[wthefourth]

So, I've recently acquired several sets of decent headphones - Beyerdynamic Custom One Pros, Philips SHP9500s, and Sennheiser HD 598s - and I'm considering buying a DAC/Amp to bump up the quality of, at least, the HD 598s. I don't want to spend too much money, preferably in the $100 range all things considered, Would it be worth it for me to buy a DAC/Amp? I was thinking something like the FiiO E10K would be enough for my purposes, at least for now.

 

[NA Blur]

A few questions to answer first:
 
1.) Do all of your headphones get loud enough with your current gear?
 
2.) Do you hear annoying noise when the volume is at zero and no music playing?
 
3.) Do you hear annoying noise when the volume is at 70% and no music playing?
 
 
I think with those headphones you are not going to see a huge improvement in sound quality. Typically a good amp will help control the bass of a headphone while a good DAC will remove pesky noise issues in the audio train. There are few amps out there that are going to magically make a headphone sound better because an amp is simply designed to amplify the voltage to the driver and power the voice coil. Some amps have a bass boost option, but if you are unsatisfied with the bass on the HD 598 no amp is going to boost it into nirvana. This is a simplification, but I want to share my experience and knowledge so you can put your hard earned money elsewhere.