A Fiio E17 headphone amp/DAC or Denon AVR-1612 home theater receiver for M50s?

[Saturn79]

Hello Head-Fi!

I will soon own a pair of Audio Technica M-50s for my listening enjoyment. I currently own a Panasonic ST30 TV and the only output for audio is through optical output. I was looking for an optical to analog (headphone) converter and something to give my future M50s the amping it deserves to enjoy my music, gaming, and TV shows. The Fiio E17 looks like a fantastic option for this as it could both convert the optical output to analog and improve the sound from my TV, laptop, and iPhone. However, I stumbled upon a Denon AVR-1612 home theater receiver for a bit more money. This leaves me curious; Is using this receiver a good idea for amping headphones and providing a good external DAC? Would it be better in sound quality than the Fiio E17 for my M50s? What should I do?

Thank you,

Saturn79

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I will soon own a pair of Audio Technica M-50s for my listening enjoyment. I currently own a Panasonic ST30 TV and the only output for audio is through optical output. I was looking for an optical to analog (headphone) converter and something to give my future M50s the amping it deserves to enjoy my music, gaming, and TV shows. The Fiio E17 looks like a fantastic option for this as it could both convert the optical output to analog and improve the sound from my TV, laptop, and iPhone. However, I stumbled upon a Denon AVR-1612 home theater receiver for a bit more money. This leaves me curious; Is using this receiver a good idea for amping headphones and providing a good external DAC? Would it be better in sound quality than the Fiio E17 for my M50s? What should I do?

Receivers are fairly decent at driving headphones.
But chances are the E17 would be better at bring out the best in the ATH-M50s over the Denon.