[neks0ne]

Hello!

Ive done some searches on the topic, Ive read a good bit in this forum, and now feel like I have gained enough insight to pose a question!

One of the first newfound Headphone/Audiophile questions and lessons is, that their home reciever is usually not on par with (in some cases, cheaper) Headphone Amps, and DACs. I am up in the air on this, becuase I have not been able to make it to a Head-Fi meet to try new hardware. How awesome would it be if I could go to best buy and see a row of tube amps. ..

I have a pair of HD650s( I had the HD580s for a couple of years, and I miss them already), I currently use a AVR154 from Harman Kardon. It has a Dolby Digital Headphone Output. I still believe (because if it wasnt for hobbies, Id be rich) that I "need" something more. Ive read (on Head-Fi) a couple of members using the Dolby Headphone out- to Semi Portable Amp. They mention one of the reasons to be they want to retain the Dolby Processed Headphone ability. I do as well! For gaming with Dolby, its a must for me.

....I have also read that some others, just Use a Dac/Amp from the digital out of the reciever to run their cans. My Question is this.

If that is the case, does the Digital information get processed to Dolby, and then out to the DAC....to be processed again? If so, do I lose the Decoding ability?

My over all question is, what are some of your thoughts on the over all set up. I imagine it would be cheaper to just get a AMP. Itd be neat if I had DAC though so I could use it on the road.


Over All budget is under 200usd. (I know, I know....no thrown stones please

 

[NASA]

I'm a newbie myself, very curious to see if anyone could help answer some of the Op's questions, it would help me greatly.

I have a new pair of ATH-AD700's (thanks are the reviews and info everyone) hooked up to a onkyo reciever (HT-R500) to run the sound from the PC, would an amp improve the sound quality as compared to running them through the receiver?

Is it better to use a headphone amp connected directly to the computer or use an amp connected through the receiver?

I'm sorry for wasting your time on these newbie questions, about after about 3 weeks of reading I have had trouble finding answers to these queston as well

 

[Mr.Sneis]

I'm no expert on a/v receivers but even though I have one hooked up to my rig, my HP setup is Source/PC -> DAC -> Amp

I wouldn't go through the receiver simply because it would complicate the chain and there's the possibility of the signal getting processed before I want it to be.

 

[NASA]

Thanks for the help

 

[oneplustwo]

I'm no expert either, but I can tell you that the sound quality coming out of my JVC A/V receiver headphone jack compared to my gamma1 DAC and any of my amps (mini3, minimax, B22) is not even close. Granted, my receiver is probably 5 years old now and DAC chips have come a long way in that time. Also, my guess is that most A/V receivers do not make the headphone jack a priority so the amplification for that particular item is probably relatively low end.

 

[neks0ne]

Thanks for the replies.

After searching a bit, reading some faqs (mostly about tubes) and looking into Amps, Dac, Combos, etc. I think I am going to start with an Amp, and let my HK Reciever handle the DAC portion for now. My AVR154 uses a Cirrus 49510 for digital processing and as far as I can tell, its decent! I see the need for some power behind the 650s

Do you think the mkII plus is a good start?

The HK reciever is also still sort of a must for its dolby capabilities.