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I have a question about headphone amplifiers for my HD 600s. I have a pretty powerful stereo receiver with a headphone socket. I have read that headphones between 32 and 600 ohms are recommended, but I still don't know if it's good to use with the HD 600s because it is not dedicated headphone amplifier but I don't want to spend my money on one if it will not be an improvement. My relatively new HD 600s have yet to really wow me. They are my first Hi-Fi headphones and they sound a little disappointing. The problem is I don't know how how good they should be sounding. I don't have any money to spend right now because I'm in High School so I'm kinda stuck with what I have for now.
It's hard to tell how much better a dedicated amp will be because we have no idea how "horrible" that receiver is. Even if you tell us what specific model it is, not everyone has had the chance to listen to that, and there actually are receivers that can drive the HD600s
well enough - meaning a headphone amp will be an audible improvement to most but still it won't be absolutely different. Besides, there are other reasons why people get dedicated headphone amps - they either don't have existing speaker amps with (good) headphone outputs, or wherever they plan to use the headphones - nowadays usually on a desk with a computer as a source - space is a premium, and
generally even a true Class A topology headphone amp will be much smaller than a Class A/B amplifier (and fullrange Class T or D speaker amps typically don't have headphone outputs running off the speaker outputs, and many of them have measurable distortion at high impedance loads).
In any case, you might want to take a look at Schiit's return policy - AFAIK you'll only spend on return shipping if you return the amp on time (within 30 Days I think). Magni goes for $99 and the Asgard for $249.
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I don't even know if I can take them to college because they won't block out noise and my roommate probably won't like my all the sound-leakage. I guess I'm in a little situation so a some knowledge from more experienced HD 600 owners and audiophiles would be really helpful!
They leak a lot of sound, yes, but it's more a question of how loud you can listen. The only time I was listening too loud on them was when I just got my Meier Cantate, I was basing my standards on what too loud is on audible distortion. The amp's output was clean and powerful enough (and at the time I was on vacation with my family in their California home ) that my brother walked past and knocked on the window because he can hear my headphones from outside. Now that I know how loud it really is I don't use audible distortion (whether it's the sound itself or my ears giving up) to judge how loud I need them to be, and I totally can't hear my headphones when I put them on the desk and move towards the door about 1meter away; push the volume control all the way to max output, and I can hear the headphones from the hallway.
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Also, I don't know how much difference a DAC will make. I just want a good sounding rig without spending too much more money than I already have. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Many will say it has the least effect on the overall sound and that's for the most part true, given the best source will be handicapped by an amp that alters the sound or distorts because its output is anemic for whatever headphone is plugged into them. However, that does not mean that you won't appreciate the benefit from replacing a portable player that, for example, has no true line out with a DAC (or CDP) that uses a good circuit, power supply and outputs a CD standard 2v; but neither would that mean that DACs are meant to sound profoundly different whether at the same or varying price ranges, provided they're all good designs. In short, get a good one known for a neutral response and works with whatever source you're using (ie has the right inputs for the source's outputs) and be done with it. What source are you using with the receiver and headphones now?
Also, the great thing about starting off with the HD600 is that it actually isn't too picky with amps - throw an amp with a decent design with enough voltage and current (doesn't necessarily mean it must be a dedicated voltage-driven amp that can't work as well with low impedance but inefficient, current-hungry headphones) and you're good. Get this and the DAC together and you just sit back and enjoy the music, assuming you like the HD600's sound, and all you'll need to worry about is getting new earpads or replacing the cable if they break.