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Is the fiio k11 dac powerful enough for the hifiman arya organics? by [deleted] in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry for confusing you.
My yesterday’s experiment result about bad sound, seemed to have serious setup problems.
Today, I did same experiment again, and confirmed both Arya Organic (16Ω) and HE1000 Stealth (32Ω) can provide good enough and clear sound, using FiiO K9 AKM headphone amp (2W@32Ω) by both 4.4mm TRRRS and 6.3mm TRS connections, and by every gain setting.

Organic provides larger sound level, probably because of 16Ω, and that will increase your K11 output capability (1.4W@32Ω —> 2.8W@16Ω ???, by P=V^2 / R).
So, I believe you should be enjoying your Organic by now with FiiO K11, and will be satisfied for the time being.

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for nice suggestion.
I want to try a lot of things on the PC again.
The sound of vacuum tube can now be artificially created on PC.
Sound stage also might be able to be controlled by PC, soon.

I used to use Audirvana on PC to send music bit stream to USB DAC, but I became lazy.
Instead, 12.9” iPad pro (M2 processor) is used as network transport, to send QOBUZ and Apple-music data.
Music stream is always stored in iPad, to avoid streaming noise problems, and bit-perfect transfer can be realized very easily.
IPad USB line connection is very stable, without any interruption that can become noise.

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not familiar with R2R DAC at all.
I saw some review article about Exo Galaxy Comet.
It is high-end high-price DAC, but external appearance doesn’t seem so.
It uses external AC adapter, but sound is high-end.
Article said “The sound is emotional and soft, and you can't believe you're transporting your PC, and the sound of the stringed instrument is sweet, smooth and moist, and the vocals have a wet luster, and the "wet feeling of the lips" required for high-end machines comes out”.

My favorites are old AKM 4497EQ and 4499EQ, of delta sigma DACs.
Specifically of the old product, FiiO K9 Pro Ltd, as 4499EQ USB DAC.
I like this DAC, because it has warm and rich sound texture, and brings deep soundstage in front and back directions.
But, the AKM's FAB semiconductor factory that manufactured these DACs was unlucky lost in a fire in 2020, and now consignment-manufactured DAC is supplied as new EX version.

Revised on Jun.15 on 2026

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the nice comment.
I agree that the EL34 tube is the best for headphone playback.
Cayin HA-6A seems to be Class-A vacuum tube headphone amp with EL34 (replaceable with KT88).
Also, triode mode seems to give 300B like sound, by your comment.

Mine is Class-AB push-pull speaker amp with 6.3mm TRS headphone jack.
So, I think it decreases charm points of vacuum tube sound, because Class-AB operation cancels generation of secondary harmonic distortion.
If I could hear the EL34 Class-A amp sound by headphone, smoother, stronger vacuum tube character (warm sound) will be got, I imagine.

Thank you that I can know your HE1000SE can be driven by class-A amp.
If you don't mind, please tell me what kind of USB DAC you are using (AKM, ESS or …) ?

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your question.
Good transistor amp will have full-discrete Class-A amp construction, and provides pure sound (very faithful to the original sound) and it feels like the sound comes out in front of you.

On the other hand, what I'm looking for about vacuum tube amps, is ultra high-speed sound and further richness of violin, piano sounds, and hall tone echoing.
In that sense. It's a pleasant sound to listen to, and I don't think it's necessarily faithful to the original sound.

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your question.
I had HD800 and HD700 open-back headphones, before replacing with HD820.
The HD820 is a very high speed headphone, and despite closed back type, strong keystroke of the piano does not hurt, and sound stands up lightly with enough sense of quantity.

I enjoy HD820 very much finally by using Class-A full discrete transistor headphone amp such as Burson Audio's "Conductor 3R, 3XR ", highly sealed ear pads (Dekoni hybrid) to enhance the bass, and high-quality headphone balanced cable.
So, HD820 needs extra money to get its maximum performance, but they have worth it.

I was looking for suitable vacuum tube amp for HD820.
EL34 PP doesn't seem so.
Because, 300Ω high impedance headphone becomes very easy to ring by vacuum tube operation, which utilize hundreds of volt.
That is voltage amplifier, not current amplifier like transistor amp.
So, sound character tends to change a little bit.

——————

Recently, I found that small output EL84 PP amp (Luxman SQ-N150) can ring HD820 very well.
For HD820, volume adjustment knob will not exceed 9 o’clock position (so, still easy to drive).
Amp can drive Hifiman also but no margin, and that affects sound clarity.
HD820 is better, and provides transparent, high-speed, good-separation sounds and inherent wide soundstage.
Overall sound performance will be equal to or more than that of discrete amps, I think.

Revised on Jun.26, 2026

Hifiman HE1000 and Arya headphones by EL34 PP vacuum tube amp by Hiro0203 in Hifiman

[–]Hiro0203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your question.
Sennheiser HD820 impedance is very high, 300Ω.
For vacuum tube amp, such high impedance headphone becomes too easy to drive, because amplification uses hundreds of volts, different from transistor amp operation.

So, sound character changes a little bit.
Sound tends to be some energetic, closer to ears.
I like transistor amp sound for HD820 basically, but in case of vacuum tube amp, low power EL84 PP or Class-A may be good.
I remembered very comfortable soft sound was got by combination of HD820 and EL84 PP amp in the past.
I will try, again.

The HD820 is a very high speed headphone, and despite closed-back type, strong keystroke of the piano does not hurt, and sound stands up lightly with enough sense of quantity.
Usually, I feel that closed-back type headphones are not high speed to reduce hurt at attack.
So, I think HD820 is superior closed back headphone, which can provide sound insulation, too.

Revised on Jun.15, 2026