[preproman]

Hello all,
 
I'm pretty new to the forum..  I have been collecting a few new Headphones ie..  AKG Q701, Ultrasone Pro 900, Audio-Technica ATHM50S and yes the Beats by Dre Detox lol...On the list is The Sony MDR-SA5000 then later on a few higher end phones like the T1's and the HD 800's and a pair of HiFiman's maybe the HE-500.  I need a headphone amp to drive all these pretty well.  
 
Any suggestions??
 
I was thinking about the Burson Audio HA-160 or the Musical Fidelity M1 HPA

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[Edoardo]

Well... Welcome here! 

 
Why don't you tell us something more... About your source... About your budget... About what you like most or least about the different headphones you have...

 

[preproman]

Hi there Edoardo,
 
My source is going to be computer audio ran by J River Media Center > Mostly FLAC files > to an asynchronous usb DAC.  I use my Detox for my rap music - because of the BASS.  I like the Q701 and the others for the Clarity of females vocals and instrument separation.  My budget is not high at all.  However,  anything can be got in time.  Maybe $1,500 - $2,000, if that..

 

[Edoardo]

Hi again,
 
Well, It seems you already have spent your budget in headphones! 

 
I can suggest you a DAC+amp combo such as the ONIX DAC 25A or the AudioGD NFB-12 or something like that. They do support USB 24/96, even if not asynchronously. 
 
 
A cheap DAC featuring asynchronous 24/96 USB technology is the Arcam rDAC. It also playbacks 88.2 files through USB, and 176.4 and 192KHz files through coaxial.
 
Then the Schiit Bifrost, very well-regarded here, 449$ with the USB asynchronous input.
 
 
The amps you named are quite expensive... If I were you I would also think about something manufactured in Europe or in the USA for that price!
Graham Slee Solo, Violectric V90 or Lake People G100 would be able to handle all of your headphones for sure!

 

[preproman]

OK,
 
I’m a bit confused and need a little help.
 
What’s the difference between the Headphone Jack section in a pre amp with dedicated mono block amps like this:  http://us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=AVSeparates&SubCatId=0&ProductId=AV7005 with these amps:  http://emotiva.com/upa1.shtm opposed to a Headamp like this:  http://bursonaudio.com/burson_headamp_160.htm The DAC that will be used is this:  http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtm + http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/V-Series/V-LINK/v-link.asp ..

 

[Edoardo]

An active preamplifier and an headphone amplifier aren't much different, technically, but the headphone section of a standard preamplifier or integrated amplifier may not "share" the same circuit of the preamplifier itself: there may be just a cheap "digital" card behind that headphone out.
 
Buy the way there are also headphone amps that feature a pre-amp output for controlling a power amp or a pair of amplified speakers

 

[NinjaSquirt]

Quote:

OK,
 
I’m a bit confused and need a little help.
 
What’s the difference between the Headphone Jack section in a pre amp with dedicated mono block amps like this:  http://us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=AVSeparates&SubCatId=0&ProductId=AV7005 with these amps:  http://emotiva.com/upa1.shtm opposed to a Headamp like this:  http://bursonaudio.com/burson_headamp_160.htm The DAC that will be used is this:  http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtm + http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/V-Series/V-LINK/v-link.asp ..

A headphone jack in a pre-amp usually means a pre-amp designed for speaker/headphone but mostly for speaker use with a sorry *insert curse word for backside* excuse of a headphone amp circuit out. Coming from Marantz though, it might be a quality headphone amp.
 
Big mono blocks are usually power amps, they amp stuff... period. No volume knobs nothing. That's all preamp territory. If they have a volume knob it's a integrated amp. Mono block means you need 2 btw.
 
Headamp is a dedicated headphone amp with a volume knob usually the ones people who use headphones get and the DAC is just DigitaltoAnalogy converter to convert the digits to an analogy signal that you can hear.
 
If you like flat neutral sound, consider a Benchmark DAC-1, it's got a great headphone amp out and a world-class DAC section (I own it, there's a biase).
 
If not maybe a Cambridge Audio DacMagic + a Burson HA160, both sound great individually, never heard the two in a combo together though...