Headphone amp Beyerdynamic DT 880

If you plan to run USB or optical from your Mac, you would need an amp with a built-in DAC.  It is doubtful that you can find such an amp that would do justice to your phones for $100 with the possible exception of the Vivid Technologies V1 .   

You might wish to consider the UHA-4 (new) or an iBasso amp/DAC (used), which show up quite regularly on the Amplifiers for Sale forum.  If you plan on using optical from your Mac, the choices are fewer and more costly.

You will likely not get the sound that you would want by just re-amping the headphone output of your Mac, one possible exception being if you used the Digizoid ZO between your computer and phones.

Perhaps a $200 budget might be more realistic.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by miles4 

Do I need a DAC? A portable amp wouldn't suffice? Under 200 what are my options? 

If you plan to use your amplifier from your computer via USB, you need a DAC.  If you are going to just re-amp the headphone output from your computer, you do not, but as I said previously, this will not do justice to your phones.  If you do not plan to use the amp with the computer at all, you do not need a DAC.

Lots of options under $200.  Just do some searching on Head-Fi and you can find a number of them along with user comments and reviews. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by miles4 

Doesn't the Macbook Pro have pretty nice audio out? It just doesn't have enough power to support the beyers? I'll look around for some amps and DAC.

 

My 250ohm DT 990s sound great straight out of a MacBook Pro; I wouldn't be able to justify purchasing a DAC/AMP in the $100+ range, just because I don't think it would improve it much. As for justifying the purchase of a Mac...

Fiio E7 + E9 should do what you need

If you want to get into tubes, the Hifiman EF2A is an excellent amp for the price. It has no trouble driving either my 300-ohm HD580s or my 32ohm Grado SR60s, and it sounds great with my TF10s also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miles4 

I've been doing a lot of searching the forums and haven't found a a consensus on a portable headphone amp. I have the 250 ohm DT 880s and Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10.  I am looking  for a solid headphone amp for my Macbook Pro and that would work for my iPhone. I have heard a lot of mixed reviews on the Fiio amps! What are some suggestions? I'd like to keep it under $100 for right now. Any help would be amazing! :) 

exact same boat now. (TF10 and DT880 250)  waiting for E17 to arrive.  hope it's enough to driiiiiiiiive them (dt880 250)