Do I need an amp if I got an interface with preamps?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayim 

Hey, just wonder say for HD600 or so do I still need an amp for if I'm connecting to an interface such as this:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProFire610.html

You would think something that cost $500 would work with 300-Ohm (HD600) headphones.

But...what do I know.

I have a lower end M-Audio that I've used with my DT 880 (250 ohm). It works well enough, but I do end up cranking the volume pretty high on the interface; never felt like there was any distortion or roll-off though.

Shouldn't studio gear like that work fine? 

For around $60 (or more), you can get single tube or solid state headphone amplifier (No-name from China) off eBay, that can easily drive 300-Ohm headphones

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayim 

Just found a topic where someone had trouble running 50ohm phones at decent volume with that profire 610.. Geez I guess I do need a seperate amp

I'm looking for a good quality one that won't mess with the HD600s signal like make it inaccurate, I planned to use these for mixing along with monitors so I was hoping I could get an all in one box with an interface. That china amp sounds dodgy lol I'd rather spend 100$+ on a good one if I have to

A lot, maybe most headphone amplifier are made in China (or Asia), name brand or otherwise.

How about a Little Dot MKII or MKIII

Fiio E9 can drive 300-Ohm headphones

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurpleAngel 

A lot, maybe most headphone amplifier are made in China (or Asia), name brand or otherwise.

How about a Little Dot MKII or MKIII

Fiio E9 can drive 300-Ohm headphones

I doubt he'd want something like a Little Dot, as he's looking for something accurate to mix with?

Unfortunately, most pro audio interfaces I've seen seem to have kind of poorly implemented headphone amps. It kinda sucks :\ A lot of them I've used/seen are only about as powerful (sometimes less powerful) as the headphone amp on an iPod. Many have pretty high output impedance as well, 75ohm in the case of the ProFire 610. It's really weird how poor the amps on some of these interfaces can be, though some are decent.

OP, what kinds of inputs and outputs do you need on an interface?

Look at the Nuforce HDP. My HD600 sounds great with it. Plenty of power.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jheck 

Look at the Nuforce HDP. My HD600 sounds great with it. Plenty of power.

It's also going to cost a lot more than the ~$100 budget that OP seems to want to work within.

Ayim: You could go with the O2 (aka Objective 2). It's meant to be portable, but it can run off AC power and the size is a bit chunkier than most folks want for portable, anyway. Lot of people say it's neutral and powerful--exactly what you're looking for. It's about US$144 built, or you can DIY for less:

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

http://www.jdslabs.com/storecat.php?fetchcat=4