Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Beyerdynamic DT990 600Ω Desktop Amp and DAC
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Beyerdynamic DT990 600Ω Desktop Amp and DAC

post #1 of 24
10/16/11 at 7:07am
Thread Starter 

I want a reasonably priced amp to drive the DT990s to their full potential, or at least close enough without breaking the bank. Playback will be from a MBP most of the time, otherwise from an Xbox 360, so I'm not sure what sort of DAC I might need for that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to make a recommendation, let me know if you need more information.

 

Reply
post #2 of 24
10/16/11 at 8:26am

 You should check out some audio-gd stuff.    http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm

Reply
post #3 of 24
10/16/11 at 10:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

I want a reasonably priced amp to drive the DT990s to their full potential, or at least close enough without breaking the bank. Playback will be from a MBP most of the time, otherwise from an Xbox 360, so I'm not sure what sort of DAC I might need for that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to make a recommendation, let me know if you need more information.

 


I have the same headphone as yours. It requires a powerful amp to get its full potential. I have the Burson HA160 to drive these cans, and it drives it with ease. I'm using a Rotel CD player as source, can't compare the very good PRaT of the Burson to anything else. If you want something with built-in DAC, you should try the HA160D, or the new HA160DS http://bursonaudio.com/HA_160DS.html for better value. Cheers, and have fun with those cans! ;)

 

Reply
post #4 of 24
10/16/11 at 11:56pm

Violectric V90 as an amp - affordable, potent, very well built. $590AUD

 

Cambridge DAC Magic or Arcam rDAC - $400-ishAUD and $590AUD

 

Otherwise if the budget is tight ~ the Matrix M-Stage $269.00AUD (may power it)

and it's corresponding DAC ~ Matrix Mini-I $389.00AUD

 

Which also has a built in amplifier but I sincerely doubt it will power a pair

of 600ohm headphones without a major struggle.

Reply
post #5 of 24
10/17/11 at 1:16am

+2 on the dacmagic.

 

and definitely get a dedicated amp for the dt 990 unless you get a good dac/amp combo like the benchmark dac1 or something like that.

 

i use my WA6SE for the dt990s and it has more than enough juice to power them, but it will "break the bank" for most people who want something cheaper.

 

perhaps a Schiit amp would work good. 

Reply
post #6 of 24
10/17/11 at 1:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dubstep Girl View Post

+2 on the dacmagic.

 

and definitely get a dedicated amp for the dt 990 unless you get a good dac/amp combo like the benchmark dac1 or something like that.

 

i use my WA6SE for the dt990s and it has more than enough juice to power them, but it will "break the bank" for most people who want something cheaper.

 

perhaps a Schiit amp would work good. 


Doubt the Asgard would be up to the task but the Valhalla and the Lyr - no probs.

 

Reply
post #7 of 24
10/17/11 at 2:27am
Thread Starter 

 

Wow. I can't say I was expecting over $400 for the DAC alone. xD There still might be some saving ahead of me.

 

The DAC Magic sounds great... But I am skeptical of some of the features. The up-sampling for example just sounds unrealistic. I fail to see how it could provide higher quality sound by taking samples of something that just isn’t there. All the other features sound good though, being able to connect all my devices simultaneously sounds great, especially as it looks like this sort of setup will be very, very hard to move from room to room should I feel like moving it into the living room to use with the xBox. I have a feeling I might need to leave my whole setup in the study and invest in a nice chair and game and listen to music from there.

 

That Schiit Valhala looks very, very nice. What’s the consensus on those guys? Perhaps it’s paranoia coming from buying Guitar Tube amps, but I can’t imagine an amp that’s cheaper then a SS being good just because it has some tubes thrown in.

Reply
post #8 of 24
10/17/11 at 3:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

That Schiit Valhala looks very, very nice. What’s the consensus on those guys? Perhaps it’s paranoia coming from buying Guitar Tube amps, but I can’t imagine an amp that’s cheaper then a SS being good just because it has some tubes thrown in.

The 600Ω beyers love tube amps, tubes give the voltage they are hungry for. My 880/600's transformed when I switched from an E9 to a WA2.
Reply
post #9 of 24
10/17/11 at 3:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

 

Wow. I can't say I was expecting over $400 for the DAC alone. xD There still might be some saving ahead of me.

 

The DAC Magic sounds great... But I am skeptical of some of the features. The up-sampling for example just sounds unrealistic. I fail to see how it could provide higher quality sound by taking samples of something that just isn’t there. All the other features sound good though, being able to connect all my devices simultaneously sounds great, especially as it looks like this sort of setup will be very, very hard to move from room to room should I feel like moving it into the living room to use with the xBox. I have a feeling I might need to leave my whole setup in the study and invest in a nice chair and game and listen to music from there.

 

That Schiit Valhala looks very, very nice. What’s the consensus on those guys? Perhaps it’s paranoia coming from buying Guitar Tube amps, but I can’t imagine an amp that’s cheaper then a SS being good just because it has some tubes thrown in.


The Schiit range is excellent value ~ if you're in North America.

 

The Lyr is the only one I can report on ~ it is extremely powerful but armed with the stock tubes, it's a little grainy and not the most refined

sounding amp. Still, for $550AUD - you cannot expect a 'reference killer'.

 

The other option which gets very little exposure on here is the Lehmann Rhinelander - little sibling to the Lehmann black cube.

 

Reply
post #10 of 24
10/18/11 at 6:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwarmi View Post

The Schiit range is excellent value ~ if you're in North America.

 

The Lyr is the only one I can report on ~ it is extremely powerful but armed with the stock tubes, it's a little grainy and not the most refined

sounding amp. Still, for $550AUD - you cannot expect a 'reference killer'.

 

The other option which gets very little exposure on here is the Lehmann Rhinelander - little sibling to the Lehmann black cube.

 


 

I'll do some heavy reading on those Schiit amps and the other recommendations you made. Thanks for the advice.

 

Also, I was wondering whether it would be worth while to get a pretty lowend amp to use for just in the bedroom when watching a movie in bed or something as I don't really want to move my whole rig every time I want to relax to a movie in bed. On the other hand, I may just get a recliner in the study, what are the sort of options for a secondary rig? From the way you guys talk I'm getting the feeling that these amps aren't exactly high end anyway. Oh what an expensive hobby I've gotten myself into...

Reply
post #11 of 24
10/18/11 at 8:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

I want a reasonably priced amp to drive the DT990s to their full potential, or at least close enough without breaking the bank. Playback will be from a MBP most of the time, otherwise from an Xbox 360, so I'm not sure what sort of DAC I might need for that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to make a recommendation, let me know if you need more information.

 



also while i was reading this, make sure you play lossless music whenever possible, slowly i've been noticing on my dt 990s that whenever something isn't played in lossless or whenever i play something that isn't mastered/recorded well, the beyers will punish you for it. the recessed mids come out and everything gets veiled. besides just having a decent amp, you gotta pay attention to the source. beyers are well known for being very revealing, so any flaw in your system will be noticeable. 

 

just a tip :)

 

 

Reply
post #12 of 24
10/18/11 at 8:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dubstep Girl View Post

also while i was reading this, make sure you play lossless music whenever possible, slowly i've been noticing on my dt 990s that whenever something isn't played in lossless or whenever i play something that isn't mastered/recorded well, the beyers will punish you for it. the recessed mids come out and everything gets veiled. besides just having a decent amp, you gotta pay attention to the source. beyers are well known for being very revealing, so any flaw in your system will be noticeable. 

 

just a tip :)

 

 



I've been going back and re-ripping all my cds in apple lossless, but not all of my tracks are from CD, a lot are purchased from iTunes. So I've been doing a lot of CD buying in preparation. 

Reply
post #13 of 24
10/18/11 at 8:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

I've been going back and re-ripping all my cds in apple lossless, but not all of my tracks are from CD, a lot are purchased from iTunes. So I've been doing a lot of CD buying in preparation. 



thats good :)

 

and dw, itunes purchased AAC sound pretty good, spectral analysis of most of the files shows the typical compression, but it looks alot better than mp3 or regular AAC. so i guess they have a special program/algorithm that better differentiates between frequencies that are important or not. their idea was to make itunes purchases sound as close to CD quality as possible. 

 

only problem with itunes purchases is some songs have had their volume adjusted and may be a tad loud sounding, but its not too bad, either way, it still sounds better than a 192kbps mp3 downloaded from a ringtone site or something lol.

Reply
post #14 of 24
10/18/11 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by klinic View Post

 

I'll do some heavy reading on those Schiit amps and the other recommendations you made. Thanks for the advice.

 

Also, I was wondering whether it would be worth while to get a pretty lowend amp to use for just in the bedroom when watching a movie in bed or something as I don't really want to move my whole rig every time I want to relax to a movie in bed. On the other hand, I may just get a recliner in the study, what are the sort of options for a secondary rig? From the way you guys talk I'm getting the feeling that these amps aren't exactly high end anyway. Oh what an expensive hobby I've gotten myself into...


 

Here's a great little cheap amp, that also has a built in USB fed DAC. Just plug this into your laptop, iPad and listen away.

 

Price $85AUD (i-enjoy.com.au)

 

Fiio E10 - it is fairly new

 

Fiio_E10_2.jpg

 

Reply
post #15 of 24
10/18/11 at 10:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwarmi View Post

 

Here's a great little cheap amp, that also has a built in USB fed DAC. Just plug this into your laptop, iPad and listen away.

 

Price $85AUD (i-enjoy.com.au)

 

Fiio E10 - it is fairly new

 

Fiio_E10_2.jpg

 

Excellent. Thanks for that. Hopefully it will drive the DT990s at least a bit.
 

 

At this stage, I plan to buy the Valhalla from Schiit and the E10, just as an easy to move amp. Assuming the Valhalla will be enough to drive it, but the webpage specifically states that the Beyer 600ohm headphones love those amps.

 

I'll have to do some more research before investing in a good DAC. Will the Valhalla still be able to take input from a MBP or anything for a while before I can get the DAC?

 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphone Amps (full-size)
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Beyerdynamic DT990 600Ω Desktop Amp and DAC