[wsung23]

I am using my NAD352 integrated amplifier to drive my PC speakers. Because there is headphone socket on my NAD352, can I use the amplifier to drive headphone instead of buying a new headphone amplifier? I'm buying a headphone, and I'm comparing Beyerdynamic's DT770 (which definitely needs amplification) and Audio Technica's A900 (which doesn't necessarily need amplification). Please help me to make a choice.

By the way, if my interests of audition focus on movie, PC games, pop music, and news, which one of DT770 or A900 (and additional Sennheiser HD595) is better?

Thanks.

 

[Gaughtfried]

I would highly recommend against it.

The average run of the mil headphone has considerably more ohms than a speaker; this means more resistance which means more heat which means something burning out.

*edit*
Oops. Wrote this too early in the morning. Please ignore.

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsung23 I am using my NAD352 integrated amplifier to drive my PC speakers. Because there is headphone socket on my NAD352, can I use the amplifier to drive headphone instead of buying a new headphone amplifier?

Sure, that's what that jack is for. No idea how good the NAD's headphone output is, though.

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaughtfried I would highly recommend against it. The average run of the mil headphone has considerably more ohms than a speaker; this means more resistance which means more heat which means something burning out.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here, the op wants to know if he can use the headphone jack on the C352, not the speaker outputs. This is also not the reason why it is recommended you do not use a speaker amplfier's ouputs into a regular dynamic headphone (K1000 excluded of course). This is a whole 'nother can of worms for discussion in a different thread however.

I would definitely say yes, the NAD C352's headphone output is actually quite decent, it does fair better with lower impedance cans though. What impedance DT770s did you purchase?

NAD definitely puts a fair amount of effort into their headphone outs, previously I was using an NAD 3150 integrated as my dedicated headphone amplifier, and it definitely was on par with the Meier Audio H5, at least imo. I'd say use the headphone out on the C352 until you can afford a decent headphone amplifier like the H5, SR-71, Hornet, LD2+, etc. In my experience, the C352 will hold it's ground against most dedicated headphone amps in the $80-200 market.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaughtfried I would highly recommend against it. The average run of the mil headphone has considerably more ohms than a speaker; this means more resistance which means more heat which means something burning out.

I don't think he meant plugging the headphones directly into the speaker outs, just into the headphone jack.

Yes, you can do this, but be warned that the sound quality is pretty low on the headphone out of most amps, even semi-expensive ones that work wonders with speakers, like most NAD's. Some do sound alright, though. Anyway, give it a try, make an effort to compare to a couple of other sources, and maybe you'll get lucky and find that your amp has a good sound with headphones. You can always think of getting a dedicated amp later.

and ps, Nikchen will tell you to get an A900, Mercuttio will tell you to get the DT770-80. Do you prefer general overall precision, or powerful bass?

 

[jdimitri]

Yeah, and the headphone out from that amp is pretty good
Just use it until you want something else (eg transportable/ portable) or better but you'd have to spend at least $200 to better it IMO

 

[wsung23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 I would definitely say yes, the NAD C352's headphone output is actually quite decent, it does fair better with lower impedance cans though. What impedance DT770s did you purchase?

Impedance of DT770 is 250ohm, is it too high to be drove by C352?

 

[jdimitri]

Just plug it in.. the absolute worst that can happen is the sound being the same as straight from the source

 

[nokideen]

@wsung23

why dont you plugin the headphone to headphone jack on amplifier ?

Is the sound better ? or exactly the same ?

I want to buy amplifier also (but not headphone amplifier), cause this kind of amplifier easily to get. Usually as package with Equalizer.

 

[Karajan]

Not only you can, you must. My experience is that the headphones sound far better out of the jack of a good integrated amplifier or a good A/V receiver than out of a headphone amplifier. I guess it's not a popular opinion in here, but I think a headphone amp is not necessary at all.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nokideen @wsung23 why dont you plugin the headphone to headphone jack on amplifier ? Is the sound better ? or exactly the same ? I want to buy amplifier also (but not headphone amplifier), cause this kind of amplifier easily to get. Usually as package with Equalizer.

I'm currently using an old Onkyo reciever to power my headphones while I decide on what dedicated headphone amp to get later, but surprizingly it works.....Great!! I apparently got lucky as there are no rules regarding headphone output jack performance, and headphone-out sound quality seems to have more to do with luck than anything else when it comes to home theater receivers.

But it's also true; most receivers have at a minimum at least a tone control and many have on board equalizers as well, so the ability is there to customize the sound, and that can be cool too!

 

[germanium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaughtfried I would highly recommend against it. The average run of the mil headphone has considerably more ohms than a speaker; this means more resistance which means more heat which means something burning out.

Come on lets not try to scare the guy here. High impedance means less current which means less heat not more. There are very few amps out there that cannot drive a high impedance load. These mostly consist of feedback type tube amps as some of them can become unstable into high impedance loads. These amps are not going to have headphone oututs anyway unless they have a separate headphone amp built in. Most transistor gear does high impedance with no problems. Some amps have the headphone jack connected to the power amp through a resistor which serves as a voltage devider. even though the quality of these amps may be questionable, they may be the best option to drive a really high impedance headphone as they could supply a lot of voltage to this type phone without clipping as the the higher the impedance of the phone the less the difference in the resistance the higher the voltage that gets sent to the phone.

 

[3lusiv3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsung23 I am using my NAD352 integrated amplifier to drive my PC speakers. Because there is headphone socket on my NAD352, can I use the amplifier to drive headphone instead of buying a new headphone amplifier?

Yes, use your NAD. I guess that you would need to spend over $500 on a headphone amp before you get any improvement over your amp's headphone jack.

 

[Piotr Ryka]

This NAD output is quite good. Not very good, but as good, as about 200 bugs headphone amplifier.

 

[wsung23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nokideen @wsung23 why dont you plugin the headphone to headphone jack on amplifier ? Is the sound better ? or exactly the same ? I want to buy amplifier also (but not headphone amplifier), cause this kind of amplifier easily to get. Usually as package with Equalizer.

I am afraid of, if I buy DT700 headphone, which impedance is 250ohms, and headphone jack on my stereo amplifier is only direct pass of signal from sound card, probably there won't enough power to drive DT700.

Now I use Sony MDR V300 headphone, basing on existing experience, sound is much better when I plug in headphone jack on Marantz integrated amplifier than I plug in headphone jack on Soundblaster X-Fi. However my V300 isn't work well with NAD C352. The second benifit is, when I plug in headphone jack on amplifier, sound control level is same to the level when I listen to speakers connected with amplifier.