Bit the Dollar and bought headphones.

Hi,

I'll share my experience with the Audio gd R28:

For years I was happy with my LTA MicroZotl MZ2. It drove pretty much any of the maybe 15-20 headphone I tried over the years.  That was true until I received an email from Adorama regarding a sale, HE16E v2 $609.00.

Well, what the hell I thought. If it turns out I didn't like them I could return them (30 day policy).

Yes, I read all of the forums and reviews that said the HE6 se was so inefficient that you had to have a speaker amp to drive them. Since my MZ2 had driven everything to date I had confidence that it would drive the HE 6's. Not so.

It did reveal, at first, how terrific the HE6 se sounded, the great detail and staging. But as I listened ( I listen mostly to classical) I realized that the MZ2 was running out of steam. 

To make an already long story short, I ended up with the R28 from Wally at Underwood. 

At first I thought I had made a mistake. The sound was veiled & syrupy to me. I had read, & Wally advised me that the R28  needed 500 hours to "burn in". 500 hours!

I am familiar with burn in. My last DAC needed 60 hours, but 500......

If you decide to go with the R28 I will tell you that it need every minute of 500 hours, maybe even 600 hours. Of course the R28 is eminently listenable & very pleasant while the mystery of "burn in" is in process.

My experience is that after 500 hours the R28 is transformed. Detail becomes more distinct. There is more "air" and dimension to the notes. The R28 is capable of very good transparency if you will wait the time to "burn it in". It will also drive ANY headphone with great authority. It is absolutely wonderful on the HE6SE v2, but I can also hear the control and enhanced dynamics on my AKG 812 phones (another hp that benefits from lots of current).

I loved the LTA & Audio Mirror DAC. Wouldn't have even tried another amp/dac except for the HE6 purchase. 

In the end, it has been a bit frustrating, but ultimately, with the phones I currently have, the R28 does a superb job driving them with authority.yet can sound delicate, detailed, and so musical.

For the money, I don't think you can go wrong with the R28.

Just remember; 500 HOURS!!

Whatever headphone amp you’re considering, I’d recommend it have (among other features) a balance control, gain switch and decent power supply. Especially when you’re talking end game.

I'd also recommend the Quicksilver if you're looking for a tube headphone amp at a great price - I think it's just about $1000, and sounds like it should cost a lot more than that - hand-built in the US, too. Upgrade tubes for it are relatively inexpensive, and you could use some of what you saved from that $2500 to invest in an upgraded headphone cable...

@pastorbob - yeah, DAC burn-in is ridiculous, isn't it? When I got my Holo May DAC, I just turned it on and left it for about 3 weeks before I put it into my system - sounded awesome by then!! 

I am delighted with my ZMF Verites. They are made to order and take several months. Check out the reviews for the Verite Closed. I have the open but most are focused on the closed. For $2500 I think they can stand up to ones costing much more.

Do yourself a favor and get a pair of HD600/650/6xx and use that as a reference for all your future purchases. HD600/650 has one of the best mid range performance out of all of the headphones when properly amped (pretty easy to do).

Music lives in the mid range and any headphone that can't match or beat HD600/650 in the mid range is one to toss out right away.