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Which reasonably priced DAC has the highest output stage?

post #1 of 23
12/25/11 at 4:58am
Thread Starter 

Sorry - screwed up the title of my last thread...

 

According to the 6moons review of the Hifiman HE-6, the Weiss DAC2 has a 5.5V output stage and apparently that is high.

 

Am I correct in thinking that a high output stage means you need to turn your headphone amp up much less to get the headphones connected into it to play very loud? The iPod as a DAC apparently has a low output stage, and therefore you need to turn your amp up much more to get a noise out of your headphones...

 

If so, do any DAC's give a much higher output stage than 5.5V?

 

And do any of them do 5.5V or more (or slightly less than 5.5V) for significantly cheaper than the Weiss DAC2?

 

I ask this because I'm planning to get the HE-6 - and whatever dedicated headphone amp I get (not going for speaker amps) will need all the help it can get from the DAC. Apparently even the Schiit Lyr struggles with the HE-6 out of low output sources.

 

Oh, and Merry Christmas!!

 

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post #2 of 23
12/25/11 at 1:27pm

Unless you already have a Lyr, I do not recommend that you get one for the HE-6.  I did not find it that good with the HE-6 that good with it.  Get a more powerful amp with slightly cheaper DAC.

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post #3 of 23
12/25/11 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhgourami View Post

Unless you already have a Lyr, I do not recommend that you get one for the HE-6.  I did not find it that good with the HE-6 that good with it.  Get a more powerful amp with slightly cheaper DAC.



What, even the Lyr runs out of juice for the HE-6!!

 

What's left apart from speaker amps? (I don't want to buy a speaker amp - I wanna buy a headphone amp that will take care of ALL headphones, even the most insensitive ones)

 

The Darkstar? I don't have $3500 to spend on a headphone amp. Not even sure the Darkstar can drive the HE-6 if used single-ended and I can't find the specs anywhere.

 

What dedicated headphone amp would you recommend for the HE-6 over the Lyr?

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post #4 of 23
12/25/11 at 2:04pm

audio-gd Master 6 has a lot of juice. SPL Phonitor has enough. There are a few more I can't name off the top of my head.  The Lyr has borderline enough power but I don't think it sounds all that great.  It lacks some detail and just smooths the HE-6 too much.  You pretty much took away the best thing about the HE-6 - the detail and transparency.  Overall I really recommend a powerful SS.  Tubes can't do it justice even if it is a hybrid.  Preferably Class A psu.


Edited by ohhgourami - 12/25/11 at 2:10pm
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post #5 of 23
12/25/11 at 2:05pm

oops accidentally quoted myself


Edited by ohhgourami - 12/25/11 at 2:09pm
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post #6 of 23
12/25/11 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhgourami View Post

audio-gd Master 6 has a lot of juice. SPL Phonitor has enough. There are a few more I can't name off the top of my head.  The Lyr has borderline enough power but I don't think it sounds all that great.  It lacks some detail and just smooths the HE-6 too much.  You pretty much took away the best thing about the HE-6 - the detail and transparency.  Overall I really recommend a powerful SS.  Tubes can't do it justice even if it is a hybrid.



Have you heard the Phonitor with the HE-6? And been able to drive it hard?

 

People say that it lacks bass - but I'm not sure if it's because of a lack of power for the HE-6 or if the light bass is just its sound-signature.

 

Anyway, would the Auditor suffice instead of the Phonitor since the Auditor apparently has exactly the same amp section as the Phonitor - but without the cross-feed controls?

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post #7 of 23
12/25/11 at 2:20pm

No never tried but according to Jude, it does have enough power.  Also the EF6 amp just came out, but it is quite expensive for for it has.  Might as well get a speaker amp instead of an EF6.  About the same size and weight.

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post #8 of 23
12/25/11 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhgourami View Post

No never tried but according to Jude, it does have enough power.  Also the EF6 amp just came out, but it is quite expensive for for it has.  Might as well get a speaker amp instead of an EF6.  About the same size and weight.



When did he say that?

 

On Head-Fi TV?

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post #9 of 23
12/25/11 at 8:20pm

Yeah, he mentioned it on headfi tv.

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post #10 of 23
12/27/11 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 

bump - most of the DAC's I've looked at are 2V output only.

 

Do you guys have any experience with sources that are really 'hot' meaning they have a high output and the amp they're plugged into doesn't need to be driven nearly as hard?

 

And the Lyr only has borderline enough power for the HE-6!? Wow, I thought it was one of the most powerful headphone amps in the planet - what 'o' clock do you guys need to turn your Lyr's up to to get a loud sound from your HE-6's? And what source do you use for that?

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post #11 of 23
12/27/11 at 7:37pm

The Lyr is far from being the most powerful headphone amp.  If you look at the specs for the Master-6, it does 17W@50ohms which is more than 3 times the power of the Lyr.  For most amps, achieving volume is not the issue, the issue is that without enough power even though listening at regular volumes, you miss some of the treble, bass, and imaging of the HE-6.  Plus, I don't find the Lyr to be that good of a match for the HE-6 anyway.

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post #12 of 23
12/28/11 at 3:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhgourami View Post

The Lyr is far from being the most powerful headphone amp.  If you look at the specs for the Master-6, it does 17W@50ohms which is more than 3 times the power of the Lyr.  For most amps, achieving volume is not the issue, the issue is that without enough power even though listening at regular volumes, you miss some of the treble, bass, and imaging of the HE-6.  Plus, I don't find the Lyr to be that good of a match for the HE-6 anyway.


I assume thats a typo, the Master-6 does 7 watts at 50ohms.

I should be receiving mine next month. biggrin.gif

 

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post #13 of 23
12/28/11 at 1:11pm
Oh nice! I put down my order for the NFB-7 since there kingwa got a few more ESS chips. Help me out on my jitter thread!
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post #14 of 23
12/29/11 at 2:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhgourami View Post

Oh nice! I put down my order for the NFB-7 since there kingwa got a few more ESS chips. Help me out on my jitter thread!


Nice. I fully expect you to enjoy it.

I notice you expect it in March, has that been confirmed.

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post #15 of 23
12/29/11 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nigeljames View Post

Nice. I fully expect you to enjoy it.

I notice you expect it in March, has that been confirmed.


Seems so since I guess they are very busy plus chinese new years stops everything for 2 weeks.  Kinda disappointing that I gotta wait 3 months.  Maybe they might finish my order sooner, it's a long time.

 

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