new to headphones dac/amp questions?

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Hi,

I will start first with my story,

I'm new to all the hifi and I just got myself a new speaker setup ( hooked up to my sat box and ps4 ) for my appartment.

I got a yamaha rn500 and b & w cm1's and i'm really glad with it and i'm totally stoked about music listening( most of the time streaming through spotify or airplay).

At a certain time at night i need to think about my neighboors so solution: headphones

Do i need to get a DAC/AMP or a seperate headphone amp and normal dac. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of options to pick from.

If yes wich ones do you suggest?

I have not decided on the headphone yet but i think i'll get the senheiser hd650. ( i'm open for other solutions)

I'd like to spend some money on a dac/amp but not more then 250eur.

Thanks for reading,

Curious and learning hifi newb

 

[pauln]

I have the HD 650's and love them. I can also recommend the Beyerdynamic DT880's for a slightly different more analytical sound. It depends what kind of sound you like. I found the Senns to be more relaxing. Your Yamaha has a headphone output, why not start with that and see what you think? I use my cans late at night plugged directly into the TV and they sound really good, dialogue is clear and can be easily heard above background sounds. I find it a a very immersive way of watching TV & movies and infinitely better than listening with speakers at a low volume. I've tried them via the TV's RCA out into a headphone amp and could discern no difference in sound quality.

For music, invariably from my laptop, I do use a DAC/amp, it's the O2 ODAC combo, designed by NwAvGuy and available in the UK and US, perhaps continental Europe also. To me at least, it's an improvement on the laptops output - the Sennheisers are relatively high impedance and improve with an amp. It's within your budget too.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000759563588]

Tube amp sound plus rolling to tweak it how you like. Bargain USB DAC.

Hope this helps.

 

[JoelSim]

I think your best bet will be to buy some nice headphones and then if you feel you want to get an extra 5% out of them then get a DAC too. The other thing is the quality of music files you have, if it's Spotify Premium level at 320kbps then that will suffice, but I see little point in getting either good headphones or a DAC if any less. Rather like buying a 4k TV to watch YouTube clips, it would be a bit of a waste.

I would also need to know more about what sort of music you listen to before pointing you in a particular direction. For instance the excellent Beyer DT880 are far more appropriate for rock/vocals/strings than they are for dance music etc etc.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000759563588]

The other thing is the quality of music files you have, if it's Spotify Premium level at 320kbps then that will suffice, but I see little point in getting either good headphones or a DAC if any less.

A good point Joel, though I'd like to chip in about headphone amplifiers as, in my opinion, you would need one for a laptop/PC or mobile phone source, as well as some 'full size' kit. A good DAC and headphone amp is a great investment, for example my Aune T1 on my PC - bigger, fuller and more robust sound all round.

 

[JoelSim]

The other thing is the quality of music files you have, if it's Spotify Premium level at 320kbps then that will suffice, but I see little point in getting either good headphones or a DAC if any less.

A good point Joel, though I'd like to chip in about headphone amplifiers as, in my opinion, you would need one for a laptop/PC or mobile phone source, as well as some 'full size' kit. A good DAC and headphone amp is a great investment, for example my Aune T1 on my PC - bigger, fuller and more robust sound all round.

I don't disagree, it's just a matter of priority. If we use the YouTube analogy on a high res TV...you wouldn't buy a magnifying glass to improve this, you would first of all ensure that your TV programme was high quality, and then you could amplify it.