[payj]

Hello,
 
I was wondering if the above dap can push the above headphone to their full potential or if an additional amp would be required?

 

[Makiah S]

  Hello,
 
I was wondering if the above dap can push the above headphone to their full potential or if an additional amp would be required?

Oh snap, that just sounds good! I honestly have no idea as far as an honest answers goes, I am farmillar with the Hifiman DAPS and headphones
 
from what I've heard of the HE 560 it should be easy enough to drive, that the balanced Card for the 901 would most like be your best bet
 
Still though, from my personal experince, I use the Hm 801 Line out to an Ibasso Pb2 to drive my HE 4 [in the pb2s balanced mode]
 
either way, the HE 560 should be byound sufficently driven out of the hm901, though hopefully some one with some experince with the newer hifiman gear can chime in, :3 

 

[SBranson]

I can drive the HE560s out of my ipod but it's not great.  I would suspect that you will need an amp with lots of power for the HE560s.  That seems to be the consensus over on the HE560 thread.
If you don't want to amp and are making the jump from the Vmoda, I would think you'd be better off with the HE400i.

 

[payj]

Thank you for the reply...I would be powering them through the 901, which is supposed to be a powerful unit in of itself.

 

[Makiah S]

  Thank you for the reply...I would be powering them through the 901, which is supposed to be a powerful unit in of itself.

That it is, I would recommend getting the Balanced Amp Card from Hifiman as that's the High Powered Amp card for the unit,
 
If that's not within your budget, I would see if you could purchase the two units from any vendor with a return warrenty, although honestly I think it will be perfectly fine
 
If your Jumping from something like a Closed Back Dynamic, the HE 560 and HM 901 are going to sound noticeably BETTER, I don't recommend you get the 400i since while it may "pair better" with the HM 901 it's still not the better headphone.
 
So I'd try to get the Amp Card for the HM 901, if you cannot do that then just enjoy the Headphone and DAP that you have, as yes the HM901 is a very powerful unit, that's it's selling point. While I think that using the HM901 Line out to a Balanced Amp would be a better sounding option, others feel the cost for said option defeats the pourpose of owning an HM901, and others feel the cost is justified
 
SO long story short, get your HM901, get an HE 560 and enjoy it, when you can afford to Try getting another amp and see how it benifits the set up sound wise! but the HM901 is going to be leagues above an iPod. 

 

[awshosll]

The HM901 is not sufficent to drive the HE560, the music has not enough layer, lacks dynamics and the bass is weak. the HE560 need at least 0.5W at 50ohm to dirve properly, and at least 1.5W at 50 ohm using low gain to achieve its full potential. Even the hifiman ef5 is not sufficent to fully drive the HE560. ( I have the EF5, HM901 and the HE560)

 

[vinylrules]

I can drive my HE-560's quite fine with the Balanced Amp Card on my HM-901. Of course every so often I stumble upon a music file that is low gain and I find myself feeling like I could use 10% more juice but that's not the norm. Usually with the Balanced Card there's plenty of gain IMHO.

On a related note I am also happy to report the new HiFiMAN EF-100 hybrid amp does an incredible job pushing the HE-560's. In fact it does a much better job than the HiFiMAN EF-5 that's poised to eventually replace. FYI.

Best regards!