[hotdoggydog]

Hi everyone,
 
I have been reading passively on this site for about a week now trying to narrow down my search for my perfect headphones. I have a question I was hoping I could get a quick answer for as this would help with my budget.
 
I currently have a home theater setup in my room that consists of Mirage bookshelf speakers, Pioneer Elite AVR, and a Velodyne Sub. I connect everything to my Macbook Pro via a 3.5 to RCA? (the basic red and white cable that many components use).
 
I notice that my Pioneer AVR has a microphone output which I assume would work well for any headphones I would be interested in purchasing.
 
My question is my AVR going to adequate to run my new headphone Purchase?
 
Will I receive better performance with a separate DAC + AMP that are dedicated for headphones?
 
I want to do my research prior to making a decision and purchase the best that I can afford once and hopefully be done with the process. 
 
Everyones help is greatly appreciated! 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hi everyone,
 
I have been reading passively on this site for about a week now trying to narrow down my search for my perfect headphones. I have a question I was hoping I could get a quick answer for as this would help with my budget.
 
I currently have a home theater setup in my room that consists of Mirage bookshelf speakers, Pioneer Elite AVR, and a Velodyne Sub. I connect everything to my Macbook Pro via a 3.5 to RCA? (the basic red and white cable that many components use).
 
I notice that my Pioneer AVR has a microphone output which I assume would work well for any headphones I would be interested in purchasing.
 
My question is my AVR going to adequate to run my new headphone Purchase?
 
Will I receive better performance with a separate DAC + AMP that are dedicated for headphones?
 
I want to do my research prior to making a decision and purchase the best that I can afford once and hopefully be done with the process. 
 
Everyones help is greatly appreciated! 

Microphone output?
What model Pioneer Elite AV receiver are you using?
Does your Macbook Pro come with optical output?
Have you tried an optical connection, see if it sounds better.
Even better if your Macbook comes with an HDMI output and assuming you pioneer has an HDMI input.
If the Pioneer comes with a headphone jack, chances are it is high impedance, which is not great for low Ohm headphones.
So what model(s) headphones are you looking for?
I would say to try to get a good external DAC to go between your Macbook and the Pioneer.

 

[hotdoggydog]

Woops I meant headphone output but I jumbled my words.

The receiver is model vsx90.

I'm on the fence as far as headphones go and am still doing my research on the matter.

Q702 is a standout so far.

Thanks for the info on connecting my MBP to AVR I will definitely look into connecting it properly

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Woops I meant headphone output but I jumbled my words.
The receiver is model vsx90.
I'm on the fence as far as headphones go and am still doing my research on the matter.
Q702 is a standout so far.
Thanks for the info on connecting my MBP to AVR I will definitely look into connecting it properly

AKG K702 or Q701?
My Yamaha RX-V671 receiver only does an OK job of driving my ATH-A900X headphones.
It's not really a sound quality problem, just can't get the ATH-A900X very loud.
I'm assuming my receiver's headphone jack is high impedance, which is a negative for driving low Ohm headphones like the ATH-A900X (42-Ohm).
I'm assuming your receiver's headphone jack also has a high impedance
So the AKGs (62-Ohm) may or may not have the same problem, 250-Ohm might be a safer choice (which my receiver can get louder then the ATH-A900X).

 

[hotdoggydog]

Man I really am a newb.
 
Q701.
 
I was also looking into HE500 as well as the LCD2. 
 
Im interested in obtaining the highest quality listening experience for high quality recordings as well as when using crap sources like spotify and pandora. I figured a good DAC would be the best place to start and I know that at the time of my purchase the VSX90 had a decent DAC for home theater purposes.
 
Thanks for your feedback in regards to your Yamaha.
 
I looked at the following website which helped educate me a bit more.
 
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/amplifiers.htm
 
It states there that the headphone output is merely and afterthought, which makes sense.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Man I really am a newb.
Q701.
I was also looking into HE500 as well as the LCD2. 
Im interested in obtaining the highest quality listening experience for high quality recordings as well as when using crap sources like spotify and pandora. I figured a good DAC would be the best place to start and I know that at the time of my purchase the VSX90 had a decent DAC for home theater purposes.
Thanks for your feedback in regards to your Yamaha.
I looked at the following website which helped educate me a bit more.
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/amplifiers.htm
It states there that the headphone output is merely and afterthought, which makes sense.

The headphones your looking at are low Ohm, but even low Ohm headphones sometimes need more juice then you might expect.
I would say to watch Head-fi's "Source Components for Sale" and "Amplifiers for Sale" threads.
For $200 or less should be able to find a good DAC, with decent voltage for the headphone.