[sebek]

i would go with the DX120 personally to drive your headphones, since it had more power. It will drive your 600's but i think a little more power yet still would be more ideal. You may be better off with a small standalone DAC and separate headphone amp if you are not looking for a portable unit? I love the Sanskrit S10 DAC, i did and A-B between that and my DX120 and i couldn't tell a difference. The Sanskrit is an AKM4493 DAC while the DX120 is a AKM4495...so i guess that shouldn't be surprising.

Yes, I would actually prefer a portable setup, dap or an all-in-one dac/amp not too big to use directly with the smartphone, although I imagine a desktop setup would probably be more suitable.

 

[claudy]

And would it drive even more demanding over-ear headphones like a Senn HD 600 and Hifiman Sundara well?

i have hd600, through the single ended they would make them make a sound, but it wont make them sing, in short 3.5 output lack the power. i believe if u have balance 2.5 to hd jack they would drive 300 ohm no sweat. I'm using balance to drive my um mest on high gain it really bring out everything out!

 

[Mephisto26]

i have hd600, through the single ended they would make them make a sound, but it wont make them sing, in short 3.5 output lack the power. i believe if u have balance 2.5 to hd jack they would drive 300 ohm no sweat. I'm using balance to drive my um mest on high gain it really bring out everything out!

A happy new year to you all!

I still like my DX120 quite a lot and am considering buying my first (semi-)open headphone.

The candidates are: Beyerdynamic DT880 Edition (i.e. non-Pro), the current Sennheiser HD600, and the Hifiman Deva.

So it was that the DX120 would have enough juice to drive the HD600 but additional amplification would be recommended. Is this consensus here?

What would be good pairings between the DX120, the three mentioned headphones, and (potentially) an additional amp (say up to 100 EUR)?

I am looking forward to your input.

 

[trivium911]

A happy new year to you all!

I still like my DX120 quite a lot and am considering buying my first (semi-)open headphone.

The candidates are: Beyerdynamic DT880 Edition (i.e. non-Pro), the current Sennheiser HD600, and the Hifiman Deva.

So it was that the DX120 would have enough juice to drive the HD600 but additional amplification would be recommended. Is this consensus here?

What would be good pairings between the DX120, the three mentioned headphones, and (potentially) an additional amp (say up to 100 EUR)?

I am looking forward to your input.

Have you considered the Hifiman sundara? I have the 400is which were considered by some as an upgrade from the sennheiser 600 series. The sundara should even be better than the 400is. I have the 400is and I feel they pair really well out of the balanced output, they are a funny pair though as they are sensitive but really like voltage rather than ampacity. The dx120 has a decent amount of output voltage, I think they are a fine pairing. I think the 600 series would better pair with a desktop amp, although the dx120 would be better than most portables to drive them out of the balanced output. I haven’t read much about the 880s but they sound really bright/sibilant based on what I’ve read.

 

[Mephisto26]

Have you considered the Hifiman sundara? I have the 400is which were considered by some as an upgrade from the sennheiser 600 series. The sundara should even be better than the 400is. I have the 400is and I feel they pair really well out of the balanced output, they are a funny pair though as they are sensitive but really like voltage rather than ampacity. The dx120 has a decent amount of output voltage, I think they are a fine pairing. I think the 600 series would better pair with a desktop amp, although the dx120 would be better than most portables to drive them out of the balanced output. I haven’t read much about the 880s but they sound really bright/sibilant based on what I’ve read.

Thank you for your suggestions!

What put me off the other Hifiman headphones were reports about poor build quality. The Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic have a much better track record here (especially with regard to repairability). As I live in Germany, getting spare parts should not be an issue with the German phones. But it seems that things have improved as of late.

I will look into the Sundara again.

Would you have an amp suggestion as well?

 

[trivium911]

Thank you for your suggestions!

What put me off the other Hifiman headphones were reports about poor build quality. The Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic have a much better track record here (especially with regard to repairability). As I live in Germany, getting spare parts should not be an issue with the German phones. But it seems that things have improved as of late.

I will look into the Sundara again.

Would you have an amp suggestion as well?

A portable amp for the 400i/Sundara? Or a desktop? I run the desktop Little dot i+ for the 400i's and i love it, i cant recommend it enough for the price. Im using the Sanskrit S10 also a nice piece of equipment for the money, it also has the AK4493 DAC vs the AK4495 in the DX120 so pretty much the same. I've heard bad build quality from hifiman but never really experienced it, my cable failed fairly quickly probably within the first year. The pads also fell apart after three years, i always hated that velour though as i find it itchy. I ended up getting the Dekoni 100% sheepskin leather pads and they are so much better and improved low end bass extension. Other than that what else can go wrong?

 

[claudy]

A happy new year to you all!

I am looking forward to your input.

well i never try those headphones, im only have hd600 & vmoda lp2 and rarely try others headphone. if u living at german better get your own brands isn't, after all their brand is worldwide and benchmark to for the sound. for amplifying i think it wise to get one, headphone need a lot of power, specially planar one to make them sing, for that just get one able to by pass the dac in the amp, so u just use the dac on your dx120 & amplify it ( not double dac with the dac from the amp it self ) something like fiio Q3 can do that, well i dont know much about today portable amps, i never use one, only got my old yamaha amplifier.

 

[Mephisto26]

A portable amp for the 400i/Sundara? Or a desktop? I run the desktop Little dot i+ for the 400i's and i love it, i cant recommend it enough for the price. Im using the Sanskrit S10 also a nice piece of equipment for the money, it also has the AK4493 DAC vs the AK4495 in the DX120 so pretty much the same. I've heard bad build quality from hifiman but never really experienced it, my cable failed fairly quickly probably within the first year. The pads also fell apart after three years, i always hated that velour though as i find it itchy. I ended up getting the Dekoni 100% sheepskin leather pads and they are so much better and improved low end bass extension. Other than that what else can go wrong?

I will look into the Little dot suggestion.

Something about Hifiman rubs me the wrong way, reading many reviews online. Build quality is mentioned as an issue time and again.

 

[Mephisto26]

well i never try those headphones, im only have hd600 & vmoda lp2 and rarely try others headphone. if u living at german better get your own brands isn't, after all their brand is worldwide and benchmark to for the sound. for amplifying i think it wise to get one, headphone need a lot of power, specially planar one to make them sing, for that just get one able to by pass the dac in the amp, so u just use the dac on your dx120 & amplify it ( not double dac with the dac from the amp it self ) something like fiio Q3 can do that, well i dont know much about today portable amps, i never use one, only got my old yamaha amplifier.

Getting spare parts for „local“ headphones will certainly be easier and cheaper.

 

[trivium911]

Getting spare parts for „local“ headphones will certainly be easier and cheaper.

yes for sure but as long as you get a warrenty you are covered,. You can always buy used as any issues would pop up by than i would assume. I've used the crap out of mine and have not had any issues at all other than the cheap pads and the stock cables which suck. Not really anything else to go wrong here as headphones are dead simple.

 

[claudy]

Getting spare parts for „local“ headphones will certainly be easier and cheaper.

even i am from indonesia once i wanted to buy beyerdynamic custom pro then for bass reason i get my self v-moda, i always lookup to germany's products anyway.

 

[claudy]

Helo all, anyone plays musics iso. wv extension with our dx120? or dx120 won't read iso file? @Paul - iBasso

 

[Lurker0]

iso. wv extension

It is not supported. If you extract music tracks in wv format, they should work, but not all: it depends on WavPack version used.

 

[claudy]

It is not supported. If you extract music tracks in wv format, they should work, but not all: it depends on WavPack version used.

yeah i finally convert them using foobar, thanks for your reply

 

[trivium911]

yeah i finally convert them using foobar, thanks for your reply

Im trying to convert an ISO from an SACD, ISO2DSD does not work...when i click convert it does nothing. How exactly can you do with foobar because i've tried that also...its seems it needs another plug in.