[birkborkason]

Hi, my name is Olof and even though I've been playing and listening to music almost all my life I don't know a lot about HiFi yet. Anyway I'm planning to buy a pair of quality headphones, and need some advice when it comes to amps. This community seems nice and helpful, so here we go.
 
After reading som reviews and two visits to HiFi stores I'm mostly interested in the following headphones (my budget is about 350 dollars for the phones): Focal Listen, Focal spirit Classics and Audio Technica ATH-MSR7. (I haven't heard the spirit and the MSR7 yet).
 
My main sorce is Tidal lossless streaming, from a Samsung Galaxy S6.
 
Actually I wasn't very impressed with any headphones i listened to today straight out of my phone, even though I liked the Focal Listen best. When I plugged them in to the cd player and amplifier he had set up, I noticed a big difference though. This was an amp for about 1500 dollars, so yeah... way out of my price range. What surprised me though was that the Focal listen sounded so much better through cd and amp. My conclusion is that I probably should get an amp combined with a DAC (since I'm streaming).
 
The store owner claims that cheap portable amps was a fad a few years ago, but that they aren't good enough for you to notice enough difference, making them a bad buy. He sells a Ohlbach XXL DAC Ultra (combined amp ad DAC) for about 400 dollars, which is his cheapest one. Thing is, that's over my intended budget, even though I am prepared to buy it, if it is the reasonable thing to do to get a good listening experience. I have been reading about the Audioquest Dragonfly black, wich seems to get great reviews; conttradicting what the store owner says.
 
This brings me to my question. Is a small amp (like the Dragonfly) for about 150 dollars a waste of money compared to the results I get, and should I go for a bigger more expensive amp? Any thoughts (or recommendation about headphones, amp/dac-combinations) are most welcome.

 

[Muinarc]

Did you try the Ohlbach XXL DAC Ultra with the Focal listen to at least get a reference if that made a worthwhile difference to you? The Focal Listen is a great headphone, they aren't terribly hard to drive so you wouldn't need to go crazy with the amp. Something like the Dragonfly or LH Labs Geek Out should work pretty well.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Be careful about terminology... 
 
When you say amp, you are talking strictly about an analog amplification stage. 
 
The DragonFly black is NOT an amp. It is a DAC that also has an amp stage. 
 
That said, AQ DragonFly seems like a very good DAC/amp and a logical combination for your headphone choices, especially considering your source is your phone.

 

[birkborkason]

Thanks for your responses. Muinarc, you are right in that I should listen to the Ohlbach. I didn't have time for it today, and I'm a bit short on time in general atm, but I should go back and listen.
 
Maybe the Dragonfly is the way to go anyway, because its a third of the price of the Ohlbach.

 

[Music Alchemist]

The Focal Listen is extremely easy to drive: 32 ohms and 122 dB/mW. I had two pairs of the Focal Spirit Professional, which is 32 ohms and 102 dB/mW. I compared driving it from a Schiit Magni 2 Uber amp (which outputs up to 1.5 watts at 32 ohms!) and the headphone outputs of my laptop and did not hear a difference. (Except at volume levels higher than my computer can reach, obviously.) You should be fine with an affordable portable DAC/amp.

 

[jbgarcia]

I can't give you a 100% sure reply, but I had a similar question when I purchased my Sennheiser HD 598s (cost me $250) a few years ago. After much research, I decided on purchasing the FiiO E07K USB DAC/amp combo which ran me about $100. It's considered one of the, if not the best DAC/amp combo for the price, and maybe even better than some a bit more expensive. I can say from personal experience that it produces much better sound quality than a direct analog connection, produces very accurate sound, and is worth the money unless you are getting a Hi-Fi phone like the LG V10 or V20 (I have the V10) which already include high quality Hi-Fi DAC/amp combos inside. It's also great for listening to music from your computer, unless (again) it includes a Hi-Fi audio solution inside (my laptop does, but most computers don't).
 
By the way, I think that store owner is either just trying to get you give him lots of moneys, or is an audiophile snob who thinks if it doesn't cost a fortune it's not worth owning. "Cheap"-costing DAC/amp combos don't necessarily have to be cheap quality. You just have to look around for the right products.

 

[birkborkason]

I can't find a FiiO E07K to buy, but I can find a FiiO E17K. Is it an upgraded version? Some reviewer for the Spirit Classics said that it did a fine choice driving them. Maybe its a better choice than the Dragonfly, for the price is about the same.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I can't find a FiiO E07K to buy, but I can find a FiiO E17K. Is it an upgraded version? Some reviewer for the Spirit Classics said that it did a fine choice driving them. Maybe its a better choice than the Dragonfly, for the price is about the same.

 
Another option is the Schiit Fulla DAC/amp. That's another one I used with the Focal Spirit Pro.

 

[Monsterzero]

  By the way, I think that store owner is either just trying to get you give him lots of moneys, or is an audiophile snob who thinks if it doesn't cost a fortune it's not worth owning. "Cheap"-costing DAC/amp combos don't necessarily have to be cheap quality. You just have to look around for the right products.

+1 on this

 

[b0000]

My take on things is that, if your headphone gets loud enough, it's not worth it.
 
My reason being: it's noisy as hell outside (i'm assuming youre gonna be outside since you want a portable amp). All those minute details a good amp will bring you will be lost in the background noise since no phones is that good at isolating.

 

[Watagump]

Amps are over rated.

 

[birkborkason]

Well that's comforting because it just turns out that Samsung Galaxy s6 for some reason doesn't support sound over usb, which i guess means that I'm forced to use the regular aux. That sucks

 

[Watagump]

The Mojo and S6 would be a great combo. They were made to go with phones.

 

[birkborkason]

Isn't that pretty expensive? How would I connect it differently so that USB isn't used?

 

[Watagump]

Isn't that pretty expensive? How would I connect it differently so that USB isn't used?

 
I saw one for $450 in the for sale section yesterday, you don't have access to that yet being a new member, so they are not as cheap as Fiio amps, but sound much better since its both an amp and a DAC. Would you be open to going outside the box and maybe getting some IEM's or CIEM's?