dt990/600, amp and dac required?

[panda8six]

hi all. newbie here. considering upgrading from my ad700s to beyer dt990/600s (I really like large soundstages and open headphones).
 
my problem is that i'm not sure where to go after i've made that decision. it seems like an amp is required to power the dt990/600s, but am i then required to use a DAC? looking at the prices of all of these components, the upgrade is starting to look a whole lot more expensive than i'd originally planned.
 
finally, can anyone give me an idiot's guide to where the sound card on my pc plays in all of this?
 
thanks for your time and patience.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
You will love this upgrade. All the soundstage. Yet way more oumph in everything.
 
You will need an amplifier, yes, but you won't need anything extraordinary. Also, a DAC is a good choice too. You could get a combination setup. Yes, it's more expensive. It's gonna be more like $500, or more depending how you do it.
 
Your soundcard serves as a DAC. It converts the digital data to an analog signal. And if it does a poor noisy job of it, it will be heard.
 
The Beyers are actually easy to drive. My V1 portable amp pushes them just fine to high volumes. Get a FiiO E9 and input from your soundcard. Done! Or, get a DAC/AMP like the Nuforce. Or even look at the Hifiman EF2A usb dac/tube amp. Great start with the DT990's. You'll absolutely it.
 
Very best,

 

[panda8six]

Thanks for the help.
I'm currently using an Asus Xonar DG as my sound card.
 
So it looks like my choices to pair with the dt990/600s are:
 
FiiO E9 amp with my sound card
Little Dot MKiii with my sound card
Nuforce Icon (not sure which model to get)
 
How much of a difference will I notice going from plugging the dt990/600s straight into in my sound card to any of these setups?

 

[Myxomatosis]

I got the DT 880 (600). They definitely need a good amp to show what they can do. I assume the DT 990 (600) are the same. Underpowered, they will sound flat.

 

[panda8six]

Will it be worth it to spend ~200$ on an amp without a dac (just my xonar dg)?

 

[panda8six]

Will it be worth it to spend ~200$ on an amp without a dac (just my xonar dg)?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Will it be worth it to spend ~200$ on an amp without a dac (just my xonar dg)?

Heya,
 
I would say no. A new amp won't necessarily improve sound. Amps get talked about a lot on here, but really, having a good clean flat DAC is simply going to give you a sound that is superior. The amp will then amplify that sound and drive your headphones. I used to use soundcards for DACs for a long time. These days I use external DAC's and the sound is just superior (and I can jump between machines and input from other sources too). The Xonar DG's output has an amp behind it already. I'd rather have a DAC with no amplification added to the mix when outputing to yet another AMP.
 
Very best,

 

[panda8six]

Which DAC or DAC/amp combos would you recommend then with a $300 price ceiling?

 

[xxhaxx]

You can checkout the audio gd nfd 12. I tested it with my dt880/600 and it sounds great 

 

[Misterrogers]

I just picked up an HDP for $300. With a bit of patience and effort, you can get some nice gear (relatively) for that price.

 

[panda8six]

where did you see the hdp for 300$ can't find it for anything less than msrp online.
 
how does the icon 2 compare to the hdp? is the difference that noticeable?

 

[Misterrogers]

Right here on Head-Fi for sale. Just check daily, and see if the seller is willing to negotiate. Takes some patience, but you can get pretty good component(s) in your budget.

 

[obazavil]

Fiio E7+E9 for $200.
 
I own DT990 and they sound great