HD 599

I recently acquired a mint condition Schiit Folkvangr 10-tube monster of an OTL & OCL vacuum tube amplifier from a collector with 2 spare sets of NOS CCCP Soviet power (tall 8×) tubes and a set of extra Gold Lion Genalex Russian new-manufacture input (short ×2) tubes. I've found a great little piece of furniture to place the amp on, there's a little shelf for my JDS Labs DAC I have underneath feeding 2V line out signal to the Schiit Amplifier via RCA using USB-B to USB-C input with my phone and laptop computer while sitting at the couch. I've tested quite a few of my headphones with this amp and my Sennheiser HD660S2 are definitely the most enjoyable. Their high impedance and excellent stock sound profile sans EQ make them ideal for listening on this tube amp. Definitely more enjoyable than my HD6XX or HD58X, not to mention far classier looking with a better 6.35mm terminated cable. This combination sounds great on almost any music I throw at it in my Tidal collection. Smooth and serene. I adore the tube glow while the amp is operating. The noise floor is beautifully black and there are no spurious noises from the tubes as far as I can tell. What a find! To think only 250 were ever made. One in this condition, fully working, with plenty of tubes... I consider it borderline unobtainium. This thing is really a statement piece. Looks fantastic in the living room of my apartment. I've never been more excited about high-end audio gear in my entire tenure as an audiophile. This combination is truly impressive. If I could choose to own a single piece of Schiit gear, it would definitely be this Folkvangr.

Let me start by saying I'm not invalidating anyone's opinions. The headphones mentioned in this thread are truly amazing and the people who recommended them are absolutely right to praise them. However, the lesson I've learned is that one's own anatomy plays such a huge role that sometimes you just have to use the headphones for a while to know if you really like them. My current setup is Fiio K11 R2R connected to Tv via optical and ps5 via usb. So adding eq is a hassle or doesn’t make sense financially. # Lesson 1 - stop researching the product you already bought If you look hard enough, you’ll find faults in reviews that you never would’ve noticed on your own. I started the journey with HD599, and within a couple of weeks I dove into posts about how better HD560s is, so I was like if this is so good how amazing would the better version of this headphones be? Went to HE400SE from HD560s for "wider soundstage" while I got the wider soundstage, I lost comfort, added capra strap, didn't help. Then went to HD560S again, well clamp force is too much. After countless headphones including HD800S, Edition XS, Fiio FT1, etc. # Lesson 2 - Know Thyself I stopped looking at headphones for a while and started looking at myself. Why did I find certain headphones uncomfortable, exactly where and how did they bother me? What sound signatures did I not like or what headphones gave me headaches and ear ringing even at lower volumes. Visited a doctor, got the TMJ confirmation. Got the confirmation that my ears are too sensitive to volume spikes as well as treble.(60db is what I use my AirPods at). One more thing I found out was via trial and error was that I can't tolerate headphones over 250g on my head, it just gives me headaches or makes me uncomfortable. So now new requirements, the headphone has to have a smooth treble or not too spiky treble(no access to eq), it shouldn't have too much clamp force (TMJ), and it should be light weight like around 250g. I just got tired of changing headphones every couple of months or so. # Lesson 3 - The hardest choices require the strongest wills In the end, I decided to just take a deep breath and accept, some headphones just aren’t for me. Like really, what good is god tier headphone if I can wear it for more than 30 mins? I got the HD599 again. And wow, it’s like a weight has been lifted. Now I just enjoy the games and music. I don’t get annoyed by the headphones or suddenly hear ear ringing when taking the headphones off. And the fun sound signature of HD599 combined with Fiio K11 R2R is cherry on top. This post is just a summary of my own journey. I am posting about it because I found it fascinating how my wrong mindset turned this extremely fun hobby into a restless chase for the perfect headphones dragon. Any HD599 enjoyers here?

From left to right top to bottom. Sennheiser HD800s, Lily Audio Genesis One, Hifiman HE1000se, Focal Utopia 2022, Sony MDR-Z1R 2x Those who have been keeping an eye on my flair may be worried for my finances now that the count is over 10,000. While it is a problem right now I am in a very good position for my goal of buying and selling my way to a endgame setup. Normally if you see me with a pair of headphones it usually means I got it for a great deal. Today though only two of the six I would consider great deals and the others in line with used market pricing. While they all have their stories the two obviously ones is why I have two z1r's. Honestly I have built up a reputation locally and recently someone told me to keep an eye out for fostex th900 mk2 and/or Sony MDR-Z1R. So one for me to try out and the other is for the local person once they pay up (should I charge a fee lol?). For the Lily Audio even with setbacks they were able to deliver productions models pretty much on time with the estimated timeline. I am one of the first six to receive their units and it arrived yesterday. Preliminary listening feels like a z1r's bass with the treble peaks of the hd800s. I hope to have more of a write up about it and afterwards send my unit to oratory1990 as I believe they are a great platform for eq. another thing to note about them was the power requirement scare to drive them as they need a capacitive load. I protect my hearing so I found my DX5 II to drive them just fine with about 15 db to spare on high gain but another user found their DX5 II not to drive them sufficiently to their liking which concerns me about their hearing 😅. another thing that has contributed to my debt is that I won an auction with a bunch of e-stat stuff. afterwards the middlemen service asked me if I was interested in more items but we weren't able to strike a deal as their prices were way above used. for those interested I don't know where they're going to list them so keep an eye out but the two notable and expensive things were a HeadAmp Blue Hawaii (no idea if upgraded) and Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold. anyway that's the update for now and my journey is near the end but it will be amazing when I can share my story in full complete with a spreadsheet. my fun fact is that with the utopia's is my 120th piece of headphone gear i've bought.

Got these hd599se for Christmas from my mom, she was able to snag a pair for $90, and had th a t been my $90 it would have been the best $90 ive ever spent. Ive already logged days on these cans and i cant get enough. My bt headphones are the Sony xm4 and I love them but with these and vinyl its a whole new experience. I don't have a designated headphone amp, ive just been using the headphone out on my denon pma-600ne. Sounds as good as I can tell the difference between. Im very satisfied with these.

I decided to get myself an upgrade for my birthday. I was previously using a pair of HD599s hooked up to the balanced output on my KA15. This really woke them up, but didn't do anything for the clarity or the low end those were lacking in. Clarity is hard to measure for me. I have hearing that allows me to hear electricity in walls (and dog whistles, unfortunately), so I don't tend towards headsets with overly punchy highs. I tried out the HD600 and the Focal Hadenys before getting to these, and found them overly flat, and overly harsh, respectively. The sweet spot for me is in the mids, and these have such a rich and creamy mid response to them. That also aids in creating a breathtaking soundstage. There's a lot going on in a Kate Bush record and these articulate things I swear I've never heard before. Likewise, listening to Charles Mingus, every instrument has position out in front of me, like I can reach out and touch them. These also have fantastic low-end for an open-back headphone, and especially compared to the HD599s. The opening track, "Angel", off Massive Attack's Mezzanine is a great demo of this; the track comes in with an intense synth bass riff that the HD660S2 gives almost perfect weighting to without sounding boomy or weak. I think if you're looking for something with pinpoint accuracy, these aren't the cans for you, because of their extensive low and mid response, but for me, they address the issues I was having with my prior set and have really opened up my music to more exploration. The balance between the low/mids and highs on these seem tailor made for folks who don't want an abrasive high frequency experience. They're relaxed and smooth but still detailed enough to qualify as an audiophile grade experience and a huge step up from the HD5xx. I'm super happy with them.