Better to use an amp or DAC with xbox 360?

[ZmillA]

Hello everyone first time poster here

I recently purchased some sennheiser 555s and Im really enjoying them

Lately I've been thinking about getting an amp to use with them, but it sounds like the benefit wouldn't be that great with these cans. I do however want to use them with my xbox 360. From a little searching on here, it also sounds as though connecting them directly to the RCA jacks on the 360s VGA cable will give subpar sound(no volume control and other mess). So now im looking at either buying an amp to connect through or a DAC with optical input.

I know that there are some DAC/amp combos out there, ibasso d10 for instance, but that is a little more than I'd like to spend for these particular headphones.

So i'd like to know if one would definitely provide superior sound over the other, with both being at a similar price point of 100-150. I'd rather go with an amp, if its a comparable option, so I could get some use out of it on my laptop.

Thanks

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZmillA /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello everyone first time poster here I recently purchased some sennheiser 555s and Im really enjoying them Lately I've been thinking about getting an amp to use with them, but it sounds like the benefit wouldn't be that great with these cans. I do however want to use them with my xbox 360. From a little searching on here, it also sounds as though connecting them directly to the RCA jacks on the 360s VGA cable will give subpar sound(no volume control and other mess). So now im looking at either buying an amp to connect through or a DAC with optical input. I know that there are some DAC/amp combos out there, ibasso d10 for instance, but that is a little more than I'd like to spend for these particular headphones. So i'd like to know if one would definitely provide superior sound over the other, with both being at a similar price point of 100-150. I'd rather go with an amp, if its a comparable option, so I could get some use out of it on my laptop. Thanks

Headphones won't work properly from a line level source without an amp. So you can't just hook your headphones to the RCA jacks. Using a DAC without an amp will give you line level as well.

What you need is a headphone amp, and then use the RCA outputs into the amp. The optical out on the XBox is AC3 (Dolby Digital) format. Not all DACs will accept that format.

 

[ZmillA]

ok thanks!

 

[ZmillA]

Figured I'd give a little update. I ended up getting the astro mixamp. As expected with these headphones, the performance change isn't blowing me away but I think they do sound better. I am really pleased with the dolby headphone performance with my 360 and thats what my main goal was

 

[scusouqui]

Great little topic.
And Nice work--thank you for sharing- for me this makes perfect sense though.

 

[AP3X]

The Mixamp is a nice little device for sure. There is a noticeable increase in sound quality but not a whole lot.The fact that it is rechargeable has all the cables you need except for a long toslink and can mix a seperate mic and headphone into the same connection is cool.