[longphant]

I brought my ATH-M50's to my audiophile friend's place. He has a desktop set up with a DAC.
 
We listened to a song like Tipper - Puzzle Dust (flac format). I noticed that I could hear more detail using his DAC set up. It's a very fast paced song and the DAC was able to pick up all the details in the song. But then I tried to listen to Maroon 5 (flac format), and I didn't notice much of a difference from using my iPod or his desktop set up. So I'm thinking that getting expensive equipment is more for those who listen to very fast paced EDM music. What if I'm listening to pop/alternative songs? Would I benefit all that much from getting expensive equipment?

 

[longphant]

Anyone?

 

[ThinkAwesome]

Pretty much every modern DAC, except for really really crappy ones, and very high end ones that may intentionally color sound, has a pretty much flat frequency response, i.e. perfectly transparent to the human ear. 
 
Assuming you don't have an amp hooked up to either, it is possible his DAC's built in amp is able to drive the M50's better than your iPod's. 
 
Your M50's are also pretty easy to drive headphones. The improvement from plugging it into something that can drive it better is probably not audible for most pop music. 

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

E17, you don't have to get an expensive one, Pop music (and most electronica actually) is compressed.

 

[bowei006]

M50's are easy to drive, they don't require a DAC. Many users use one because they bought the DAC for other headphones and just so happen to also own the M50's.
 
The difference is there but is hard to tell from the untrained ear.

 

[BillsonChang007]

Hello!

Lik some said, you do not need any external DAC to drive the ATH-M50 but if you wanted one, FiiO E10/E7

Billson

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

^what are you guys talking about? The amp drives the headphone, a DAC is a DAC, it's just weather the headphones are revealing enough and you have enough time to listen for the differences.

 

[ThinkAwesome]

Unless you are using an external amp, you are going to be using the internal amp of whatever you are plugging into. 
 
So the DAC's internal amp is probably better than the iPod's internal amp. The DAC portion of both should be giving a pretty much razor flat frequency response. 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

Unless you are using an external amp, you are going to be using the internal amp of whatever you are plugging into. 
 
So the DAC's internal amp is probably better than the iPod's internal amp. The DAC portion of both should be giving a pretty much razor flat frequency response. 

Some DAC's use pre amps to increase line level output. But those of course aren't the real driving amps.

 

[ThinkAwesome]

A lot of "DAC"s are DAC + amp combos. The FiiO E10 mentioned by BillsonChang can drive the 250ohm Beyerdynamics. 
 
Since there was no mention of an external amp by the OP, I assume that the DAC in question is DAC + headphone amp. 

 

[bowei006]

Quote:

A lot of "DAC"s are DAC + amp combos. The FiiO E10 mentioned by BillsonChang can drive the 250ohm Beyerdynamics. 
 
Since there was no mention of an external amp by the OP, I assume that the DAC in question is DAC + headphone amp. 

I was just mentioning that what the dude above said is correct. Saying DAC means just DAC.