Headphone amp from NAIM DAC-V1

[pupazaru]

Hi, for NAIM DAC-V1 it is said in the review "Brilliant headphone amp".

Can the amp deliver the maximum from headphones like HIFIMAN HE-500 or Audez'e LCD-2? How is the amp compared with others like Audiolab M-DAC, MusicalFidelity M1DAC, Black Cube Linear or Violectric v200?

I have read that the amps from Audiolab M-DAC or Benchmark dac1 are driving sufficiently something like HIFIMAN HE-500 or Audez'e LCD-2 but not at their maximum.

KR,

Cristian

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

Haven't heard it myself, but I believe Matt49 has recently been using the Naim and really liked it... hopefully he will be along to tell you more.

Mac

 

[matt49]

Yes, as Mac says, I had one on demo a couple of weeks ago.

I thought the headphone stage was lovely: real Class A smoothness and good bounce and drive. Having said that, I was using Grado SR325is, which aren't as demanding as the headphones you mention. I'd be a little concerned, especially about the Hifiman HE-500s, which take quite a lot of driving. (I currently have these and the Audeze LCD2s on trial. Unfortunately this didn't overlap with the Naim DAC V-1 demo.) I think you'd need to do a demo.

In terms of absolute sound quality, I'd put the Naim alongside the Audiolab MDAC, though the MDAC is half the price of the Naim. They're quite different. The Naim has less extension at each end of the frequency range and sounds less detailed than the MDAC. Arguably it's a bit more 'musical' though.

Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[dangalf]

Hi pupazaru,

It kind of depends what you mean by 'their maximum'. The V200 drive the LCD-2s very well and are a very good match however I'm sure I could get more out of them if I spent thousands of pounds buying even better equipment

The LCD-2s are relatively easy to drive for a high-end headphone so I imagine the Naim will do the job however I've not listened to the Naim.

If £1200 is your budget I personally wouldn't spend £650 on the V200 as I believe a higher % of the budget should be spent on the DAC than the Amp.

Best thing to do is to demo them

 

[pauln]

I can't see any power output quoted for this on the Naim website, maybe it's not there or just tucked away but it might indicate that it's lowish. Certainly Violectric give all that information and the power output from the V200 (and all their other amps) is plenty. Also, the output imedance is given as <10, that's pretty rubbish as well really.

I know which one I'd buy and it wouldn't be the one with the designer name. To be fair, it does have a dac and preamp function but then for a similar price you could get a Burson conductor which has all the same functions and has a spec that includes power output - it is huge and enough for any hard to drive HiFiMan phone.

I'm one who believes the opposite to dangalf and would say concentrate on the quality/power output of the amp; a perfectly good dac can be had for less than £100 - unless of course you believe all the hype.

If you follow the link on this page http://www.whathifi.com/forum/headphones-etc/benchmark-dac2-hgc-review to quadpatch's site, you'll find lots of good reviews and if you read NwAvGuys blog you might learn an awful lot. IMHO.