[JGOelfke]

Hey guys,
I recently bought a pair of the Beyerdynamic DT770 - 32 Ohm version cans, and even though they have such a low impedance rating, the bass and low mids seem subdued when listening, especially at low volumes. I am looking for a good portable amp that will fix this issue.
 
Also, I have a pair of the 300 ohm MB Quart QP400's, which I need a stationary amp to properly power (obviously). A good friend of mine swears by the FiiO E7/E9 combination, which I have plenty of listening experience with as well. I really like this combo because not only can the E9 power 300 ohms with no problem, but it runs as a DAC when coupled with the E7. I really like the uncolored sound that these give and the very convenient portable use of the E7 (strap to the ipod, etc...).
 
Would this be the best option for the price (I can get the combo for around $200-220), or is there another option that would give me similar features? Portable use, the ability to easily power 300 ohms, and DAC are all very important to me.
 
Thanks, and I really appreciate your input!

 

[JGOelfke]

I have heard a lot of good things about the PA2V2, but from what I have read it doesn't have the capability to fully power the QP400s....

 

[Mad Max]

300-ohm, 93 SPL 'phones?  That really looks hard to drive.  If the QP400's were around 106 SPL instead like HD600, Minibox-ES would do very well with them, but that amp doesn't come with a DAC.  You'll love your beyers out of the Minibox at the very least - it's within your budget and comes with a free pair of RE0 earphones to boot.
If you don't want/like the free earphones you can give them to me. 

 

[average_joe]

What are you using as a source?  Why is the DAC function important?  The Arrow is great at pushing full sized cans but doesn't have a DAC.  The Stepdance is a step up in price and sound, but both don't have a DAC.

 

[JGOelfke]

My source is only an iPod and my laptop. I listen to music out of my laptop fairly frequently, and when I also upgrade to a desktop amp, I would like a DAC for that reason. That is why I am leaning toward the E7/E9 combo.
 
I would prefer a DAC because the sound card in my laptop is terrible. I am also fairly picky when it comes to sound quality, so if I can get a product with that has a dual function as DAC, that would be perfect.

 

[Jalo]

Quote:

My source is only an iPod and my laptop. I listen to music out of my laptop fairly frequently, and when I also upgrade to a desktop amp, I would like a DAC for that reason. That is why I am leaning toward the E7/E9 combo.
 
I would prefer a DAC because the sound card in my laptop is terrible. I am also fairly picky when it comes to sound quality, so if I can get a product with that has a dual function as DAC, that would be perfect.

You are right, you are picky , you want very high quality sound for around $220.00 that you can use both as desktop and portable but has to be able to drive fullsize cans up to 300 ohm and yet small enough to use it with the ipod.
 
You already like the E7/E9 combo, the other one that will fit the bill may be the Ibasso D6 and D12, even though they'll cost a little more at $275.00 and $285.00 respectively.  But it is a one piece combo that is easy for travel.  I personally lean toward the D6 with power of 650 mw per chanel driving into 32 ohm.  Both come with dual Wolfson Dac 8740.  Tour best bet.
 

 

[average_joe]

The USB-DAC-Cable is a very good DAC for the price that goes well with another amp and a laptop.  Then you can get whatever amp you want and upgrade both the DAC/amp as you wish.  I have used the USB-DAC-Cable with my Arrow from my laptop with very good results.

 

[JGOelfke]

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Quote:

My source is only an iPod and my laptop. I listen to music out of my laptop fairly frequently, and when I also upgrade to a desktop amp, I would like a DAC for that reason. That is why I am leaning toward the E7/E9 combo.
 
I would prefer a DAC because the sound card in my laptop is terrible. I am also fairly picky when it comes to sound quality, so if I can get a product with that has a dual function as DAC, that would be perfect.

You are right, you are picky , you want very high quality sound for around $220.00 that you can use both as desktop and portable but has to be able to drive fullsize cans up to 300 ohm and yet small enough to use it with the ipod.
 
You already like the E7/E9 combo, the other one that will fit the bill may be the Ibasso D6 and D12, even though they'll cost a little more at $275.00 and $285.00 respectively.  But it is a one piece combo that is easy for travel.  I personally lean toward the D6 with power of 650 mw per chanel driving into 32 ohm.  Both come with dual Wolfson Dac 8740.  Tour best bet.
 

 
I'm looking at the iBasso amps right now and I do like them. I see that the D6 has the ability to drive 32 ohms no problem, but will either of them be able to fully power a 300 ohm headphone? Probably a silly question, but I just can't find that specific information for the D12. Both look very portable, which is perfect for what I'm looking for.
 
As the only amplifier listening experience I have is with FiiO, would you be able to compare the sound out of either the D6 or D12 with that of FiiO? I have heard very good things about iBasso in the past and I'm sure there is very little difference between them.

 

[JGOelfke]

Quote:

The USB-DAC-Cable is a very good DAC for the price that goes well with another amp and a laptop.  Then you can get whatever amp you want and upgrade both the DAC/amp as you wish.  I have used the USB-DAC-Cable with my Arrow from my laptop with very good results.

I am assuming you are talking about the Headstage USB-DAC-cable, correct? That is the one I have found, anyway. It sounds like it functions very well using a desktop amp, but do you have much experience with using it coupled with a portable amp?

 

[Mad Max]

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My source is only an iPod and my laptop. I listen to music out of my laptop fairly frequently, and when I also upgrade to a desktop amp, I would like a DAC for that reason. That is why I am leaning toward the E7/E9 combo.
 
I would prefer a DAC because the sound card in my laptop is terrible. I am also fairly picky when it comes to sound quality, so if I can get a product with that has a dual function as DAC, that would be perfect.

You are right, you are picky , you want very high quality sound for around $220.00 that you can use both as desktop and portable but has to be able to drive fullsize cans up to 300 ohm and yet small enough to use it with the ipod.
 
You already like the E7/E9 combo, the other one that will fit the bill may be the Ibasso D6 and D12, even though they'll cost a little more at $275.00 and $285.00 respectively.  But it is a one piece combo that is easy for travel.  I personally lean toward the D6 with power of 650 mw per chanel driving into 32 ohm.  Both come with dual Wolfson Dac 8740.  Tour best bet.
 

 
I'm looking at the iBasso amps right now and I do like them. I see that the D6 has the ability to drive 32 ohms no problem, but will either of them be able to fully power a 300 ohm headphone? Probably a silly question, but I just can't find that specific information for the D12. Both look very portable, which is perfect for what I'm looking for.
 
As the only amplifier listening experience I have is with FiiO, would you be able to compare the sound out of either the D6 or D12 with that of FiiO? I have heard very good things about iBasso in the past and I'm sure there is very little difference between them.

It wouldn't surprise me if the D6 could drive your QP400's, though I really doubt it.  It's not the ohms that's so much of a problem, but the low sensitivity (93 dB/mW) much more than the ohms (resistance).
The D12 shouldn't altogether.
 
Easiest bet would probably be E7 + E9 because of the E9's power.  Or if you go for the D6 first then get the E9 later.  E7's DAC won't be as good as the D6, which has a line-out you can feed into the E9.
A Matrix M-Stage will be even better in place of the E9. 

It is somewhat compact.

 

[JGOelfke]

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My source is only an iPod and my laptop. I listen to music out of my laptop fairly frequently, and when I also upgrade to a desktop amp, I would like a DAC for that reason. That is why I am leaning toward the E7/E9 combo.
 
I would prefer a DAC because the sound card in my laptop is terrible. I am also fairly picky when it comes to sound quality, so if I can get a product with that has a dual function as DAC, that would be perfect.

You are right, you are picky , you want very high quality sound for around $220.00 that you can use both as desktop and portable but has to be able to drive fullsize cans up to 300 ohm and yet small enough to use it with the ipod.
 
You already like the E7/E9 combo, the other one that will fit the bill may be the Ibasso D6 and D12, even though they'll cost a little more at $275.00 and $285.00 respectively.  But it is a one piece combo that is easy for travel.  I personally lean toward the D6 with power of 650 mw per chanel driving into 32 ohm.  Both come with dual Wolfson Dac 8740.  Tour best bet.
 

 
I'm looking at the iBasso amps right now and I do like them. I see that the D6 has the ability to drive 32 ohms no problem, but will either of them be able to fully power a 300 ohm headphone? Probably a silly question, but I just can't find that specific information for the D12. Both look very portable, which is perfect for what I'm looking for.
 
As the only amplifier listening experience I have is with FiiO, would you be able to compare the sound out of either the D6 or D12 with that of FiiO? I have heard very good things about iBasso in the past and I'm sure there is very little difference between them.

It wouldn't surprise me if the D6 could drive your QP400's, though I really doubt it.  It's not the ohms that's so much of a problem, but the low sensitivity (93 dB/mW) much more than the ohms (resistance).
The D12 shouldn't altogether.
 
Easiest bet would probably be E7 + E9 because of the E9's power.  Or if you go for the D6 first then get the E9 later.  E7's DAC won't be as good as the D6, which has a line-out you can feed into the E9.
A Matrix M-Stage will be even better in place of the E9. 

It is somewhat compact.
 

 
Oh okay, that makes sense (the sensitivity ratings vs impedance). And yeah, the raw power of the E9 is what is drawing me to it so strongly. The Matrix M-Stage is a little out of my price range right now, especially since I am really pulling for something portable as well. Although it will definitely be a solid state amp to consider in the future.

 

[average_joe]

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The USB-DAC-Cable is a very good DAC for the price that goes well with another amp and a laptop.  Then you can get whatever amp you want and upgrade both the DAC/amp as you wish.  I have used the USB-DAC-Cable with my Arrow from my laptop with very good results.

I am assuming you are talking about the Headstage USB-DAC-cable, correct? That is the one I have found, anyway. It sounds like it functions very well using a desktop amp, but do you have much experience with using it coupled with a portable amp?

Correct, the Headstage USB-DAC-Cable.  And I have used it with the Arrow, Pico Slim, Rx, and Stepdance, and T3.  It works great with all of them except the T3, which seemed to have bass rolloff, but I did mod mine with better caps (to see if I could improve the sound, but it really didn't do much).  I didn't test the USB-DAC-Cable with the T3 before my mod, so I don't know if it was the amp or my mod that did it.  I did have the uDAC (original) at the same time as the USB-DAC-Cable (when it was stock) and thought the USB-DAC-Cable sounded slightly better to go with the better form factor.

 

[Jalo]

Well if you must drive a 300 ohm impedance phone on the portable basis in your budget, there is really not that many option.  The D6 will only have about 70mw into 300 ohm ans that will not be ideal.  I think the Ibasso combo of DB1 and PB2 will definitely be able to do it but it will be out of you budget.  But that will give you the ability to do almost all head phone.  I am not familiar with the Matrix M-Stage so I cannot comment on it.  But the PB2 with it 2500mw rating could drive some small speakers and the DB1 Boomslang is an excellent Dac.  The RSA SR71B could do the job also.  However, they won't work very well with the ipod.

 

[JGOelfke]

Quote:

Well if you must drive a 300 ohm impedance phone on the portable basis in your budget, there is really not that many option.  The D6 will only have about 70mw into 300 ohm ans that will not be ideal.  I think the Ibasso combo of DB1 and PB2 will definitely be able to do it but it will be out of you budget.  But that will give you the ability to do almost all head phone.  I am not familiar with the Matrix M-Stage so I cannot comment on it.  But the PB2 with it 2500mw rating could drive some small speakers and the DB1 Boomslang is an excellent Dac.  The RSA SR71B could do the job also.  However, they won't work very well with the ipod.

The 300 ohm headphone is purely a desk headphone, not for travel. I just want the amp that I will get to have the power to drive it, which is why I was originally considering the E7/E9 combo