Headphone amplifier

[dudleyperkins]

I want to buy a headphone amplifier. A lot I've looked at seem to be aimed at improving the sound for computer users. I want one to sit alongside, or between, my Arcam CD17 and Sugden A21 amp.

I have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-A700 headphones, their impedance measures 30 ohms.

I've a budget of £500, any suggestions please?

 

[Leeps]

I've heard good reports of the Rega Ear which is very much designed for the use you mentioned and well under-budget.

Just above your price range is the Audiolab M-DAC, which you may find ex-demo at the price you're looking for. Quite a different beast though as it's a DAC, preamp & headphone amp, so you could only use it with its digital-only inputs. A similar product (at the same price) is the Marantz HD-DAC1. I listened to one of these with Denon headphones. It was very detailed although seemed to be trying a little too hard to impress. It could have been the music though as it was a fairly quick listen. But I've seen these used for around the £500 mark too.

Features might be the deciding factor as much as sound quality though. Do you think you'd need a remote? Many headphone amps don't have them and for me that's a deal breaker.

 

[dudleyperkins]

I'll check out the Rega.

The M-Dac could be a possibility, I could use the DAC all the time. It may improve my cd listening, but I have no need of a pre-amp at the moment.

As for a remote control, I don't mind if there is one or not.

 

[ifor]

http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/headphone-amp.htm

if you join the Graham Slee forum community you can try any of his products on a two week home loan

 

[Al ears]

Can I recommend the Creek OBH21 mark2, this saving you a lot of money.

 

[lpv]

I would rather spend half of the budget to get better cans and spend the other half on the amp.

 

[ID.]

I would rather spend half of the budget to get better cans and spend the other half on the amp.

That's what I was thinking. You budget seems to be around 6 times the price of your headphones. seems like a waste to me.

Much of the headphone amp market these days seems to be targeting computer audiophiles and desktop listening so there are a lot of combined DAC/headphone amps. Now if you are interested in using a DAC either for your CD player or other sources something like the M-DAC would be great (provided you like the sound signature).

As far as pure headphone amps, Schiit do a good range starting with the magni-2.

http://schiit.com/products/magni-2

Personally I'd split my budget between better headphones and an amp.

 

[james_LR90]

I seem to be the only person who mentions NVA on here so take a look at the NVA AP10H.

 

[James7]

There's a couple of ways of approaching this. You could, as suggested, spend less on the amp in order to buy some better headphones. On the other hand, you have the opportunity with your budget to either buy a headphone amp/ DAC that could improve the sound of your CD player - the M-DAC, if you like its sound, is an obvious choice here and well worth auditioning I think, as would the Marantz HD DAC-1 - or look at getting a high quality amp that would make the most of any future headphone upgrade.

A couple of brands worth considering in addition to those mentioned - for solid state designs, Musical Fidelity and, even more so, Fidelity Audio; for valve-based designs, Icon Audio's HP8 Mk II.

 

[lpv]

Schiit products mentioned above are indeed very good sounding and I recommend them a lot.. there's also great little USB dac/ headphone amp called ODAC ( google it) as well as Apogee One which also works as a battery powered portbale dac/ amp... things start to look different if you additionaly require preamp and remote control.. anyway, plenty of options but I would get better cans and you still have a nice budget for appropriate amp so you will end up with more balanced set up.

 

[steve_1979]

Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2Di

 

[lpv]

Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2Di

or JDS Labs https://www.jdslabs.com/store/#featured

 

[lpv]

I think Apogee One is a better choice as it can be DC or battery powered ( so portable) or can be used as a dac/ preamp if you have some active speakers around.. sound quality is top class and all under £200.

 

[dudleyperkins]

I think better headphones will be the way forward and a good amp to go with them.

 

[steve_1979]

I think better headphones will be the way forward and a good amp to go with them.

Agreed.

 

[steve_1979]

I think Apogee One is a better choice as it can be DC or battery powered ( so portable) or can be used as a dac/ preamp if you have some active speakers around.. sound quality is top class and all under £200.

I chose mine based on the features that were needed (desktop use only ect) but that Apogee does look very good and more flexible having the option of being either mains or battery powered. They should both sound identical and when I tested my ODAC I found it to be audibly transparent when used as a DAC/pre into active speakers.

 

[lpv]

I think Apogee One is a better choice as it can be DC or battery powered ( so portable) or can be used as a dac/ preamp if you have some active speakers around.. sound quality is top class and all under £200.

I chose mine based on the features that were needed (desktop use only ect) but that Apogee does look very good and more flexible having the option of being either mains or battery powered. They should both sound identical and when I tested my ODAC I found it to be audibly transparent when used as a DAC/pre into active speakers.

Did you use headphone out to feed signal to actives?

 

[steve_1979]

I think Apogee One is a better choice as it can be DC or battery powered ( so portable) or can be used as a dac/ preamp if you have some active speakers around.. sound quality is top class and all under £200.

I chose mine based on the features that were needed (desktop use only ect) but that Apogee does look very good and more flexible having the option of being either mains or battery powered. They should both sound identical and when I tested my ODAC I found it to be audibly transparent when used as a DAC/pre into active speakers.

Did you use headphone out to feed signal to actives?

I used the headphone output with the DM5's as they need a pre-amp as well as a DAC. I've also tried the DAC output which bypasses the headphone amp section with my DM10's and the ODAC sounds audibly transparent both ways.

 

[lpv]

Did you try to connect your ODAC to DM10's same way as you did with DM5's so the ODAC works as a dac/ pre amp?

Would be interesting to know the results...

 

[steve_1979]

Did you try to connect your ODAC to DM10's same way as you did with DM5's so the ODAC works as a dac/ pre amp?

Would be interesting to know the results...

Yes I have. Out of curiosity I wanted to check if the ODAC really sounds as good as the impressively low destortion measurements suggest it should.

As you probably already know the DM10's have a built in DAC with a digital optical input and the ODAC has a USB input. This made it very convenient to set up an instantaneous A/B comparison by simply swapping between the digital optical output and a USB output on my computers audio driver setting.

I've tried A/B comparisons using the ODAC from both the variable gain headphone amplifier output and also from the fixed gain output of the DAC section which bypasses the headphone amplifier. When used either way the ODAC sounds indistinguishable to the AVI DAC.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Try a rega ear mk 2,it's a fantastic little amp for about £200,leaving you with a bit of cash for a decent set of cans (grado sr325i s/h or the ie's )I believe you have to go a long way and a good bit of cash to get something that's really worth the extra £'s in the headphone amplifier world.I think a good set of cans is your best bang for your buck compared to h/amp upgrades.

 

[lpv]

Did you try to connect your ODAC to DM10's same way as you did with DM5's so the ODAC works as a dac/ pre amp?

Would be interesting to know the results...

Yes I have. Out of curiosity I wanted to check if the ODAC really sounds as good as the impressively low destortion measurements suggest it should.

As you probably already know the DM10's have a built in DAC with a digital optical input and the ODAC has a USB input. This made it very convenient to set up an instantaneous A/B comparison by simply swapping between the digital optical output and a USB output on my computers audio driver setting.

I've tried A/B comparisons using the ODAC from both the variable gain headphone amplifier output and also from the fixed gain output of the DAC section which bypasses the headphone amplifier. When used either way the ODAC sounds indistinguishable to the AVI DAC.

Thanks. I wish I could to the same simple A/ B comparision but I don't think it's that easy in my set up.