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| Headphone Amps (full-size) Discussion of desktop headphone amps. |
05-05-2007, 01:24 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 674
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A Confession: five months, no amp
Like the title says--currently, I'm listening to Absent Lovers by King Crimson on my great DT990--connected straight to a DAC, with a volume control to cut out the hiss. Underpowered, I know, but it's still got great soundstage, balance, etc., and it sounds a lot better than my old HD555. I should have gotten it around Christmas, but breakage and money issues got in the way...and now I finally am in reach of getting one. It's not like those last five months were easy on the Beyer, either; I could have gotten one much faster, but most of my free money slipped into new CDs.
What I'm really asking is: how much of an improvement am I looking at with a decent, ~$150-250 amp? I'm considering a Portaphile V2^2 Maxxed, used Headfive, or Xenos 1HA-EPC, but I'm always open for others. Thanks for the help.
__________________
Upon us all, a little rain must fall...
In full use: Beyerdynamic DT990, Shure SE420, Koss KSC75
The rig: foobar 192-320 MP3/FLAC -> Silverstone EB01 -> Original Master -> v.2005 Beyer DT990/250
The portable: iPod Classic -> SE420
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05-05-2007, 01:25 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Montréal, Canada
Posts: 2,283
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As much as I'd like to recommend the Portaphile, I'll always suggest a Meier amp for Beyer phones.
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05-05-2007, 01:29 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 587
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Will the Headfive work well with the 600 ohm DT-990s?
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05-05-2007, 01:30 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Between the North Pole and the South Pole
Posts: 1,672
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Yeah, what about something like the Arietta? It might be slightly out of your price range, but worth it in my opinion.
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Main Rig: Kenwood DP-1100II CDP -> MAD EAR+ HD -> Grado RS-1's
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05-05-2007, 01:32 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 587
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Were you talking to me or stew?
The impression I got was that the Arietta has negligible improvement over the Headfive for more money.
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05-05-2007, 01:34 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 674
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M0T0XGUY
Yeah, what about something like the Arietta? It might be slightly out of your price range, but worth it in my opinion.
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I thought that the Arietta was just a rebranded, slightly upgraded version of the Headfive. Does it offer that much over the Headfive?
Nevermind, just echoed GSurge.
__________________
Upon us all, a little rain must fall...
In full use: Beyerdynamic DT990, Shure SE420, Koss KSC75
The rig: foobar 192-320 MP3/FLAC -> Silverstone EB01 -> Original Master -> v.2005 Beyer DT990/250
The portable: iPod Classic -> SE420
Feedback
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05-05-2007, 01:59 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: South County, R.I.
Posts: 4,637
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Well, yeah,
Go used H5 @ 'bout $210 shipped should get you in! Those pieces are built for the long haul~
That's what I sold mine for recently...
Or also, keep a lookout for a Pimenta on the F/S subforums~
Good luck~
__________________
(\___/) K-701s, DT-990s('05e), AH-D2000s, K-501s ~
(ó_@)* Corda Opera Custom, B'Head Foreplay Pre ~
//((?))\\- CambridgeAudio CA-740c, SB3, Sirius ~
((TEAM)) The Dead are playin' as LIVE, again ~
((Listen))* Music IS the Doctor of my Soul ~
"" ""
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05-05-2007, 03:15 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Posts: 16,098
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Another amp to consider would be a Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. They go from $140 to $190 and IMO they sound very good.
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05-05-2007, 07:07 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: South Bend, Indiana, USA.
Posts: 147
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One thing to consider is that you may be protecting your DAC by using a separate amp. Assuming you're using line-level outs on your DAC, and not a headphone amp, the DAC was designed to drive a very high impedance input--in the range of 10k to 100k ohms. Lower the impedance, raise the current. Some line-level output stages would see enough current to generate a damaging amount of heat when driving a low impedance circuit.
Of course, your volume control might be high impedance, and, if so, no worries on this front. 
__________________
MB Quart Phone 240; Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Live. Triangle Electroacoustique TE-60 -> Thiel CS 1.5.
Pioneer Elite PD-52 (modified); ALAC -> M-Audio Firewire Audiophile; Parasound T/DQ-1600.
I don't really care about your hot-blooded sister,
I'm sure there's a man for to love her and miss her,
I didn't mean nothin', I just happened to kiss her,
but honey I was thinkin' about you.
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05-05-2007, 07:13 AM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Wayne, PA
Posts: 1,173
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Man, you gotta get an amp.
I truly believe that a cheap pair of headphones with an awesome amp can be just as good or better than a great headphones that are poorly amped.
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05-05-2007, 03:59 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Between the North Pole and the South Pole
Posts: 1,672
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GSurge
Were you talking to me or stew?
The impression I got was that the Arietta has negligible improvement over the Headfive for more money.
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I've yet to hear a Headfive, but I must say that the Arietta does hold its own with Beyerdynamic phones. I was aware of the general consensus that the Headfive sounds better than the Arietta, but I like to recommend amps that are currently in production before I suggest ones that are accessible only by the second hand markets.
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Main Rig: Kenwood DP-1100II CDP -> MAD EAR+ HD -> Grado RS-1's
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