[zepplinne]

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...=product_sim_A

^I bought that Firewire Audio interface for my home studio. It also has an optical audio input. If I connect my optical audio output on my motherboard to this, could I use it as a headphone amplifier? I have a really high end pair of Audio Technica headphones.

Now I realize that this can be used as a headphone amp, what I'm asking is if it will have the audio quality benefits of a traditional headphone amplifier, as in it will produce sound better through the interface than if plugged in directly to my computer. Thanks

I don't have it yet, so I can't test it out with my own ears

 

[zepplinne]

 

[Yoga Flame]

Probably not many people here are familiar with it. Should be enough for Audio Technica headphones as those are usually quite efficient. I think it's safe to assume that it will be better than a computer's onboard sound.
 
The power output of the Saffire Pro's headphone amp is 250mW into 32Ω. As a comparison, the popular uDAC2 has 80mW into 16Ω. Don't ask me for a more detailed analysis because I'm no engineer and all I can say is the Saffire should be more powerful than the uDAC, and lots of people say the uDAC is quite good.
 
Hope that helps. And welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[zepplinne]

thanks for the info! Are those two stats you mentioned the things to look for in a headphone amp, or is there more detail?

 

[Yoga Flame]

So these are the stats I found on the Saffire Pro website:
 
 
Quote:

Headphone Outputs
• Frequency Response 20Hz-20KHz +/- 0.1dB
• SNR 109dB "A"
• DNR 109dB "A"
• Maximum Output into 32R +12.4dBu (+10.2dBV)
• Power into 32R 250mW
• Output Impedance < 7Ohms
• Load Impedance > 24Ohms

 
The frequency response is typically doesn't mean anything special. SNR is signal to noise ratio. The higher the number the less noise you'll get. DNR is dynamic range.
 
For output impedance, lower is better, as it means power can be transferred more efficiently to the headphones. I think the Saffire Pro is also better than the uDAC in this regard. Basically it's better to use the amp only with headphones that have a higher ohm rating than the amp's output impedance. Mostly it's only a concern with tube amps as they have very high output impedance and are best used with high ohm headphones like the DT880, HD650, and such.
 
I don't really know much about the other stats. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can fill in the gaps. You can always browse the various threads on head-fi to read up about the popular amps these days. 

 

[Armaegis]

I have the Focusrite Saffire 6 USB and found its headphone amp to be very cool sounding. Not really my cup of tea.