Cheap yet reasonable way to power DT-880s 250Ω/600Ω

If you do not mind using an internal sound card, the Asus Xonar Essence ST (PCI) or STX (PCIe) has enough power for both, and would also be a useful upgrade to the possibly not very good onboard DAC. These cost about $160-$200 depending on where you buy them.

For a cheap external (USB) DAC, the FiiO E10 is not bad, and it will even power the 250 Ohm version by itself reasonably. It only costs ~$80.

The newer and more expensive (up to ~$150) E17 is as good or better than the E10 as a DAC and amplifier, but it can also be used as a portable, and has some additional features like tone controls.

To get a decent amount of power (similar to the Essence cards above) that is enough for the 600 Ohm version at a cheap price, with reasonably good quality, try the FiiO E9 (~$100).

If you can get one pre-assembled, the O2 amplifier costs about $150, and it is quite good for the price. It is sufficiently powerful (comparable to the E9) for both headphones.

For use with an external amplifier, it is cheaper to get a DAC or sound card (e.g. Xonar D1 or DX) without a built-in headphone amplifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 
Hey everyone,
I'm looking to either get the 250Ω or the 600Ω version of these headphones. The 600Ω are quite a bit cheaper than the 250Ω variant here so I'm asking myself the question of how I should power them properly. How big is the difference between the two versions in terms of needing 'more power' anyway?
Since the headphones themselves aren't exactly cheap for me, I'm looking for a reasonably cheap way to power them.
They will be for desktop use only and I don't need them to be extremely loud either, just loud will do fine. I will use them primarily for music and while I do play games it's not the most important thing for me (I've heard they're quite good for gaming anyway).
Right now I only have my onboard soundcard.
I hope you can help me with this.

A Fiio E9 with the Fiio D5 (USB/DAC)

Objective 2 portable headphone amplifier (with Fiio D5).

There are some decent single tube headphone amplifiers sold on eBay, prices from $50-$120.

Asus Xonar Essence STX ($180) sound card.

The FiiO D5 is not a particularly great DAC. It does include a headphone amplifier, though, but it is not very powerful, either. There are similarly priced alternatives that are better if you only need a DAC, and plan to use a separate amplifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 

Seems like an E17 or the ST(X) are the best albeit quite pricey options for me but I guess going lower than that would defeat the purpose.

The E17 is most useful if you need the portability, or other extra features over the E10. It has similar or slightly more (if it performs like the E11) power output, and somewhat improved DAC performance, but it costs more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 

What about the Audinst HUD-mx1?

There is a review of it at Headfonia. From the specs, it seems to be suitable for your purposes, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 
Oh, I forgot to mention that I have a P67 Sabertooth motherboard. Would that change anything regarding the need for a DAC?

DACs installed into motherboards are picked for their low cost, not for their quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 

Yeah, I know.
http://aphnetworks.com/reviews/asus_p8p67_pro/11 Maybe you can interpret this better than me.

These are actually not bad, with the exception of the noise level, which could be better. Although RMAA is not a very complete or reliable test. And they did not even test at 44.1 kHz, which is the sample rate used by most available music; it is common for onboard audio to only implement 48 kHz in hardware, and rely on software sample rate conversion for 44.1 kHz support.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeboi 


I see. Do you still think I would benefit (greatly) from an 'aftermarket' DAC?

yes always.