I am curious if I would benefit from a budget amp like the Monolith Liquid Spark for general mixing use. I generally have no complaints about the volume level I’m achieving with this combination, but I have noticed that I’m having a difficult time perceiving subtle dynamic characteristics like compression, especially in the airy high frequency areas that is complicating the translation of my mixes. I’ve never used a headphone amp, so in one sense I don’t know what I’m missing, but I acknowledge that this may simply be a limitation of my listening skill and headphones in general. What do you think?
Short answer - yes
Long answer - Yes. I’m not an expert on this matter or well experienced with gear but providing the headphone with more / ample power showcases more of the headphone’s capabilities. Example, more bass or pronounced bass, airiness, detail and clarity
HD6XX wont give you that airy presence due to its tuning.
Youll have to eq it in , but since its for mixing you will mess the results.
Dont mix on the hd6xx
Julian Krause tested the SSL 2 along with its headphone output. Assuming the headphone output on the SSL 2+ is the same:
it’s output impedance is low enough to not change the frequency response of the 6XX,
- distortion is pretty bad at low impedance loads, but is good enough at 300 Ohm,
- all other parameters are not an issue.
So the amplification is good enough.
I think you would benefit the most from EQ. I suggest the preset from oratory1990: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qs4hs92tvfbwr04/Sennheiser HD650.pdf?dl=0