Yeah I’m with you on not using streaming services. I just support artists on bandcamp directly if able. Like; if they have their own storefront. Otherwise I just chuck money at them for merch and whatnot if I’m not able.

I have a 16 year old HD600 and it still sounds better than every headphone I’ve heard. I’d say no, or if they do; it’s so minimal you’d likely not notice or care much.

I’ve only heard it when I was first getting into audio and I did not hear any real difference between it and any of the MP3’s I had downloaded on my PC. Maybe they was slightly louder than my MP3s? Idk.

I think amp decision would probably just be preferences and whatnot anyways, and the most powerful and expensive one will likely not mean the one you like most.

Different amps and dacs handle things slightly different from one another. Perhaps you’ll notice small details between some you prefer over the other.

They “do” but honestly with anything the scalability is so minimal and not really worth pursuing if you do not like the headphone already, just play with EQ or get a better headphone. (To which EQing might require a decent amp if you’re seriously playing with it a ton, like; adding a lot of dB to some parts of the sound and preamping it down so its not too loud). I think a better DAC would be better suited, to which it would require an amp most likely?

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I got the Piety since people said it was good with the HD600, and much better than my Heresy. Differences are quite minimal between the two. Obviously they’re the same price point, but most people I know who have way more expensive sources say even with more expensive amps; they say that source memeing is not worth it, unless you know you’re only getting minimal improvements in things you like.

Tidal is also shit too from what I hear. Multiple sources of mine who have way more experience with headphones than me have said its streaming quality is garbage, and as a result; adds extra bass and treble into the music.

Nothing. Burn-in does not exist at all. It’s some archaic snake oil that obviously headphone manufacturers, especially dubious ones like HiFiMAN will jump on to use up your return window.

Also ignore anyone trying to tell you cables or amplifiers will somehow improve your headphones drastically. With amps/dacs there will be differences, but they’ll be so small that it’s likely to not persuade you to enjoy your headphones more. Cables are a complete sham though.

I suggest looking into EQ. It’s not some huge boogeyman that some audiophiles lead people to believe. It can do wonders in making your headphones sound better, and it’s free. It’s not always the perfect solution, because it doesn’t vastly improve features of a headphone that do not deal with frequency response, but it may mean the tuning is more palatable for you.

I’m pretty big into headphones and I still am content with MP3 generally (though I do admittedly listen almost exclusively to FLAC since… why not?) AAC is just as good as mp3, and your actual limiations are probably with the headphones you’re using. If you really wanted to; you can just buy a (whatever port your iphone has) to 3.5mm dongle. It’s good enough for 99% of people probably. Unless you have a headphone that’s difficult to drive.