I know this is very subjective but I'm always surprised how great some models of the famed DD series sound when paired with a particular set of headphones. Recently my favourite the DD II with Koss porta pro phones has failed to impress on DD, DD33 or the legendary DD100. The DD is way better on my Bose and Sennheiser headphones. Would love to share experiences with anyone using a DD as their "daily listen" and the headphone pairing you've settled on.
I use my DDs to listen on the go, so I only can give my opinion with my BOSE AE2, which are closed. My other headphones are all open and most, high impedance. With the Bose, no problem at all. There's enough power to drive it easily. However, at home sometimes I used the HD650 or my Grado SR325 and it sounds pretty well, but you have to push the volume up way more. The D6C is an exception, as it can handle even low sensitivity ones without problems.
I use my DC2 on my daily commute to and from work, I always use a headphone amp as it has better control of the headphones plus gives me cleaner sound than straight of the Walkman. Even when I am using the D6C I still use the headphone amp for the same reason given before. See me on the move here
I love the name of your headphone amp. The Mustang P51D makes great sounds at air shows too. I've never used a headphone amp but maybe I should. My daily listening is generally the gym so I tend to go for the lightweight options . What sort of price range do the good headphone amps. Require? TIA
Headphone amps vary in price and quality. The better value ones comes from Fiio. I use the Ray Samuels P-51 Mustang. Here is a good place to do some research, when you do narrow things down I recommend you go and try them out with your own music to see what you like. Do not take anyone’s word for what is good, that way you decide what is best for you. Good luck and happy hunting.
Thanks for the links and advice. Agree totally. What I listen to was for the main part recorded in the 1970's and has a solid bass line complemented by fine drum sounds. I'm heading off to Vinyl Revival in MEL to check out their Grado headphones and will look at the Fiio range of portable amps. Hopefully they sound as good as they look for an affordable amp. Many thanks from me and my DD's. Cheers.
For the perfect walkman feeling. I recommend for all DD Walkmans also applies to the TPS-L2 and WM-2, but not for DD100. SONY MDR-51
Oh yes. They belong together. I have a rev 2.0 D6C but unfortunately the headphones didn't come with it. Now very expensive to buy separately.
You just cannot go wrong with an extra h/p amp: extra battery for extra control of your phones never hurts! I use Ray Samuels Hornet and also SR71 and these give me the sound I like. Fiio amp looked soo much sexier (and being cheaper was my first choice) but did not do it for me. Re headphones I am with @TooCooL4 : Beyerdynamics is in my portable rig also: you can choose hi-impedance/hi-end or medium/low impedance for portables. Unless I decide to sell, original Sony add-ons are Not on my list of must-haves: hated those foam earpads even when young/dirtpoor student... So much more awesome choices today, why fall into the same Sony/iBuds routine? Grado, Senns, Beyers, AT: I have a few of each and they all sound different, you just have to choose the sound that fits your tastes
