[zkp05]

Hi! I am fairly new to headfi. I am also extremely new to audiophile audio equipment. I have my mind set on buying the Sennheiser HD 650, and I would like to purchase a solid, durable amp to pair with it as well. I will be listening to them on my macbook pro, and I am also not sure if that would affect the listening experience at all. 
 
I also would like to purchase a DAC, but I first wanted to find out how necessary it is to use one with the HD 650. I don't have extensive knowledge on DAC's and how they operate, so this is a bit confusing for me. 
 
My starting budget right now is $300. If there is a slightly more expensive option which will be an amazing step up, then I will consider spending more money. Thanks in advance, and have a great evening!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Hi! I am fairly new to headfi. I am also extremely new to audiophile audio equipment. I have my mind set on buying the Sennheiser HD 650, and I would like to purchase a solid, durable amp to pair with it as well. I will be listening to them on my macbook pro, and I am also not sure if that would affect the listening experience at all. 
 
I also would like to purchase a DAC, but I first wanted to find out how necessary it is to use one with the HD 650. I don't have extensive knowledge on DAC's and how they operate, so this is a bit confusing for me. 
 
My starting budget right now is $300. If there is a slightly more expensive option which will be an amazing step up, then I will consider spending more money. Thanks in advance, and have a great evening!

 

DAC - digital to analogue converter. It converts the 110100100010100010111001000001010011100110000001001100100111000000 stored in a disk or harddisk/SSD and converts it into an electronic signal that can then be amplified into a signal that is strong enough to move a diaphragm, which in turn will move air much like any instrument would, creating sound you can hear. Any device that can read and play digital audio and can output an analogue signal via a headphone output or a line out (RCA, 3.5mm, etc) has a DAC in it, and that includes every computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, game console, music player, etc out there.

 

The one really important thing about using a separate DAC has a lot more to do with how it handles the analogue signal. In this case, Sony's digital redbook (ie, CD) standard is a 2volts fixed output. A computer with no real line out and relies on the headphone output may output more than 2v, which will not damage anything, but may have a lot of distortion; older operating systems' volume control affects the bitrate too much also that it drops below 14bits (the lowest ever produced for CDPs; "1bit" CDPs however are very different, so don't count these for now) if they aren't at 100%. I'm not sure but I think this isn't true for newer operating systems' volume controls.

 

In any case, the thing is that nearly all Hi-Fi DACs will at least produce an analogue signal of around 2volts, which nearly all amps are designed for in terms of their gain setting or settings (ie some amps have two, if not more) and are less likely to clip or get too loud before they surpass the unbalanced range of their potentiometers (volume control; analogue units always have some imbalance at low settings). With this as the main reason for getting a DAC, the choice of which DAC boils down to the kind of source unit will be feeding it, since it will be pointless if the source only has USB but the DAC doesn't have it; or the source is an iDevice or Android that can do USB audio with the right adapter, but the DAC doesn't support it.

 

Anyway for $300 you can get the AudioGD NFB-15 - it has USB for your Macbook Pro (just check the website if there's any note regarding issues with Mac drivers), it has a clean and powerful headphone amplifier built into the same chassis, and it's expandable to feed a speaker amplifier/powered speaker, with a manually activated switch in front to select headphone or preamplifier (volume control on the NFB-15 still works) or DAC (straight from the DAC circuit, no volume control) output. No need to unplug the headphone to use the output in the rear in case you decide to add speakers later on.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Hi! I am fairly new to head-fi. I am also extremely new to audiophile audio equipment. I have my mind set on buying the Sennheiser HD 650, and I would like to purchase a solid, durable amp to pair with it as well. I will be listening to them on my Macbook pro, and I am also not sure if that would affect the listening experience at all. 
I also would like to purchase a DAC, but I first wanted to find out how necessary it is to use one with the HD 650. I don't have extensive knowledge on DAC's and how they operate, so this is a bit confusing for me. 
My starting budget right now is $300. If there is a slightly more expensive option which will be an amazing step up, then I will consider spending more money. Thanks in advance, and have a great evening!

 
Audio-GD NFB-15, external DAC/amp, around $316 including shipping.
I just bought one a few weeks ago
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm

 

[zkp05]

 

 

DAC - digital to analogue converter. It converts the 110100100010100010111001000001010011100110000001001100100111000000 stored in a disk or harddisk/SSD and converts it into an electronic signal that can then be amplified into a signal that is strong enough to move a diaphragm, which in turn will move air much like any instrument would, creating sound you can hear. Any device that can read and play digital audio and can output an analogue signal via a headphone output or a line out (RCA, 3.5mm, etc) has a DAC in it, and that includes every computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, game console, music player, etc out there.

 

The one really important thing about using a separate DAC has a lot more to do with how it handles the analogue signal. In this case, Sony's digital redbook (ie, CD) standard is a 2volts fixed output. A computer with no real line out and relies on the headphone output may output more than 2v, which will not damage anything, but may have a lot of distortion; older operating systems' volume control affects the bitrate too much also that it drops below 14bits (the lowest ever produced for CDPs; "1bit" CDPs however are very different, so don't count these for now) if they aren't at 100%. I'm not sure but I think this isn't true for newer operating systems' volume controls.

 

In any case, the thing is that nearly all Hi-Fi DACs will at least produce an analogue signal of around 2volts, which nearly all amps are designed for in terms of their gain setting or settings (ie some amps have two, if not more) and are less likely to clip or get too loud before they surpass the unbalanced range of their potentiometers (volume control; analogue units always have some imbalance at low settings). With this as the main reason for getting a DAC, the choice of which DAC boils down to the kind of source unit will be feeding it, since it will be pointless if the source only has USB but the DAC doesn't have it; or the source is an iDevice or Android that can do USB audio with the right adapter, but the DAC doesn't support it.

 

Anyway for $300 you can get the AudioGD NFB-15 - it has USB for your Macbook Pro (just check the website if there's any note regarding issues with Mac drivers), it has a clean and powerful headphone amplifier built into the same chassis, and it's expandable to feed a speaker amplifier/powered speaker, with a manually activated switch in front to select headphone or preamplifier (volume control on the NFB-15 still works) or DAC (straight from the DAC circuit, no volume control) output. No need to unplug the headphone to use the output in the rear in case you decide to add speakers later on.

 

 

 

DAC - digital to analogue converter. It converts the 110100100010100010111001000001010011100110000001001100100111000000 stored in a disk or harddisk/SSD and converts it into an electronic signal that can then be amplified into a signal that is strong enough to move a diaphragm, which in turn will move air much like any instrument would, creating sound you can hear. Any device that can read and play digital audio and can output an analogue signal via a headphone output or a line out (RCA, 3.5mm, etc) has a DAC in it, and that includes every computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, game console, music player, etc out there.

 

The one really important thing about using a separate DAC has a lot more to do with how it handles the analogue signal. In this case, Sony's digital redbook (ie, CD) standard is a 2volts fixed output. A computer with no real line out and relies on the headphone output may output more than 2v, which will not damage anything, but may have a lot of distortion; older operating systems' volume control affects the bitrate too much also that it drops below 14bits (the lowest ever produced for CDPs; "1bit" CDPs however are very different, so don't count these for now) if they aren't at 100%. I'm not sure but I think this isn't true for newer operating systems' volume controls.

 

In any case, the thing is that nearly all Hi-Fi DACs will at least produce an analogue signal of around 2volts, which nearly all amps are designed for in terms of their gain setting or settings (ie some amps have two, if not more) and are less likely to clip or get too loud before they surpass the unbalanced range of their potentiometers (volume control; analogue units always have some imbalance at low settings). With this as the main reason for getting a DAC, the choice of which DAC boils down to the kind of source unit will be feeding it, since it will be pointless if the source only has USB but the DAC doesn't have it; or the source is an iDevice or Android that can do USB audio with the right adapter, but the DAC doesn't support it.

 

Anyway for $300 you can get the AudioGD NFB-15 - it has USB for your Macbook Pro (just check the website if there's any note regarding issues with Mac drivers), it has a clean and powerful headphone amplifier built into the same chassis, and it's expandable to feed a speaker amplifier/powered speaker, with a manually activated switch in front to select headphone or preamplifier (volume control on the NFB-15 still works) or DAC (straight from the DAC circuit, no volume control) output. No need to unplug the headphone to use the output in the rear in case you decide to add speakers later on.

 
Thank you so much for the response. And thank you for explaining all of this for me as well. It makes more sense to me now. I will look more into the amp/DAC you mentioned. It seems like a good choice. 

   
Audio-GD NFB-15, external DAC/amp, around $316 including shipping.
I just bought one a few weeks ago
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm

Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into this amp/DAC. This is good, because I believe it is the same exact amp/DAC that ProtegeManiac recommended to me right before your post. That should mean this amp/DAC is a solid choice. Thanks again for the help!

 

[PurpleAngel]

   
 
Thank you so much for the response. And thank you for explaining all of this for me as well. It makes more sense to me now. I will look more into the amp/DAC you mentioned. It seems like a good choice. 
Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into this amp/DAC. This is good, because I believe it is the same exact amp/DAC that ProtegeManiac recommended to me right before your post. That should mean this amp/DAC is a solid choice. Thanks again for the help!

 
I bought a NFB-15.32 two year ago, decided to get the latest revision (NFB-15), sold off my NFB-15.32.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into this amp/DAC. This is good, because I believe it is the same exact amp/DAC that ProtegeManiac recommended to me right before your post. That should mean this amp/DAC is a solid choice. Thanks again for the help!

 
It doesn't get better for that kind of money, and not much better even for a bit more money.

 

[eboch]

Just curious if anyone on this thread has a recommendation of a portable/battery powered amp that will do a nice job driving the HD650?