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Good amp for DT990 Pro 250ohm?
Apr 17, 2012 at 11:43 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 46
bjgrenke

bjgrenke

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I'm looking for an amp for my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohms. My budget is about 150, don't mind stretching that a bit. All I have for DAC is the onboard sound from my computer, so it'd be nice to get an amp/dac in one. I've been looking at the Fiio E17 or the E7/E9 combo, but other suggestions are appreciated. I'd like it to be at least semi-portable so I can use it with my phone the odd time.
 
Apr 18, 2012 at 12:41 AM Post #2 of 46


Quote:
bjgrenke said:
I'm looking for an amp for my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohms. My budget is about 150, don't mind stretching that a bit. All I have for DAC is the onboard sound from my computer, so it'd be nice to get an amp/dac in one. I've been looking at the Fiio E17 or the E7/E9 combo, but other suggestions are appreciated. I'd like it to be at least semi-portable so I can use it with my phone the odd time.
Click to expand...

Fiio E11 worked fine with my DT990 Pro 250-Ohm.
 
DAC Destroyer (USB/DAC) $50 on eBay, got mine for $49 as no one bid against me.
 
 
 
 
Apr 18, 2012 at 1:06 AM Post #3 of 46
Man everyone at other forum sites are telling me that an e17 alone will be just enough to power them. Another thing that came to mind is getting an O2 amp, the road getting an e7 as a dac or the o2 dac when its released. Overkill or no?
 
Apr 18, 2012 at 1:40 AM Post #4 of 46

 
Quote:
bjgrenke said:
Man everyone at other forum sites are telling me that an e17 alone will be just enough to power them. Another thing that came to mind is getting an O2 amp, the road getting an e7 as a dac or the o2 dac when its released. Overkill or no?
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The e17 is among the cheaper amp/dac combo options, so a lot of people recommend it.
O2 is not a bad amp either, but its ~150 only for the amp, and good value for the price.

 
Apr 18, 2012 at 6:02 AM Post #5 of 46
Quote:
bjgrenke said:
Another thing that came to mind is getting an O2 amp, the road getting an e7 as a dac or the o2 dac when its released.
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The E7 is not the best choice as a DAC only, since as a portable it can only be used as an amplifier, and the E10 as a DAC (and also amplifier) is both better and cheaper. In fact, the E10 may even be enough without an external amplifier, since its power output into high impedance headphones is about 80% of that of the E11, which actually translates to a difference of only 1 dB.
 
Apr 18, 2012 at 11:51 AM Post #6 of 46


Quote:
stv014 said:
The E7 is not the best choice as a DAC only, since as a portable it can only be used as an amplifier, and the E10 as a DAC (and also amplifier) is both better and cheaper. In fact, the E10 may even be enough without an external amplifier, since its power output into high impedance headphones is about 80% of that of the E11, which actually translates to a difference of only 1 dB.
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Is it worth it to get the e17 over the e10?
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 1:15 AM Post #9 of 46
Now that the ODAC has been released, you might want to take a look at JDS Labs for an O2/ODAC combo.
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 10:24 AM Post #11 of 46
I'm just guessing but wont that O2/ODAC combo cost quite a bit more than the E17. ODAC seems to cost 99$ + O2 costing 156$ = 255$
 
And if I understood correctly the ODAC is not in any casing, so few bucks for that too.
 
Apr 19, 2012 at 10:47 AM Post #12 of 46
Quote:
papander said:
I'm just guessing but wont that O2/ODAC combo cost quite a bit more than the E17. ODAC seems to cost 99$ + O2 costing 156$ = 255$
 
And if I understood correctly the ODAC is not in any casing, so few bucks for that too.
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The ODAC is designed to be built into the O2 (at the expense of losing the option of battery powered operation), so a case is not necessary for it, but some DIY work is needed to install it. However, spending more than the price of the headphones may indeed be an overkill.
 
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 2:30 AM Post #13 of 46
 
Quote:
papander said:
I'm just guessing but wont that O2/ODAC combo cost quite a bit more than the E17. ODAC seems to cost 99$ + O2 costing 156$ = 255$
 
And if I understood correctly the ODAC is not in any casing, so few bucks for that too.
Click to expand...

 
Yeah it costs a bit, I built mine, cost me ~$100 in components alone for the O2. Not to mention the cost of soldering equipment. 
I'm not sure how the E17 can sell at 250 with an amp and dac. Maybe its the production volume.
And I plan to buy the ODAC in its own enclosure. Easier to use it with a different amp if you want later.
 
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 4:42 AM Post #14 of 46
Quote:
proton007 said:
I'm not sure how the E17 can sell at 250 with an amp and dac. Maybe its the production volume.
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The E17 actually costs about $140-$150, for $250 one could also get an E9. But large production volume and Chinese manufacturing do help keeping the prices down. This is also true of commonly used sound cards.
 
 
Apr 20, 2012 at 6:05 PM Post #15 of 46
 
Quote:
papander said:
I'm just guessing but wont that O2/ODAC combo cost quite a bit more than the E17. ODAC seems to cost 99$ + O2 costing 156$ = 255$
 
And if I understood correctly the ODAC is not in any casing, so few bucks for that too.
Click to expand...

 
 
 
Quote:
proton007 said:
 
 
Yeah it costs a bit, I built mine, cost me ~$100 in components alone for the O2. Not to mention the cost of soldering equipment. 
I'm not sure how the E17 can sell at 250 with an amp and dac. Maybe its the production volume.
And I plan to buy the ODAC in its own enclosure. Easier to use it with a different amp if you want later.
 
Click to expand...

 
 
 
Quote:
stv014 said:
 
The E17 actually costs about $140-$150, for $250 one could also get an E9. But large production volume and Chinese manufacturing do help keeping the prices down. This is also true of commonly used sound cards.
 
Click to expand...

 
This is all true, just the O2 amp will cost $150 and the dac will cost another $100 tops, where as an E17 will only be $150 and thats the amp/dac. However people are telling me that the E17 wont be able to drive my 990s? I can't imagine it not being able to. If it will be able to I'd much rather have that. More portable and nicer looking. Also transparency isn't all that important to me, I wouldn't mind having a bit of bass boost from the E17.
 
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