[cuboid]

Hello!
 
I need some insight and help on opamps.
 
First I will explain in detail what I have and what bothers me. I will mark the important stuff in bold text if you want to just skim through.
 
My chain: windows 7 > spotify premium or flac in foobar audio player > usb > fubar IV > sennheiser hd598
 
 
As you can see: the Fubar works as both an external DAC and amplifier.
 
When I listen to the headphones through the Fubar the sound is very clear, all frequenzies are very detailed and all of them are very balanced, that is to say it seems that the frequenzy response is very flat. I appreciate that a lot.
The separation is excellent.. If i were to judge the quality of the sound, as if listening to a bunch of test signals, I would give it the most excellent grade.
 
However, the sound has no emotion. There's no feeling in music. When I listen to some of my favourite music it is like I'm just sitting there with very good sound in my ear, but it's like the music is dead.
 
With the HD598 being regarded as very good headphones, I figure something must be out of the ordinary with my setup.
And so I compare the sound from the Fubar with the sound straight from the front headphone jack on my computer.
 
I find that it is rather difficult to compare given that I have to switch source in windows and unplug the cable - there is a pause and I have to move a little to switch cables. It would be easier if I could just switch between the two with a button so I could get a better comparison.
 
Anyway; here is what I gather after switching back and forth for a while:
 
fubar: very clear and clean signal. all frequenzies are very clean and sound very good, but without feeling. the headphones almoust sound dull. there's very little emotion. it's just a very good and clean signal but without heart and soul. 

 
straight from computer jack: bass is dirtier but not overly so. music is exciting and fun, borderline raw (in a good sense). the overall sound image reminds me a little bit of my old grado sr80, at least compared to amped.
 
 
Now my real question:
Could this be due to the opamp in the Fubar IV?
I would be happy to try out some of the cheaper opamps out there, or if convinced - a more expensive one.
 
More background data:
 
FUBAR:
Main OPamp: TI OPA2604
There is also a changeable Servo OPamp: TI TL072 (I don't know what a servo OP.A. is but thought it would be best to write it down
 
Previously used Grado SR80 from the same front headphone jack. Loved them. Had them for 3-4 years but the Y-split in the cable broke. Would buy Grado again if it werent for that Y-split on all their headphones.
 
Have used Fubar+HD598 for about 8 months.
 
Edit: I listen to a wide range of music, but to give you some ideas what I listened to when I compared source: Nick Cave (remastered albums on Spotify). Tom Waits. Electronic music such as Breakfast, Daft Punk, Justice.
 
Happy to hear from anyone with suggestions and tips!
 

 

[Monkee]

Have you listened to the amp with another set of headphones? It could just be a bad combo. Rolling the opamps is cheap and often very effective. See: http://www.head-fi.org/t/69759/how-good-is-the-opa2604 for a sample thread. I'd suggest looking to the player - trying uLilith in 64bit floating point really smashed foobar for me, and lead me to WASAPI over ASIO4ALL.
 
It sounds like you bought the wrong headphones to me. Or you've normalised to them too fast. The 598's aren't meant to sound like the Grado's. They're meant to be closer to a 'reference' headhone. Sounds like you don't like this, and the jack is giving you onboard sound - warm, dirty, bassier - less accurate but more midrange, probably rolled off treble w/ a little more low harshness, and woofy bass. Sounds like a realtek AC97 onboard 

 
Tips: try different headphones with your amp. Sell your amp if you prefer your headphones unamped at this price point. Roll opamps anyhow - it's not going to cost much. Lastly, try a tube amp.