I never use the headphone output of M-DAC. I campared it to my AMP when I got my M-DAC, driving two full-size headphones, and I found my AMP is much better. So if you have a relatively high expectation of your headphones, just get a independent AMP for them.
What if I have just mediocre expectations of my headphones? i.e. My most-demanding cans to drive are measly Denon D5000's, and maybe HE-400's down the road. I know the M-DAC is a DAC first and an amp second, but will it be serviceable as a headphone amp for those cans? Most people use something like a Fiio E9 for the D5000's - I can't imagine the M-DAC amp being any worse than the E9. I'm not expecting the M-DAC to be as powerful as say, one of the Burson or Schiit amps, but as long as it doesn't "hurt" the music then I'll get one ASAP. I really want an one-box solution, and don't want a separate headphone amp.
Edited by seekadds - 12/4/12 at 6:29am
