roachpuffs said:

Thanks for the detailed explanation. What you said makes complete sense. Your last statement about, " being in that world," sums up the experience I am looking for. Based on your opinion, it sounds like the HE 400i would be the better choice for what I am looking for in my gaming? The HE400 is not aesthetically pleasing but, damn, the HE 400i is sexy as hell! It seems like HifiMan really put some thought into upgrading the HE 400.

As far as my sound card...it has no problems driving my Dt990 (600 ohm) headphones leaving plenty of headroom. When I want to crank it up, I only go about 75%. And I can't listen too long at that level either. Based on this, do you think the HE 400i is going to need more power? When I hooked up the Schiit stack, the volume was identical to my sound card. Also, do you think an amp that will add a little warmth be a good match for them? Thanks again.

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The DT990 is incredibly easy to drive, even at the 600 ohm version. It only ever peaks at 750 ohms at a 96 sensitivity. Keep in mind that getting to a loud volume and driving are two different things and one can be more subjective than the other at times. If you don't supply enough current, for example, you can get loud enough but have clipping.
 
A planar like the HE400i is horribly inefficient with what you give it. It needs more current and headroom than the soundblaster gives out to sound its best (but again, its up to you, as it won't ruin the headphone's sound or anything.) The common theory is that planars do better, especially in the soundstage and bass areas, with more headroom. I've noticed this with my HE400 (it sounded better on the Asgard 2 than the magni, but it kinda capped out there and didn't sound any better on the Burson.)
 
Again, it can be entirely subjective as nobody has actually done any tests on this, nor really backed it up with any proof. That said, the Magni 2 is a great amp that will last you a long time, you may as well keep that and just return the Modi. The modi just helps if you have a particularly noisy case (like mine) and you need to clean that up a bit.

pacotaco said:

The DT990 is incredibly easy to drive, even at the 600 ohm version. It only ever peaks at 750 ohms at a 96 sensitivity. Keep in mind that getting to a loud volume and driving are two different things and one can be more subjective than the other at times. If you don't supply enough current, for example, you can get loud enough but have clipping.

A planar like the HE400i is horribly inefficient with what you give it. It needs more current and headroom than the soundblaster gives out to sound its best (but again, its up to you, as it won't ruin the headphone's sound or anything.) The common theory is that planars do better, especially in the soundstage and bass areas, with more headroom. I've noticed this with my HE400 (it sounded better on the Asgard 2 than the magni, but it kinda capped out there and didn't sound any better on the Burson.)

Again, it can be entirely subjective as nobody has actually done any tests on this, nor really backed it up with any proof. That said, the Magni 2 is a great amp that will last you a long time, you may as well keep that and just return the Modi. The modi just helps if you have a particularly noisy case (like mine) and you need to clean that up a bit.

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When I was using the stack with my ps4 I pretty much had the magni almost at max level to get a satisfying volume level. When hooked up to my pc, listening to music, the volume was much louder. Do you or anyone else know why the ps4 as a source had this type of effect on the lack of volume? Because of this, I was actually contemplating whether I should get the Asgard 2. Maybe I should reconsider. Send the magni back and get the Asgard 2.

roachpuffs said:

When I was using the stack with my ps4 I pretty much had the magni almost at max level to get a satisfying volume level. When hooked up to my pc, listening to music, the volume was much louder. Do you or anyone else know why the ps4 as a source had this type of effect on the lack of volume? Because of this, I was actually contemplating whether I should get the Asgard 2. Maybe I should reconsider. Send the magni back and get the Asgard 2.

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the Asgard 2 is a great amp that will last you a long time. As for the ps4 problem, I'm not sure what the quality of the signal the ps4 is sending is, but I'm thinking the sampling rate might be smaller than what is being sent from the PC. I also believe it probably has something to do with how high the volume is when the pc sends it out.

If you're wanting more bass than the 990, i don't see how either 400 or 400i will please you. Yes, they go deeper, but they are still well balanced with the most of the sound. You would need something with some actual bass emphasis to give you that feeling. But oh well.

mad lust envy said:

If you're wanting more bass than the 990, i don't see how either 400 or 400i will please you. Yes, they go deeper, but they are still well balanced with the most of the sound. You would need something with some actual bass emphasis to give you that feeling. But oh well.

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I am by no means done with my search on my next pair of headphones. Actually, I am just getting warmed up. I greatly appreciate all of the information everyone has shared with me. I have learned a lot so far and appreciate all of the Nuggets you folks gave me. The pro 900s are still at the top of my list. I would like to hear from anyone withe some experience with the Nad Visio HP 50 and Vmoda 100. I did read some interesting things about the share 1540s too and would like to hear more about them from people as well.

As far as the HE 400/400i, I share the same concerns with them as you do Mad. Although Paco Taco did a fantastic job sharing his experience and vast knowledge, my issue is that they are open back.

Will the sub bass of the DT 770s overpower the mid bass as well as the ambient sound of games?

The 770 isnt that mid bass heavy. Mostly sub bass. However, yes, it can get muffled sounding at times.

Maybe score a used TH600?

I am gonna order the MA900, hear good things about it...

mad lust envy said:

The 770 isnt that mid bass heavy. Mostly sub bass. However, yes, it can get muffled sounding at times.

Maybe score a used TH600?

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roachpuffs said:

I am by no means done with my search on my next pair of headphones. Actually, I am just getting warmed up. I greatly appreciate all of the information everyone has shared with me. I have learned a lot so far and appreciate all of the Nuggets you folks gave me. The pro 900s are still at the top of my list. I would like to hear from anyone withe some experience with the Nad Visio HP 50 and Vmoda 100. I did read some interesting things about the share 1540s too and would like to hear more about them from people as well.

As far as the HE 400/400i, I share the same concerns with them as you do Mad. Although Paco Taco did a fantastic job sharing his experience and vast knowledge, my issue is that they are open back.

Will the sub bass of the DT 770s overpower the mid bass as well as the ambient sound of games?

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To balance out the TH600 opinion (as the treble is pretty bright and the mids are kinda blah making it sound boring to me personally, but maybe not to you,) the ZMF Vibro apparently has a close sound to the HE400i and it's closed. It doesn't have the soundstage of the TH600, but it apparently has just as much mid-bass and a tiny bit more subbass with a more forward amount of mids. This is also just my personal preference, but it is darker and smoother in the highs than the TH600. The TH600, from what I experienced, leaked about as much sound as my DT880 and T1, and that takes some effort. Again, this is just a balancing opinion, as the TH600 is a great headphone if you find it used, but I personally hated it for immersion because it sounded so thin. I've been told it sounds almost like the D7000 should, but I've never gotten that feeling from it.
 
A used Vibro (you'd find it in the headphone sales section of head-fi most likely) is around the same price as a TH600 used from Amazon (at least when I bought it...it was about 400$.) It really depends on what you want: something with higher treble, a V-shaped signature (and it isn't surpassed by any headphone V-shaped sig wise until you hit the TH900) and probably more accurate with positional cues, or something with a thicker, lusher sound that brings you closer to what you're hearing.
 
I've personally always preferred thicker mids and deep, linear bass without the distracting or piercing treble, while MLE, from what I understand (you can correct me if you like as I don't want to make an assumption and seem like an ass,) prefers brighter headphones.

pacotaco said:

  I've personally always preferred thicker mids and deep, linear bass without the distracting or piercing treble, while MLE, from what I understand (you can correct me if you like as I don't want to make an assumption and seem like an ass,) prefers brighter headphones.

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Keep in mind that the guide is for gaming headphones.  In general, brighter is better for competitive gaming, which is why it would seem that MLE prefers the brighter ones.  

stillhart said:

   
Keep in mind that the guide is for gaming headphones.  In general, brighter is better for competitive gaming, which is why it would seem that MLE prefers the brighter ones.  

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I'm speaking more in terms of immersion and fun as opposed to competitive. If he wants a balance a both, than the TH600 WOULD be the better choice. However, the HE400i isn't honestly all that dark, it's just more warm than it is bright. It's a lot less dark than the Alpha Dogs, anyway, and those don't do too bad competitive. I'm not disagreeing with you in anyway, as I personally believe the best competitive headphone I've ever heard was the Beyerdynamic T1.

I actually prefer warmer headphones now. I mainly suggested the TH600 because i hear it has some really good bass while sounding clean.

The old LCD2 is my ideal sound.

So I just bought the CAL thanks to this topic, and I like the sound a lot. I only wish the voices were a bit more forward, and that the treble wouldn't be splashy sometimes.

Can't have bass as full as the CALs while having forward mids.

mad lust envy said:

Can't have bass as full as the CALs while having forward mids.

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My previous headphones (JVC HA-S680) had A LOT more bass, but also more forward vocals. They are a bit veiled sounding though unEQ'ed, that's why I bought the CAL.

mad lust envy said:

So basically, the Limited Edition X7 is really only worth it if you MUST have 1ohm output impedance vs 2.2ohm.

So if the X7 goes down in price again, I recommend just getting the regular.

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So basically, now you understand that I was trying to save you some time, but now you've heard it from the horse's mouth. Glad you ended up agreeing with me!

mad lust envy said:

Yeah, FWIR, the specs for the internals wasn't all that impressive power-wise, particularly when powering 600ohm cans (less power than the E9K which was already lacking headroom for 600ohms).

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WHERE did you read? The power output ought to be close, as the headphone OpAmp chip is the same.

mad lust envy said:

Where do you hear that it has some of the performance of the bifrost? That sounds implausible. Though DACs don't sound all too diffferent from one another anyways. Judging by cost, I'd believe it more if the DAC was Modi level, not Bifrost.

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Probably from me. I'm not saying the DAC is better than the BiFrost I have, but they sound awfully close.

sam21 said:

I am gonna order the MA900, hear good things about it...

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Lotsa good, I heard Mad's and agree the comfort and sound is very good for marathon audio/gaming sessions.