# Lets see your headphone stations



## WhiteNoise (Jul 18, 2016)

Mine is quite simple at the moment as I recently moved into another home and I'm just running a basic setup at my desk. I have spent thousands of dollars in the past 4 years on headphone equipment but sold off the $1500+ amp and such because nothing matches (that I have tried) this headphone stack I am currently using. Though I do have my eyes on another tube amp which may make itself known soon if I can bare to part with the money...

Enough of us are always talking about our gear so lets see it!













Equipment in this shot:

Garage 1217 Ember II amp
w/ Raytheon JAN-CRP-6SN7GT VT-231 tube

MHDT Lab Pagoda dac
w/ 1964 Bendix 6385 tube

Audeze LCD2 Rev. 2F can
w/ Norne Audio Vanquish Series cable


----------



## Ungari (Jul 18, 2016)

This is where I plug in my headphones:


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 18, 2016)

hahaha awesome.


----------



## Jetster (Jul 18, 2016)




----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 20, 2016)

I always loved the Pro medias. 

I guess no one else wants to share...


----------



## Athlon2K15 (Jul 20, 2016)

No "station" for me, I had some excellent HE400's and HD598s but i am really enjoying my rather low cost RX700s right now.


----------



## GamerGuy (Jul 21, 2016)

This is my gaming and audio setup/station, I believe I'd posted this (or perhaps an earlier pic) somewhere in this forum here......I have an Oppo HA-1 (bottom left of pic, and is hooked up to my 2nd gaming rig, i7 4770K)) as my main headamp and preamp for the speakers. The Fostex HPA4 (bottom right of monitor) is hooked up to my other rig (Intel i7 2600K). I'm using the pair of KRK Rokit5 G3 for those times when I don't wish to use my cans. On the table just to front of left speaker is my portable gear, a HiFiMan HM901s + Campfire Audio Jupiter. The cans on the left are: Sennheiser HD800, HiFiMan HE1000 and an AKG K812.


----------



## Recon-UK (Jul 21, 2016)




----------



## Slizzo (Jul 21, 2016)

I've an old pair of HD590s that I plug into the volume control of my Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1s.

When I use the headphones, which isn't often at all.


----------



## R-T-B (Jul 21, 2016)

Mine is on a fugly cat sabotaged antique table.  It may be found in the headphone review thread.  I'll post it here for referrence:

Schiit Magni 2/Modi 2 Uber & AKG K7XX Ruby Red's.


----------



## Ahhzz (Jul 21, 2016)

Mine hang on the semi-broken door of my cheap 20-year old desk.... with an extension for the playback cable feeding to my speaker on the other side of my desk (cluttered as hell), so I can plug in when She's on her computer next to me and doesn't want the noise....


----------



## R-T-B (Jul 21, 2016)

Ahhzz said:


> Mine hang on the semi-broken door of my cheap 20-year old desk....



Can't be worse than mine...


----------



## Ahhzz (Jul 22, 2016)

I submit for evaluation


----------



## GamerGuy (Jul 23, 2016)

Setting up a 2nd audio station for my FX8350 (which still handles gaming just fine), I already have a Gustard X12/H10 stack, I'd scored a Virtue One Class-T amp at a nice price. It's s really small (and cute) amp that can power good size speakers, I'd placed it next to my mouse for comparison:




Bought a 6m length of Canare 4S8 (cut into 2x 3m lengths), some screw-on banana plugs and heatshrinks. DIY'ed the cables to run bi-wired into my speakers. It was a short, easy and fun little project:




Last but not lease, bought a pair of Jamo Classic 4 speakers, slightly wider than my Rokit5 G3's, and a fair bit taller, but a pair of bookshelf speakers nonetheless. My HP flash kinda made it look plastic-like and turned it a tad more brownish red than it actually is.





I haven't quite set up the audio station for the FX8350 as I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly how to fit the setup on my desk......being rather busy at work and feeling pretty sapped of energy when I've finished work kinda hinder progress on this front.

I'm aware that Jamo isn't seen as audiophile like KEF/JBL and the like, I just wanted a pair of speakers that can hit pretty low (45Hz)  and is more geared toward movies and easy listening when I'm in no mood to use my cans.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 26, 2016)

GamerGuy said:


> This is my gaming and audio setup/station, I believe I'd posted this (or perhaps an earlier pic) somewhere in this forum here......I have an Oppo HA-1 (bottom left of pic, and is hooked up to my 2nd gaming rig, i7 4770K)) as my main headamp and preamp for the speakers. The Fostex HPA4 (bottom right of monitor) is hooked up to my other rig (Intel i7 2600K). I'm using the pair of KRK Rokit5 G3 for those times when I don't wish to use my cans. On the table just to front of left speaker is my portable gear, a HiFiMan HM901s + Campfire Audio Jupiter. The cans on the left are: Sennheiser HD800, HiFiMan HE1000 and an AKG K812.




HE1000


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 30, 2016)

Just added this beauty to my table. This is a custom made 6CL6 OTL amp by Jef Larson. And boy does it sound blissful!


----------



## GamerGuy (Jul 30, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> Just added this beauty to my table. This is a custom made 6CL6 OTL amp by Jef Larson. And boy does it sound blissful!


Whoa Nellie, that's damn nice! Only tube amp I'd ever tried was the Lyr, and even after owning it for just a couple of weeks, I'd started on this tube rolling phase......bought a pair of Amperex and Telefunken tubes. Wasn't really sure they'd make a difference till I'd swapped the stock GE tubes on the Lyr with a pair of Amperex, suddenly the harshness and graininess I'd noticed while listening to a female vocalist with stock GE tubes was resolved. Her voice sounded smooth and there was no harshness at all. But it occurred to me that tube rolling could get expensive, so I sold the Lyr to another guy in the local audio forums. I kinda like the sound that SS amp/DAC's produce anyway, so I'm gonna stick with them.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 30, 2016)

@GamerGuy Thanks! Yeah tube rolling can get expensive. I have around $2000 worth of vintage tubes myself, (honestly I do not want to look at what I have spend over the years on tubes. lol) It is part of the fun of tube amps. for sure. This is my 3rd tube amp and I still own two of them plus my DAC is tubed too. I've been a fan of tube amps for a few years now.

I just bought this amp and it arrived with 3 quads of tubes and I purchased 4 additional quads of tubes. So far I am enjoying the 1954 Mullards the most but have a set of Amperex tubes in it at the moment.


----------



## Ferrum Master (Jul 30, 2016)

ahh... I am thinking of finishing my own OTL... the lack of time...






And I actually fired it up once... I need to finish LR8N high voltage regulator, to fight voltage spikes and filter out the mains noise thus omitting need for the choke, as it is OTL... it is very very hot.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 30, 2016)

@Ferrum Master That is an interesting amp! You should complete it then send it my way for testing!

What tubes are being used there? This is to power speakers? Never mind... I just watched the video! lol Very nice. I can hear the lush coming through. Good job!


----------



## Ferrum Master (Jul 30, 2016)

I used JJ 6DJ8 for the front(btw i have bugle boys too), 6H6P for the driver and 6C19P for the output. If you are eagle eyed I have one older project with triple 6AS7[6080] and driven by Sylvania 6SN7GTA's... well I've listened to it... the 6SN7 start to breathe only after 300V, if the voltage is lower, no fun at all, so I am kind of skeptical at those small amps using that tube... no use really.

I am driving single 12inch fullrange papercone speaker there (good sensivity @ 16ohm) (I use it always for smoke testing). As you see it has power enough to drive it... around 5-10W, didn't measure, it was loud enough for the room. Well it needs very much work still, the high voltage and current demand in such envelope is a very unusual thing.

Meanwhile I need to finish my main silicon based workhorse I just simply refuse to buy overpriced rubbish in stores .


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 30, 2016)

I have a few bugle boys kicking around myself. Of the 12AX7 and 6DJ8 variety. great sounding tubes. I have an assortment of 6SN7 tubes as well among others. 5-10 watts is plenty with the right speakers. I'm actually in the market for a vintage amp to power my Hsu Research HB1 speakers. I have a bid on a Mcintosh 2100 atm. This would be a perfect amp to power my speakers. I listened to one years ago and was impressed.

Good luck with your build. Youtube doesn't do it justice but even via youtube I can tell it sounds fantastic!


----------



## puma99dk| (Jul 30, 2016)

I need a headphone stand tbh I lay mine Audio-Technica's on my steelseries mousepad 

But everyone I see I want r just too expensive sadly, I want smth like this: Retro Smooth Wooden Walnut Gaming Headphone Display Stand Holder Hanger P6Q5


----------



## WhiteNoise (Jul 30, 2016)

I have a couple of stands like that but without the round feet. They work very well. The only problem is I only have two. lol I keep my Hd600 and LCD-2 in their cases though when not in use. You can buy those cheap from China on Ebay. Maybe around $20 a pop.

I paid around $24 each.


----------



## GamerGuy (Jul 31, 2016)

@Puma99dk |, just google 'omega headphone stand' at Amazon and ebay, you should be able to find some. I had three initially, the one on which my AKG K812 sits actually came with the K812, looks to be of pretty good quality. The lighter colored one in the pic (on which the HD800 rested) was bough for about ~30USD.





Silly me, just clicked on your link, that one costs about 15.70USD (converted from pounds) and that's quite reasonable actually. Why didn't you get it?


----------



## Ahhzz (Jul 31, 2016)

That is gorgeous, and for Walnut at that price, I'd grab it if I wanted a special stand for my phones in a heartbeat....


----------



## puma99dk| (Jul 31, 2016)

GamerGuy said:


> @Puma99dk |, just google 'omega headphone stand' at Amazon and ebay, you should be able to find some. I had three initially, the one on which my AKG K812 sits actually came with the K812, looks to be of pretty good quality. The lighter colored one in the pic (on which the HD800 rested) was bough for about ~30USD.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



my problem is if I need to shop outside EU it can't be more expensive than about 11USD, €10 or £8 because otherwise comes ridicules import taxes but I might found one in the UK on ebay so I might go with that one


----------



## GamerGuy (Aug 1, 2016)

puma99dk| said:


> my problem is if I need to shop outside EU it can't be more expensive than about 11USD, €10 or £8 because otherwise comes ridicules import taxes but I might found one in the UK on ebay so I might go with that one


Great! Keep us updated on your headphone stand situation. I recall that when I'd first gone into cans, I was buying cans left, right and center. Had about twenty cans at one stage that I'd not have the space to put 'em all even if I were to buy separate stands for each. Ended up with a hat hanger (of all things! )


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 1, 2016)

hahaha that's fantastic!

I was in the same boat actually. I bought headphones constantly while I looked for what I would prefer. At one point I had around 15 pair. I sold off most of it though. I kept 7 pair but only use three on a regular basis:

Audeze LCD2, Sennheiser HD600 and Grado 325is (depnding on which amp I'm using and music type.)

I recently purchased a new piece to add to my collection. It is a Magnavox 8802 Stereo Tube Amp Push Pull 6V6

It's been fully gone through and upgraded where needed and set in a custom painted box. Looks killer and I look forward to hearing it.

I also picked up HiFiman HE-Adapter to allow me to use my LCD2 headphones with speaker amps. I'll be running some 92db speakers with it as well but I do hope the LCD's work well with it. If so then I will sell off my Ember tube amp.


----------



## GamerGuy (Aug 2, 2016)

Whoa, never thought of driving the LCD2 (I had the LCD 2.2 nF a while back) from speaker taps, perhaps that's why I wasn't really impressed by it. But then, a lot of it had to do with the rather dark sound signature of the LCD2.2, to my ears anyway. I guess that's why I gravitate toward the HFM planar mag cans, they have decent bass and aren't dark sounding. Only other orthodynamic cans I've tried were the MrSpeakers Alpha Dog and a modded Forstex T50RP which I love.

Seriously though, the one can that surprised me with its speed and surreal-like bass is my Grado GS1000i, it has a really unique bass quality.....surprised the heck outta me when I'd first tried it. I have the PS1000 too, and though it has stronger bass, it lacks the speed and attack of the GS1ki. The bass on the PS1k sounds lush and thick.....it simply lacks the speed of the GS1ki.......though one must be able to enjoy or, at the very least, tolerate the sparkly treble on the GS1ki.

Edit - BTW, I'm still using that hat rack to hang some of my other cans, it can actually hold nine cans on its own, but I'd added three more actual headphone hangers/mounts (lowest row in pic)  that I'd gotten from Amazon, hence it can now hold twelve cans at a go. Still not enough for me.......


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 2, 2016)

I too have the LCD 2 w/F. I love the sound of them but I think they will come alive further with some proper power hence the reason for buying the Magnavox 8802. I just love tubes, the warm and lush sound which works well with the LCD cans. When I listen to rock I do prefer the speed of the Grado 325 and I have wanted to grab the GH1 for awhile now. I've seen a few good deals on it but so far haven't pulled the trigger. The hat rack is a fantastic idea and made me laugh. Pretty cool.

There are a few more headphones I would like to own including the HE-6 and PS1000. Later though. I spend too much money on this hobby as it is!


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 4, 2016)

Here is a pic of my latest amp. Arrived today and I'm totally impressed so far.


----------



## erixx (Aug 4, 2016)

I never thought of these worlds... Freaks


----------



## GamerGuy (Aug 4, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> Here is a pic of my latest amp. Arrived today and I'm totally impressed so far.


Whoa, even nicer than the previous one! Is this a power amp for your speakers? What preamp and speakers are you using? What's the source gear? PC, CD Player, some sorta streamer?


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 4, 2016)

GamerGuy said:


> Whoa, even nicer than the previous one! Is this a power amp for your speakers? What preamp and speakers are you using? What's the source gear? PC, CD Player, some sorta streamer?



It is a speaker amp yes and is powering a set of Hsu Research speakers. I also have a HiFiMan HE Adapter that allows me to run my headphones off the speaker taps because this amp is now powering my LCD2 headphones.
My MHDT Lab Pagoda DAC feeds it and the source is a Rotel RDV-1092 CD player and my PC.

This amp does not require a preamp. The builder designed it as a standalone unit with it's own gain dial.

This amp is a Magnavox 8802 push pull 6V6; completely rebuilt and upgraded, originally pulled from some vintage Magnavox console.


----------



## Harry9001 (Aug 4, 2016)

Damn i aint even got one :/ I just throw my headphones on the computer table.

PS ive got Sennheiser headphones


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 7, 2016)

You need a hat rack!


----------



## puma99dk| (Aug 7, 2016)

Got my headphone stand yesterday and I through the delivery should be able to read and write bcs I ordered this from the UK but the note that the danish national post put in my mailbox said Germany 

Srsly if the UK was so close to the danish border I would go more often


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 7, 2016)

That looks great! I love those stands. I need a couple more actually.


----------



## puma99dk| (Aug 7, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> That looks great! I love those stands. I need a couple more actually.



Ty it's awesome my first headphone stand ever xD


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 8, 2016)

my Headphone station atm...







And my audio video rack for the home theater:


----------



## GamerGuy (Aug 9, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> my Headphone station atm...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Whoa Nellie! nice man cave'ish setup there! Wish I had the space to set up something like this.


WhiteNoise said:


> You need a hat rack!


Ain't that the truth, brah!

BTW, puma99dk |, very nice headphone stand you've got there, I like that it has those rounded mounts (or whatever they're called) as feet, mine do not have those.


----------



## puma99dk| (Aug 9, 2016)

GamerGuy said:


> Whoa Nellie! nice man cave'ish setup there! Wish I had the space to set up something like this.
> Ain't that the truth, brah!
> 
> BTW, puma99dk |, very nice headphone stand you've got there, I like that it has those rounded mounts (or whatever they're called) as feet, mine do not have those.



The feet are some round somethings with m3 tape on the buttom didn't install them doe bcs right now the stand is on my gigantic mousepad.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 18, 2016)

Well i think I'm pretty much done with my pc/headphone station...can't think of anything else I want or need at the moment...though I wouldn't mind adding an EL88 tube amp to my stack! lol


----------



## Dethroy (Aug 18, 2016)

Someone may like this...  (I don't)

 

Been using a bunch of old PC game boxes of beloved classics that I velcroed together (don't have a pic of it at work unfortunately).
For those that don't remember what a box looked like


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 18, 2016)

lol I still have one shelf at home dedicated to PC box games.


----------



## Ahhzz (Aug 18, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> lol I still have one shelf at home dedicated to PC box games.


I'll pic mine when I get home


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 18, 2016)

Ahhzz said:


> I'll pic mine when I get home



I'll do the same!


----------



## Dethroy (Aug 19, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> lol I still have one shelf at home dedicated to PC box games.


So do I. And the best part about the "game boxes headphone stand" is that you can change the appearance as often as you like


----------



## Ahhzz (Aug 21, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> lol I still have one shelf at home dedicated to PC box games.


----------



## Dethroy (Aug 21, 2016)

I know chances are slim, but I'm going to ask anyway...
Has someone here @ TPU tried both the HiFiMAN HE-400i and the Oppo PM-3 side by side and can shed some light on this comparison? Even though I love my HD598 (one of the best cans for gaming), I seriously consider adding a planar magnetic headphone to my audio inventory...



Ahhzz said:


> View attachment 78112


Gaming history!


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 24, 2016)

Sorry I have not. I have used the Oppo PM-3 though and I thought it had a very warm sound to them. Sounded great with jazz which is what I was listening to with them.

/edit

I enjoyed the Oppo headphones and wanted to buy those at one time but went with the Sennheiser HD600 instead.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 24, 2016)

Ahhzz said:


> I'll pic mine when I get home



I was on vacation but as promised: (Don't miss the few on the top shelf! Love me some ME)

Oh yeah and I have a bunch in the jewel case as well. They are currently packed in a box as we just moved in about a month ago. Once I find that box I will update this post.


----------



## Ahhzz (Aug 24, 2016)

WhiteNoise said:


> I was on vacation but as promised: (Don't miss the few on the top shelf! Love me some ME)
> 
> Oh yeah and I have a bunch in the jewel case as well. They are currently packed in a box as we just moved in about a month ago. Once I find that box I will update this post.


Nice collection!


----------



## WhiteNoise (Aug 24, 2016)

It is much smaller than it once was. My Wife hated all the games I had when we were first living together and as soon as we married she was like, "You don't need those games, they are ugly and you need to get rid of them or at least most of them."

/sigh


----------



## Kursah (Aug 24, 2016)

Dethroy said:


> I know chances are slim, but I'm going to ask anyway...
> Has someone here @ TPU tried both the HiFiMAN HE-400i and the Oppo PM-3 side by side and can shed some light on this comparison? Even though I love my HD598 (one of the best cans for gaming), I seriously consider adding a planar magnetic headphone to my audio inventory...
> 
> Gaming history!



I have owned the HE-400's and PM-3's before. I sold my HE-400's a while back though...had to shelf them since my environment was too noisy for em. The HE-400's have a different sound from the 400i's, but I really enjoyed the 400's...very fast, clear, easy to tune via EQ and amping, though needed amping to be truly enjoyed.

The PM-3's were good...but I have big hears and the pressure hurt even after a few days. Oppo has a great return policy and I had to use it unfortunately. They were really nice, warm, smooth. Not as crisp or detailed as the 400's were...but I will say the PM-3's were easier to listen to at any volume for that reason. The HE-400's were more raw, detail providing...it seemed as if all music and sounds had layers...you could literally pick them apart on the 400's....not so much on the PM-3's. That could be considered a good or bad thing according to your listening preferences.

The HE-400's also could provide a lot of bass, surprisingly so considering how open they are (very very very open). The PM-3's could manage, but could never match the 400's...mostly due to driver size I imagine. 

After selling my HE-400's and returning the PM-3's, I settled on the AKG K553 Pro's for $120 on Massdrop (currently on sale there now too!). For a pair of headphones that cost a fraction of what I paid for the HE-400's or PM-3's, I am very happy with the sound, detail, bass (punch and extension), comfort and adjustability and very very very good passive isolation. While I still sometimes miss the HE-400's because I truly enjoyed their sound, I don't miss the weight and I don't miss the missus complaining when I fired up some old Pantera, Metallica, etc. etc.

I did just add a Schitt Magni 2 HP amp to my collection (FiiO E9 1st gen, Aune T1 first gen, Denon AVR-1613)...and am comparing it to the T1's amp on the 553's. I will try to get a picture of my gear at some point and share!


----------



## WhiteNoise (Oct 22, 2016)

Most of my headphones. There are about 5 not in this photo.


----------



## WhiteNoise (Nov 3, 2016)

My latest setup:


----------



## remixedcat (Nov 3, 2016)

Headphones:
Beyerdynamic DT770Pro80




Main:
(Description in image)
Got an Aiwa ExOS9 x2 for review (releasing it in a week or so) Given 2 for "link mode" test. Connected via AUX to DAC and 2nd is linked to first with bluetooth. Not discussing further till review launched. 
Router on floor's review is coming soon as well still testing!


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Nov 3, 2016)

given i am a wood carver perhaps i should make a better effort.


----------



## remixedcat (Nov 3, 2016)

get gud


----------



## WhiteNoise (Nov 3, 2016)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> View attachment 80754
> 
> 
> given i am a wood carver perhaps i should make a better effort.




Brilliant!


----------

