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How does the integrated headphone amp drive Sennheiser HD650s?
I have ordered the M-Dac and am thinking of upgrading from HD598 to HD650.
Since the HD598 are fairly easy to drive, I don't think that would be any problem.
But has anybody had the pleasure of listening on the M-Dac with the HD650s?
HI there,
I may be able to give you a reasonable insight into this set up.
my set up is an onkyo 5009 emotiva XP-5, Monitor Audio RX-8 ... source is Marantz NA7004 playing FLAC from Qnap NAS. I do have a tube pre-amp, however while I'm comparing and breaking it in, I didn't use the tube pre-amp.
I have a HD650, with moon audio Silver V3 cable (500+ hours in it), Mdac, Dacmagic plus. As a source I've used the Marantz NA7004, ipod digital connection. The files were FLAC, mostly 16/44, some 24/98 and 24/88... with the DacMagic plus I also tried 24/192.
FIrst using the Onkyo 5009 direct - not a bad presentation, it has 32bit Dacs built in, good bass and 'clean sound'. Its fine, but once you compare with tube and better dacs you start to hear that you were missing some warmth and ambiance....
the Dacmagic Plus was my first DAC. It works well out of the box and is 'unfussy'. It gives music more detail, spaciousness and fuller presentation. However, it is not a warm DAC and I also found that voices were rather 'thin' for my taste in music.... its better than the onkyo direct, it works well in USB mode, handles HD audio files without issues. I had paired at home with Monitor Audio RX8 speakers, and even running it through tube stage, the voices were on the thin side, and the monitor audio are rather bright speakers..... so if you paired the DM+ with warm/neutral speakers, its probably a good thing... ie: Quads, etc...
Using the inbuilt DAC on the Marantz NA7004, is actually not bad. Music sounds warm and natural, very smooth... not a bad combination for bright speakers... I like this setting for many 'light songs' in my set up, so I did A/B testing through my tube pre-amp, and the Marantz does have a very natural sound. However, the Marantz doesn't have the extra detail, music resolution and bottom end of the DacMagic Plus.... so depending on the music, I found myself swaping between the DM+ and the NA7004 direct.....
After having the DM+ for about 3 weeks, I ended up buying the MDac. THe DM+ now is at my office, serviing as a dac to my laptop feeding Sennheiser IE8 headphones.... it sounds brilliant, and matches well with the warm ie8 sound..... .
Back to the MDac.
the Good - 16/44 music sounds solid, warmish, taught bass, and controlled highs. It adds ambiance to the music (specially with optimal transient XD filter). As i'm still brning in the unit, ie: 4 days of being on non-stop, I'm sure the sound will only get better ....
the headphone section of the MDac is also pretty good... better then the DM+, sounded very good through the HD650 .... that said, for headphones only, I still would prefer my GoVibe PortaTube.... not as detailed, but more ambiance and smoother....
the Bad - HD audio doesn't synch.24/88, 24/96 files don't play, stuter all the time - I know there is a fix on the way, and I'm really keen to try the benefits of HD audio.... and yet, I'm very, very pleased with 16/44 performance.
in Summary
DM+ - upgrade to most systems, very detailed, good bottom end, misses some mid range, and voices sound thin. Partnered with a DT770, or warm speakers, it will be fine. Handles both normal and HD audio perfectly!
MDac - solid Dac. very good composition of music in both low, mid and higher range - the filters do change the presentation somewhat - right now my favourites are Optimal transient, and optimal transient XD. Good headphone amp..... the bad is it doesn't handle HD audio, stutters, etc..
Bear in mind that I have bright speakers.... they are not fully burned in yet either .... a month or so of 24/7 playing music....
I'm still waiting to receive my woo audio W2, and it will be a good comparisson with the Mdac ....
hope this helps... but there's nothing like listening to it yourself, with your source and your gear.....
