Bluetooth Amp for Sennheiser HD580 / HD590

[?ractaL]

I am looking for a bluetooth amp to make my Sennheiser headphones wireless. I want to attach the amplifier to the headphonesthemselves to make them truly wireless. The headphones are the HD580 (home) and HD590 (work). I plan to carry the DAC / AMP with me and use it at home (Macbook Pro, aptX) and in the office (iPhone 6S, AAC).

I listen to a lot of downtempo electronica, but also all kinds of other music.

So far I have narrowed down my options to three choices:

• Audio-Technica AT-PHA50BT BK $81 (wait for shipping from Japan)
• Bluewave Get ($129)
• earstudio ($99)

They all seem to get good reviews, and claim to drive low sensitivity, high impedance headphones.

What is your recommendation?

Thanks!

 

[yong_shun]

You can consider FIIO Q5 and Creative Sound Blaster E5. Q5 comes with dual AK4490 Dac Chips and it has a balanced output. There is a line out option for you to use it as a DAC only and connect to bigger amp like tube amp. For E5, the selling point will be the function. It comes with lots of function and you can use it for gaming (if you were a gamer).

 

[?ractaL]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm really only interested in miniature bluetooth amps that I can attach to the headphones so they are wireless. That's why I listed the three options. Looks like the E5 and Q5 are too big for this purpose.

I tried the PXC550 but it is uncomfortable after a few hours with my big dumbo ears

 

[yong_shun]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm really only interested in miniature bluetooth amps that I can attach to the headphones so they are wireless. That's why I listed the three options. Looks like the E5 and Q5 are too big for this purpose.

I tried the PXC550 but it is uncomfortable after a few hours with my big dumbo ears

You can consider the younger brother of E5, E3 or BTR-1 from FIIO, they are tiny

 

[?ractaL]

E3 might be a good choice, I can't determine if it supports AAC....BTR doesn't support AAC and I use iPhone

 

[yong_shun]

E3 might be a good choice, I can't determine if it supports AAC....BTR doesn't support AAC and I use iPhone

According to Creative website E3 can support iPhone (from IOS 5.0 onward). According to FIIO website, BTR-1 supports iPhone too.
https://sg.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-e3
http://www.fiio.net/en/products/77

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm really only interested in miniature bluetooth amps that I can attach to the headphones so they are wireless. That's why I listed the three options. Looks like the E5 and Q5 are too big for this purpose.

Your problem with those is that the output is very low and battery life won't be very long if you're driving a 300ohm, 96dB/1mW headphone like the HD580.