Dac/ headphone amp for wireless headphones- waste of time?

[Timbot]

Hello everyone! Hope you've all had a great Christmas!

I received a pair of Sennheiser RS160 wireless headphones for Christmas which I so far am very happy with though I have only used my iphone as a source. I also have my iPod on a pure i80 iPod doc and dac into my home cinema amp (sony str dh800 so not exactly top end) which I plan to use.

Would buying a dedicated dac and headphone amp make any difference or does the fact that the headphone transmitter converts the analogue signal to digital and the headphones convert the digital to analogue (I.e. They both have a dac in which may be the limiting step) mean that it won't make any difference? Interested to hear people's thoughts...

 

[quadpatch]

For the reason you described it will be a waste of money. That said it will technically make a difference. Unlike the RS220 with it's digital input, since that stays digital for longer that would see no change at all by adding a DAC. Since you're inputting analogue it means there's potential for mprovement, but it would be so slight it would be ridiculous to spend any money on it. You would be a million times better off spending that money on a better pair of wired headphones. Did I say a million? let's say a trillion! I can't emphasise how much of a waste of money a DAC or amp would be in this situation.

 

[dalethorn]

For the reason you described it will be a waste of money. That said it will technically make a difference. Unlike the RS220 with it's digital input, since that stays digital for longer that would see no change at all by adding a DAC. Since you're inputting analogue it means there's potential for mprovement, but it would be so slight it would be ridiculous to spend any money on it. You would be a million times better off spending that money on a better pair of wired headphones. Did I say a million? let's say a trillion! I can't emphasise how much of a waste of money a DAC or amp would be in this situation.

Great advice! Since the headphone is right on your ears pumping sound directly into your ears (and your brain), give yourself a treat and swap it for something really good. I never regretted the extra expenditure.

 

[Timbot]

Thanks for the advice. Very much appreciated.