[-Ant-]

I asked a similar question on another thread but with only two vague replies does not leave me much to go on , here is a summary of where i started to where i am now. Please excuse if its a little long winded.....

I started looking into an amp to use with my sennheiser hd598...( "amp on 598?!! What for??!!") you may ask, yes i understand they're not too difficult to drive, but after reading many reviews and youtube reviews i came to a conclusion that an amp would improve the sound somewhat.
So carrying on.... In turn i got to read up on portable dac/amps and usb dac/amps to use with my android smartphone , Sony z3 compact (but upgrading handset in a few months to something newer anyway).
I was looking into the likes of the Audioquest dragonfly range, coupled to usb Otg, and some of the fiio range dac/amps (e10k e18/17k). Upon looking into fiios products i stumbled accross their many Daps and started investigating this as another avenue.

So my query is this, would it be more beneficial (Sonically) to go for a dedicated Dap rather than just try to bypass a smartphones incapabilities with extra gear connected to it???
My budget isnt great so my options are limited, but to give you an idea i was seriously considering the Fiio x3ii dap until i was told that a dac/amp would be more beneficial in the same price reange over a Dap. WOULD OTHERS AGREE??

Like i said i have asked this before (briefly) on another thread but didnt feel i had a satisfied conclusion, and this kind of question has probably come up dozens of times here i imagine so i thankyou for any responses.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

If it's for home use anyway might as well just get a DAC-HPamp, as long as you're confident about compatibility with your phone. At least you'll utilize a device you already have anyway.

 

Now if you also want to use it as a portable (though not with an open headphone like the HD598) then strapping a DAC-HPamp to the phone and running a cable between them is a lot less inconvenient and thicker than a DAP. On that note though if you do get a DAP the Fiio units are designed well enough to work on a desktop system through the DK1 dock or the K5 amp's built in dock. The downside of course is that now you'll have to deal with the UI.

 

Personally you might as well wait for the X5III since it runs Android and hopefully will be even more sorted out than the X7. If you go that route you can use the X5III with the HD598 now and use it with the DK1 and a desktop amp later on when you get a headphone that actually needs that much power.

 

[-Ant-]

Thanks ProtegeManiac, though i think the Fiio x5iii will be far out of budget, i guess its just a choice of preference and mobility. It will be strictly for home use only hence my choice of open back headphones. The UI wont be much of a concern on a Dap unless of course its riddled with bugs, but my budget would probably only allow for older models which im sure present firmware updates would have resolved anyway, well mostly, concerning Fiio i hope.
I'll keep on digging and keep my ears and eyes to head-fi for more info.
Thanks for the advice.

Forgot to mention i dont have desktop or laptop for that matter, so any dac would have to be compatable for use with smartphone, though im sure most handsets support usb otg now, the audioquest dragonfly looks good for that use.

 

[EthanB]

The dragonfly is good if you are using it with a computer, but I wouldn't recommend it for a smartphone. Because it doesn't have a battery, it pulls all of its power from the device it is plugged into, and most smartphones aren't designed to give that much power. If you are sure you want to get a dac/amp for your 598s, the fiio q1 would work, but I would suggest saving the money for a nicer pair of headphones in the future, as that will give you a larger improvement in sound quality. 

 

[-Ant-]

If you are sure you want to get a dac/amp for your 598s, the fiio q1 would work, but I would suggest saving the money for a nicer pair of headphones in the future, as that will give you a larger improvement in sound quality. 

Am i right in assuming therefore that headphones give the majority of sound quality improvement in the chain?? Given that the whole audio chain is 100% what percentages (roughly) could be suggested each part has in the chain, from file source (master) to headphones??

 

[EthanB]

Am i right in assuming therefore that headphones give the majority of sound quality improvement in the chain?? Given that the whole audio chain is 100% what percentages (roughly) could be suggested each part has in the chain, from file source (master) to headphones??

New headphones will generally give you the largest improvement in sound quality, but specific values cannot be assigned to how much improvement you will get for each upgrade, because it is different in every scenario. I've tried my HD598s with an amp, and there wasn't that much of an improvement in the sound. Although there was some, it is not worth the cost of an amp in my opinion. But, with the HD600s, there was a much larger improvement with the amp because they are harder to drive headphones, and with them, I would definitely say that the cost of an amp is worth it. 

 

[-Ant-]

New headphones will generally give you the largest improvement in sound quality, but specific values cannot be assigned to how much improvement you will get for each upgrade, because it is different in every scenario. I've tried my HD598s with an amp, and there wasn't that much of an improvement in the sound. Although there was some, it is not worth the cost of an amp in my opinion. But, with the HD600s, there was a much larger improvement with the amp because they are harder to drive headphones, and with them, I would definitely say that the cost of an amp is worth it. 

I understand, guess it pays to have patience, i am really enjoying the sound of my 598's for now so i will wait until i feel they need an upgrade first. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Forgot to mention i dont have desktop or laptop for that matter, so any dac would have to be compatable for use with smartphone, though im sure most handsets support usb otg now, the audioquest dragonfly looks good for that use.

 

As if managing local storage and syncing with DAPs that aren't Apple doesn't have its own problems that lead to raging posts on the DAP threads, doing that without a computer involved at all just seems like a total PITA. At best you'd need a fully Android DAP that has access to Playstore so you can download streaming services and get your music from there, like the Fiio X5III.

 

How do you manage without a computer anyway? I've had one since first grade because our homework save for math all had to be computerized print outs.

 

[-Ant-]

Sorry, i mislead you, i have a very old laptop, windows xp but its only use is for ripping cd's to my phone, other than that its redundant, its also too damn noisy to listen to music to with open back cans.
I'm not interested in streaming music, i dont know why but i have a strange morality against that sort of thing, i much prefer hard copy, old fashioned i guess.

Hey, all my homework was done with good old exercise book and biro!!

P.s i got looking into an upgrade to my 598's..... Damn 300ohm hd600 !!! That leaves me with another annoying choice on a limited budget.... Amp first or hd600's first?? Sense tells me amp first as i can enjoy my 598's more before upgrading, and id have thst extra juice for when i get a chance at the hd600.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm not interested in streaming music, i dont know why but i have a strange morality against that sort of thing, i much prefer hard copy, old fashioned i guess.

 

I only mentioned it because you said you didn't have any computer, which meant that you couldn't rip CDs nor download from HDTracks to transfer to a DAP, and I assumed you had music on your phone only from streaming services; using a DAP then meant you had to use one running Android that can access streaming services that allowed downloads (but then you can only play them using the same app).

 

Quote:

Sorry, i mislead you, i have a very old laptop, windows xp but its only use is for ripping cd's to my phone, other than that its redundant, its also too damn noisy to listen to music to with open back cans.

 

As long as this is fast enough to organize your music and transfer them to an SD card then you can use a DAP, barring firmware hiccups of course.

 

Quote:

P.s i got looking into an upgrade to my 598's..... Damn 300ohm hd600 !!! That leaves me with another annoying choice on a limited budget.... Amp first or hd600's first?? Sense tells me amp first as i can enjoy my 598's more before upgrading, and id have thst extra juice for when i get a chance at the hd600.

 

Or save up for longer and get them all together.

 

[-Ant-]

Or save up for longer and get them all together.

I read somewhere here that you cant get a good enough amp below $200 for the hd600, how true is that?? Any amp i would buy would have to be semi portable for use "around" the home, any suggestions? Would the fiio.e17k for example be adequate enough for now to get more out of them cans?

 

[EthanB]

I read somewhere here that you cant get a good enough amp below $200 for the hd600, how true is that?? Any amp i would buy would have to be semi portable for use "around" the home, any suggestions? Would the fiio.e17k for example be adequate enough for now to get more out of them cans?

An e17k would be enough to drive the HD600s, from what I've heard, you could also get away with using a fiio q1 with them. Would you be using your phone or a computer as the audio source? Because there are other, probably better sounding solutions that would work if you are thinking of using it with a computer. 

 

[-Ant-]

An e17k would be enough to drive the HD600s, from what I've heard, you could also get away with using a fiio q1 with them. Would you be using your phone or a computer as the audio source? Because there are other, probably better sounding solutions that would work if you are thinking of using it with a computer. 

Unfortunately i dont have a desk top, and yhe laptop i have is old and very noisy so chances are it would be theough an android smartphone, although i have been looking into getting a good portable Dap such as a fiio x3 2nd generation.

 

[HPLobster]

You gotta ask yourself truly and honestly: Is there a part of you (ears, heart, gut?) that really wants/Needs/craves a new headphone someday soon? Yes? Then probably you should save up money, be patient, enjoy your HD 598 and wait with further decisions until you know its successor

 
Otherwise...the HD 598 is a great headphone. Amazing value. If you want to further improve it, I´d personally suggest buying a FiiO E12... better bass, sound recieves more "weight" overall, even a little increase in soundstage.... that´s all you can achieve upgrade-wise. Don´t bother with a DAC for it...
 
Only buy a HD 600 if you also can afford a matching amp.
 
Until then: Chill out and enjoy your music     

  

 

[-Ant-]

You gotta ask yourself truly and honestly: Is there a part of you (ears, heart, gut?) that really wants/Needs/craves a new headphone someday soon? Yes? Then probably you should save up money, be patient, enjoy your HD 598 and wait with further decisions until you know its successor

Otherwise...the HD 598 is a great headphone. Amazing value. If you want to further improve it, I´d personally suggest buying a FiiO E12... better bass, sound recieves more "weight" overall, even a little increase in soundstage.... that´s all you can achieve upgrade-wise. Don´t bother with a DAC for it...

Only buy a HD 600 if you also can afford a matching amp.

Until then: Chill out and enjoy your music        

There's no denying the 598 is a good headphone, i enjoy my music alot more with them. The soundstage is really good but its hearing the extra details thats made me want more, hence the choice of the hd600. The only drawback to me upon upgrading to these would be loosing that open soundstage, and i wouldn't want to waste money getting them if i cant eek out all the detail without a suitable amp.
Maybe your right, wait and just enjoy what ive got and save save save.

Thanks for all the advice to this thread guys, im calling this thread concluded and closed.