[John247]

Headphone Amp Streaming

I have been lucky enough to purchase a set of Audeze lcd-X headphones.

I have a naim uniti 2 which is a great general system, but know that a great headphone amp will really do the system justice.

But here's the problem...

I don't want to physically attach the amp to my main system as I'll mainly listen in another room. I have a portable hi-res player which is good with it but really want to get a dedicated amp.

My music is stored on a NAS drive so need to stream my hi-res files, decode them, then play them out though the amp.

I'd spend up to £1500. Suggestions? I'd really value some advice.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Headphone Amp Streaming

I have been lucky enough to purchase a set of Audeze lcd-X headphones.

I have a naim uniti 2 which is a great general system, but know that a great headphone amp will really do the system justice.

But here's the problem...

I don't want to physically attach the amp to my main system as I'll mainly listen in another room. I have a portable hi-res player which is good with it but really want to get a dedicated amp.

My music is stored on a NAS drive so need to stream my hi-res files, decode them, then play them out though the amp.

I'd spend up to £1500. Suggestions? I'd really value some advice.

 

Streaming really is done in digital to minimize issues with analogue signal losses and noise. If you can spend that much you can just get another network player for the other room and a good DAC+HPamp - like the Marantz NA6005 paired with something like the Meier DACcord and Classic - and then you can stream from the same NAS used by the Naim player.

 

[John247]

Thanks ever so much for the advice. Don't know much about the Marantz (fond memories of owning a CD60SE). Is it a good enough source?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 

Quote:

Thanks ever so much for the advice. Don't know much about the Marantz (fond memories of owning a CD60SE). Is it a good enough source?

 

Oh nice, had a CD60 too - went through several of those gear repair kits (damn CDM4) and then at some point it couldn't read CD-Rs and CDs with PC content. Nice enough headphone driver on ti too, no issues with the HD600 and was better than my Little Dot MkII.

 

As for the server, I don't really see why not. Nowadays it's either you hear about a serious functionality issue or they basically work the same way. You can always get a different DAC, but if I'm using a music server via analogue output, I'd gamble on the Marantz and not on anything else, unless I can get the M1Clic cheap.

 

 

[John247]

Thanks for that. Useful advice.