Advice for headphone amp and dac

My son has had good luck with a Schiit Vali (his is not microphonic; I wonder if the previously mentioned example had a microphonic tube in it) and Modi Multibit combo. It drove my Sennheiser HD800S’s with drive and authority with a really exuberant sound. I must say that I was impressed! A Schiit Lyr might be a better ticket, though the Asgard with the multibit built in DAC might be the most bang for the buck. If you want to keep within the Sennheiser family, the new HD660v2 is easy to drive and sounds pretty good. I heard it at the Capital Audio Fest a few weeks ago.

Thanks very much everyone. I have spent the morning checking out your suggestions. Topping I have researched before. The Xduoo TA-22 looks interesting and good reviews. The Chord Mojo 2 also. These 2 I was not familiar with at all. Glad I asked. Thanks

Since there are already a lot of good suggestions on this thread, I thought I'd give an "out of the box" idea: A vintage, mid seventies receiver! With your budget, you could get a really nice Marantz/Harmon Kardon/Sansui/Sony/Pioneer receiver. They look amazing when fully restored with LED kits and would match your Sennheisers from the 70s perfectly! All you would need is a Schiit Audio DAC and you're in business. 

I have a top of the line system, but my integrated amp doesn't have a headphone jack, so I'm using a Tandberg TR-2045 from 1978 as my headphone amp for the rare, late-night listening seshes and it sounds phenomenal (I use Sennheiser HD 600s).

Just another option. 

Good Luck! 

I think exactly the same. But instead of a receiver i recommend for example in the Sansui line the AU series or the alpha series.

I have also a top system so surprising for the price i pity those who had paid more for a marginal S.Q. differences, then i believe you . To beat my 1000 dollars system think about minimum 15,000 bucks. And even with it Only the Immanis probably can beat my modified K340 .

I suggest the same to the OP : low cost product with acoustic thinking and reading  and experiments .

Since there are already a lot of good suggestions on this thread, I thought I’d give an "out of the box" idea: A vintage, mid seventies receiver! With your budget, you could get a really nice Marantz/Harmon Kardon/Sansui/Sony/Pioneer receiver. They look amazing when fully restored with LED kits and would match your Sennheisers from the 70s perfectly! All you would need is a Schiit Audio DAC and you’re in business.

I have a top of the line system, but my integrated amp doesn’t have a headphone jack, so I’m using a Tandberg TR-2045 from 1978 as my headphone amp for the rare, late-night listening seshes and it sounds phenomenal (I use Sennheiser HD 600s).

Just another option.

 

Good Luck!

mahgister and crawfishdaddi. I understand what you're saying. Something to consider except I'm not sure I want to add a big box to my rack. Back in the 70s and 80s I had receivers or amp/preamp that I used the Sennheizers with. They worked fine.

There is a vintage dealer near me. I'll check their site out of curiosity.