEAST less than a grand) headphone amp? Sonically, I want EVERYTHING!!!! (Except soundstage, that has never happened for me with any headphones, ever, I'm pretty sure not even with the expensive Stax I heard a few years ago).
It MUST have: Tight, deep, fast, smooth, tonally correct, musical bass, shimmering, non-fatiguing, emminently smooth yet ultra detailed highs, great midbass punch with no boom or softness whatsoever, midrange that is totally natural, smooth, detailed, and lacking any hint whatsoever of grain or electronic amplification artifact in the upper registers. It should sound great on ALL program material, from classical to rock to bluegrass to new age to jazz, anything and everything.

Other than those relatively modest criteria, there are no other performance demands. :)))

So, fire away!
mdhoover
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
WOW! Marco and Swampwalker, you two guys are GREAT! You explained it so well that I think I actually UNDERSTAND it (we'll see of course-LOL!). Thanks to both of you for taking the time to clarify that procedure. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the headset and tubes to arrive...
-Bill
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
"Get yourself an inexpensive digital multimeter from Radio Shack that reads in milivolts."
-Marco

Marco:
That sounded easy enough. When I checked, Radio Shack had something like six or seven different models, and all different price ranges, and I couldn't figure out from looking at them whether the more expensive ones were more accurate or just had more features, or just how accurate they needed to be anyway, and so on....I left the store to seek additional information, and I await your (kind, patient, and always highly appreciated) assistance.

So, not to sound like even more of a doofus, but how accurate does the thing have to be? Should I get a digital one? What kind of multimeter do YOU have? Thanks in advance.
-Bill
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
If I may chime in, the biasing is not that precise and digital mms are pretty hard to get on the gnat's a$$ anyways, an analog would be fine, but Rat Shack makes a small digital model where the leads store right inside the fold top case. Mine is Cat # 22-810 and is cost about $20-$25, IIRC.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I use a Fluke. No need to go that direction. Take Swampwalker's good advice. That'll do the job just fine. Since you are new to this, have the salesman show you just how to set it to read mV. It should be clearly marked...but just in case...

Marco
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Swampwalker and Marco,
Thanks for the info. I'll go back to Radio Shack for "round two" pretty soon. Glad to hear that biasing is not that precise. Will look for Cat. #22-810, if available. This (entire thread) has been a great learning experience and a lot of fun (for me at least--LOL!!!). Thanks again, guys. By the way, dare I ask what a Fluke is?
-Bill
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