Headphone amps/DACs for my latest purchase?

[fr0g]

Ok. I have been investigating and trying out headphones again recently. I had been using my old Sennheiser HD595 and newer Momentum on-ear, but the HD595 are too loud to use in the living room and whilst I enjoy the goofy sound of the Momentums to a degree, they become rather uncomfortable after a while, both physically and sonically.

To cut to the chase, I ended up buying some Shure SR940. I was put off by the plastic, but when I tried them, I knew they were right. Sonically, so far amazing. Crystal clear, open sounding for a closed headphone, and as far as I can tell, pretty flat response, which ultimately is what I was after...They also sound great straight from my phone/s and my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop.

"However".

I wonder if there are any simple, not crazy priced DAC/amps that people might suggest to me. It would be great if they could be used on the phone too, but the main concern is from Windows devices...

 

[Marsbardark]

AKG k 3003i

 

[steve_1979]

Nice headphones.

Check out the Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2Di it's a totally transparent DAC/amp for £180 that will drive just about any headphone you could imagine. I'm very pleased with mine. The build quality isn't the greatest but it is adequate for the price.

It has ultra low distortion measurements that are on a par with the £1500 Benchmark DAC/amp.

 

[steve_1979]

Or if you want a portable one for the laptop the Dragonfly v1.2 could be worth a look for £130.

 

[fr0g]

Nice headphones.

Check out the Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2Di it's a totally transparent DAC/amp for £180 that will drive just about any headphone you could imagine. I'm very pleased with mine. The build quality isn't the greatest but it is adequate for the price.

It has ultra low distortion measurements that are on a par with the £1500 Benchmark DAC/amp.

Cheers Steve.

Yep, I was pretty impressed with the headphones. Not silly priced, but very clear and accurate (to my ears anyway).

I didn't really want to spend so much extra, but if I can track one down I will give it a listen. The dragonfly was in my thoughts, although I would rather it was wired than be a direct usb connection.

The amp doesn't need to be super fancy. The headphones are easy enough to drive.

Hell, my Windows phone drove some Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250 Ohm perfectly well too, when I was auditioning.

To be fair, the sound from probably my main source going forward, a Lenovo Yoga 2 pro, is excellent, but I know that I can get it better, as is the case from most computers.

I think a local shop has the Cambridge audio version of the mini usb style DAC at least so I intend to give that one a try at least.

But I hear a lot about Fiio...?

*edit, ah yes, I really want portable. I have a Beresford usb DAC/amp, and also another wired headphone amp, but I don't want to be tied to the mains...

I should have been more clear in my first post.

 

[Al ears]

As well as the Epiphany already suggested I'd suggest the cheaper of the Geek Out dacs, by all accounts they are sonically superior to just about everything else at up to double the price and so they should being developed by Gavin Fish (cannot say I've heard one but I have ordered one on spec as they have been reviewed by someone who's opinions I have found closely follow my own).

http://www.custom-cable.co.uk//geek-out-dac-headphone-amplifier.html

 

[JoelSim]

I would say be a little careful. Using a headphone amp on a pair of Shure earphones I had made the sound really screechy, whereas normally they are very good and balanced. On another pair of earphones that didn't sound as good without the amp (more bassy and less detailed), the amp worked well and they sounded much better than the Shure.

 

[fr0g]

Cheers.

Gonna kick the idea in the head I think.

To be honest they sound excellent both from phone and my Yoga 2 Pro. I tried my Beresford DAC/headphone amp which I found to be excellent with other headphones, and there is little change.

I may still try to demo the Cambridge Audio when I get a chance, but overall, I am just extremely impressed with the sound I get already.

Best headphone purchase for me, ever.

 

[steve_1979]

I mostly use my Sennheiser's straight out of the headphone output from my Sony MP3 player because it sounds identical to the O2. The only time the O2 sounds different to the Sony is when its playing really bassy music at high volume levels that are loud enough to cause concerns about hearing damage. The O2 is just there for convenience when listening to headphones at the computer.

 

[steve_1979]

Have you tried listening to Infected Mushroom through headphones with the bass turned up high?

 

[fr0g]

Have you tried listening to Infected Mushroom through headphones with the bass turned up high?

Infected Mushroom. I think I have one album of theirs, otherwise it's Spotify, and I don't equalise Spotify any more, since I realised the plugin caused quite severe distortion.

Otherwise, nope... The bass on these phones could be considered recessed by some. If I compare with my Momentum on-ear for instance. But in actual fact it is far more controlled. Where the MOE give a very v-shaped response and lose quite a bit of detail in the lower registers, these are very studio monitor style. Not to everyone's taste, but I guess I have got used to it with the ADM9T, and to a lesser extent the ADM9RS (One reason I now prefer the pairing of 9T with sub, rather than 9RS).