There's been a lot of talk recently regarding the headphone outs on integrated amplifiers. Particularly, whether or not there is any validity to the assumption that manufacturers consider them as an afterthought. Somewhere in this thread,
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/man...-jacks-338299/
I mentioned that I was going to be taking ownership of the Onkyo A-9555 integrated amp. Well, I finally got around to comparing its headphone out to my also recently acquired HeadAmp GS-1. For good measure, I also compared the headphone out of my Onkyo DX-7555 CDP, which is a companion to the A-9555. Please be forewarned that I am not going to bog you with detailed descriptions of how each sounds. The purpose is to demonstrate whether or not the two Onkyo products can drive headphones as well as a dedicated headphone amp.
For comparison purposes, I have the CDP feeding the GS-1, and using the GS-1’s loop out to feed the A-9555. All are connected with Kimber Timbre interconnects. This allowed me to do direct comparisons between the three. Headphones used were the Grado RS-1 and Sennheiser 580 with Equinox cable. Song selections from various musical genres were played. Here is a pic of my set up.
Note that the little clock radio-like device next to the GS-1 is a tuner, some of my comments on which can be found here.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/sony-xdr-f1hd-351803/
First, a few words on the equipment used. Both the CDP and A-9555 are extremely well built, solid components. While certainly not high end (although Onkyo describes the CDP as audiophile-grade), there is nothing cheap or flimsy about them. The A-9555 in particular, is fairly heavy as well as large (and made in Japan). It just barely fits on the shelf of my stereo stand. Considering its size, you would expect it to have a lot of power. It also runs quite warm when turned on. I don’t know how the headphone outs are designed on the Onkyos - whether it’s off the resistors or op amp based. TFarney indicated he knew but wouldn’t disclose the answer. Hopefully he will now. Enough has been said about the GS-1 in other threads. The specs for all are linked below.
Onkyo DX-7555 - Audiophile-Grade CD Player | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products
Onkyo A-9555 - Integrated Digital Amplifier | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products
HeadAmp - Audio Electronics (GS-1 Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp)
We’ll start with the CDP. If I had never heard a headphone amp before, I would probably be satisfied with the headphone out on the CDP. Both the RS-1 and 580 sound great directly out of the DX-7555. It’s a strange beast though, because you really need to increase the volume knob in order to get sufficient volume out of the RS-1. I think Greggf had mentioned this in one of his posts regarding this CDP. The headphone out actually drives the 580’s slightly louder than the RS-1.
When comparing the headphone out of the DX-7555 to the GS-1, the biggest difference is that the GS-1 is a little more punchier and the bass a little more tighter. Note though that the difference is not drastic and noticeably more so with the 580s and noticeably even more so only with certain recordings.
The A-9555 did very well against the GS-1. It was very hard to discern differences between the two. If there was one drawback, I would say it goes too loud and you need to really keep the volume in check. Occasionally, the bass on the A-9555 would sound a little bloated or boomy compared to the GS-1. Ultimately though, if I had to depend only on the A-9555 as a headphone source, it is more than satisfactory and I would have no problems using it.
However (and take this with a grain of salt), when simply just listening to each unit on its own without trying to do an analytical compare, I seemed to get a more pleasurable listening experience from the GS-1. This especially held true with better recorded material. Placebo? Who knows? Regardless, one advantage the GS-1 has over the Onkyos is that it does handle bass a little bit better. I’m thinking the GS-1s’s capability to select either high or low gain plays a factor in this, and a gain feature is always something useful to have.
I must admit though that after a while, everything kind of became a big blur and I tried to hear differences that may or may not have been there. Obviously, given that my most expensive piece of gear is the GS-1, I wanted it to be the clear winner. Well, the results are not so clear (or more appropriately, not so overwhelming) but I reached the decision that it was the winner. Whether this is placebo or not is something I’ll have to reckon with
A few caveats that should be mentioned:
1. I don’t know if it would have made any difference if I had the CDP feeding the A-9555 directly instead of going through the GS-1 loop out. If anyone thinks this is worth trying, let me know although I won’t be able to do an A/B comparison.
2. The A-9555 does have bass and treble controls. For comparison purposes though I left these as neutral (i.e in the center setting). It also has “pure direct” option which bypasses the tone controls “so you can enjoy pure sound.” I left this setting off as well.
3. Synergy may play a big factor with the A-9555. Another CDP may not sound as good with the A-9555 and vice versa.
So what conclusions to make from this? Are the Onkyo headphone outs just as good or almost as good as the GS-1? Are headphone amps overrated? As I certainly don’t consider myself an audiophile, maybe I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be listening for. I can only report what my ears heard.
As always, all of this is subjective and YMMV.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/man...-jacks-338299/
I mentioned that I was going to be taking ownership of the Onkyo A-9555 integrated amp. Well, I finally got around to comparing its headphone out to my also recently acquired HeadAmp GS-1. For good measure, I also compared the headphone out of my Onkyo DX-7555 CDP, which is a companion to the A-9555. Please be forewarned that I am not going to bog you with detailed descriptions of how each sounds. The purpose is to demonstrate whether or not the two Onkyo products can drive headphones as well as a dedicated headphone amp.
For comparison purposes, I have the CDP feeding the GS-1, and using the GS-1’s loop out to feed the A-9555. All are connected with Kimber Timbre interconnects. This allowed me to do direct comparisons between the three. Headphones used were the Grado RS-1 and Sennheiser 580 with Equinox cable. Song selections from various musical genres were played. Here is a pic of my set up.
Note that the little clock radio-like device next to the GS-1 is a tuner, some of my comments on which can be found here.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/sony-xdr-f1hd-351803/
First, a few words on the equipment used. Both the CDP and A-9555 are extremely well built, solid components. While certainly not high end (although Onkyo describes the CDP as audiophile-grade), there is nothing cheap or flimsy about them. The A-9555 in particular, is fairly heavy as well as large (and made in Japan). It just barely fits on the shelf of my stereo stand. Considering its size, you would expect it to have a lot of power. It also runs quite warm when turned on. I don’t know how the headphone outs are designed on the Onkyos - whether it’s off the resistors or op amp based. TFarney indicated he knew but wouldn’t disclose the answer. Hopefully he will now. Enough has been said about the GS-1 in other threads. The specs for all are linked below.
Onkyo DX-7555 - Audiophile-Grade CD Player | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products
Onkyo A-9555 - Integrated Digital Amplifier | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products
HeadAmp - Audio Electronics (GS-1 Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp)
We’ll start with the CDP. If I had never heard a headphone amp before, I would probably be satisfied with the headphone out on the CDP. Both the RS-1 and 580 sound great directly out of the DX-7555. It’s a strange beast though, because you really need to increase the volume knob in order to get sufficient volume out of the RS-1. I think Greggf had mentioned this in one of his posts regarding this CDP. The headphone out actually drives the 580’s slightly louder than the RS-1.
When comparing the headphone out of the DX-7555 to the GS-1, the biggest difference is that the GS-1 is a little more punchier and the bass a little more tighter. Note though that the difference is not drastic and noticeably more so with the 580s and noticeably even more so only with certain recordings.
The A-9555 did very well against the GS-1. It was very hard to discern differences between the two. If there was one drawback, I would say it goes too loud and you need to really keep the volume in check. Occasionally, the bass on the A-9555 would sound a little bloated or boomy compared to the GS-1. Ultimately though, if I had to depend only on the A-9555 as a headphone source, it is more than satisfactory and I would have no problems using it.
However (and take this with a grain of salt), when simply just listening to each unit on its own without trying to do an analytical compare, I seemed to get a more pleasurable listening experience from the GS-1. This especially held true with better recorded material. Placebo? Who knows? Regardless, one advantage the GS-1 has over the Onkyos is that it does handle bass a little bit better. I’m thinking the GS-1s’s capability to select either high or low gain plays a factor in this, and a gain feature is always something useful to have.
I must admit though that after a while, everything kind of became a big blur and I tried to hear differences that may or may not have been there. Obviously, given that my most expensive piece of gear is the GS-1, I wanted it to be the clear winner. Well, the results are not so clear (or more appropriately, not so overwhelming) but I reached the decision that it was the winner. Whether this is placebo or not is something I’ll have to reckon with
A few caveats that should be mentioned:
1. I don’t know if it would have made any difference if I had the CDP feeding the A-9555 directly instead of going through the GS-1 loop out. If anyone thinks this is worth trying, let me know although I won’t be able to do an A/B comparison.
2. The A-9555 does have bass and treble controls. For comparison purposes though I left these as neutral (i.e in the center setting). It also has “pure direct” option which bypasses the tone controls “so you can enjoy pure sound.” I left this setting off as well.
3. Synergy may play a big factor with the A-9555. Another CDP may not sound as good with the A-9555 and vice versa.
So what conclusions to make from this? Are the Onkyo headphone outs just as good or almost as good as the GS-1? Are headphone amps overrated? As I certainly don’t consider myself an audiophile, maybe I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be listening for. I can only report what my ears heard.
As always, all of this is subjective and YMMV.
