Is it worth buying an amp/DAC for a pair of Sennheiser 598 headphones for use with an HP Beats by Dre Laptop and iPod Shuffle?
Jul 20, 2011 at 1:32 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16
DarkAndroid

DarkAndroid

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Hello peeps, this is my first post on head-fi, and I must say I've learned so much from reading all the articles, reviews and forums from this wonderful website. I'm already starting to feel sorry for my wallet. :)
Anyway, I want to buy my first set of high-end headphones, and after doing extensive research online I've decided that the Sennheiser HD 598 is the one to get considering how much I'm willing to spend and the fact that I want to use it for music, movies and gaming. My main 2 sources of music are my HP dv7 Beats Audio Laptop and an iPod Shuffle. I've been using the apparently ****ty earphones that came with the iPod as my headphones for the past few months and although they still manage to sound kind of good when I'm using them to listen to music with my laptop, with the iPod shuffle the music sounds kind of flat. However, I want the best experience possible when I start using the Sennheiser HD 598 set. And going from what I've read it seems I will need an amp/DAC to get that experience.  So I have a few questions:
 
1) Can you get decent sound from an mp3 player as small as the iPod Shuffle with the Sennheiser HD 598? Or will I need an amp?
 
2) Does the amp/DAC really make an appreciable difference if you are using a decent media laptop to listen to music? I want to believe that the HP dv7 with built in Beats Audio sound can deliver great sound through the headphone jack, but I may be wrong? And if I decide to use a DAC with the USB ports to get sound, I believe it bypasses the onboard sound card, but does it bypass the Beats Audio optimized sound too?
 
3) Can anyone suggest a good amp/DAC for $100 or less that would be ideal for my setup? It seems the fiio E7 is really great, and they would probably work well with my laptop, but does anyone have an idea of how they would work with an iPod Shuffle? It would be cumbersome to connect an amp/DAC as big as the E7 to something as small and portable as the iPod Shuffle, but if there is a notable gain in sound quality and loudness I wouldnt mind.
 
Thanks in advance for your help peeps :)
 
Jul 20, 2011 at 4:09 PM Post #4 of 16
Yeah, I guess what I'll do is get the 598 headphones first, use them for about a week or 2 to let them burn-in and get a feel of the sound they produce, then decide whether to get an amp or not. From what I heard the 598 sounds spectacular without any external amp/dac even from mp3 players, unlike some of the higher-end Sennheisers like the 600 or 650. we'll see. :)
 
Jul 20, 2011 at 5:34 PM Post #7 of 16
Why not wait to receive the headphones first before you go off spending additional $$ on accessories?
 
I've never owned the HD 598 so I don't know whether you'll need amplication, but judging from the fact that they're not high impedance headphones, your laptop's 3.5mm out should provide enough power to drive them at a decent volume.
 
I have the new version of hp's dv6t also, and I think the beats audio software is a load of crap tbh. It's just sets the tone controls to high bass/high treble with it on and low bass/high treble with it off. I usually have it turned off and manually set the tones to be leveled at +0dB for both. As for a dac, if you're music is mostly 16bit then I don't think hp's audio out is that piss poor that you would hear a noticeable difference when compared with most dac/amp combos below $100. However I could just be biased since I am not a firm believer in cheap portable dac/amp combos.
 
But if you really want a dac/amp combo, I'd probably go with the E7 since they can be also used as a dedicated amp for your shuffle in case it doesn't drive it well enough.
 
Aug 5, 2011 at 7:14 PM Post #9 of 16
So my new HD 598 headphones have been delivered and I'm using them now! They sound great! Definitely an improvement over all the previous headphones I've been using...especially in treble and bass. The only thing I can say is that the headphones sound a bit flat at the moment....although thats probably because they are still brand new and havent burned in yet. All in all though, a good purchase. :)
 
Aug 5, 2011 at 11:54 PM Post #10 of 16
Try powering them through a receiver and see if you can hear any difference (though be careful that more volume =/= better). If you can hear a difference, only then should you consider spending more money on a dedicated headphone amp.
 
Aug 7, 2011 at 2:45 PM Post #11 of 16
Unfortunately I dont have a receiver to try them out on at the moment, the only sources of music have at the moment are my laptop with the built in sound card, my ipod shuffle, and the headphone jack at the back of my Polaroid 21 inch flat screen TV. Not very good sources I know. Though I'm looking at buying the E7/E9 combination, I've heard alot of good things about it. I do believe the HD 598 can still perform alot better than what I'm hearing from them now.
 
Aug 7, 2011 at 2:53 PM Post #12 of 16
I found that I got surprisingly good sound quality with my 598s through just my iphone.  However, a dac and amp will improve them a lot too.  They sound awesome out of my littledot mk3 and hrt musicstreamer 2.  And if you think they sound flat now, invest in a nice tube amp.  The tubes did wonders to mine. I absolutely love them!
 
 
Aug 7, 2011 at 7:30 PM Post #14 of 16
Nope.  I believed in the whole burn in thing until I started using my grado sr325is, then switched back to my hd598s.  Burn in to me is just getting used to the sound signature of the headphone.  I definetely saw a huge improvement with the amp but I saw an even greater one with my dac.  And together they are just musical bliss. 
 
Oct 1, 2011 at 10:54 AM Post #15 of 16
so about 2 months later and my headphones are well burned in and I finally got the E7/E9 combo.
arrived at my doorstep yesterday and i've been using it since with my Sennheiser HD 598 and Shure SRH 940. I can say there is just maybe a slight improvement from my onboard sound but not a big night and day difference as suggested around the forums. So either:
 
a) my onboard sound is really good to begin with
b) the Sennheiser HD 598 and Shure SRH 940 dont need/dont benefit much from amping
c) the Fiio E7/E9 isnt just quite as good as I expected it to be
or maybe a little bit of all three.....
 
For me the E9 is the only reason why I'm happy with the purchase....at first I tried the E7 by itself and the sound was pretty much the same with my onboard sound card if not maybe worse, both on my netbook and my HP notebook. I even tried it with my iPod shuffle and it completely muddied the sound, although maybe that would be because I was using it with the headphone jack and not a line out jack since the iPod Shuffle doesnt have one. However with the E7/E9 combo used with my computers, I guess what I notice is that on songs with alot of bass, the bass no longer overshadows the other frequencies since I tend to use a u-shaped curve in my equalizers. I'd be listening to a song that sounded fine and as soon as a bassy part kicked in such as maybe the chorus, the mids and vocals would be recessed, but the E7/E9 solves that problem. Also, many people said that the E7/E9 greatly increases sound clarity and sound crispness, but I'm not so sure about that at least for me.
Well at least, using these has made me like my HD 598 again over my SRH 940! Using both of these headphones with the amp really highlights the lack of bass impact on the SRH 940 which makes alot of my music not as fun to listen to since there is alot of pop and hip-hop in my library. And I can always upgrade to a better DAC, since I suspect that may be what is bottlenecking the sound in this case....HRT Streamer II+, I have you in my crosshairs!!! :-D
 
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