[XposR]

So I could get an O2 for £90 which is like $139 for you American folks. Obviously prices of amps will vary in different country's. but from that price range, is O2 amp the best for a sennheiser hd 558 headphone, or should i look at other amps? I'm using a sound blaster titanium hd sound card. thanks for any help.

Edit: I wouldn't want a worse/cheaper amp even though it could power the hd 558 easily because I'm looking for a future proof amp that could power better headphones if I choose to upgrade..

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So I could get an O2 for £90 which is like $139 for you American folks. Obviously prices of amps will vary in different country's. but from that price range, is O2 amp the best for a Sennheiser HD 558 headphone, or should i look at other amps? I'm using a sound blaster Titanium HD sound card. thanks for any help.

Edit: I wouldn't want a worse/cheaper amp even though it could power the HD 558 easily because I'm looking for a future proof amp that could power better headphones if I choose to upgrade..

The O2 is more then enough for driving the 50-Ohm HD558 headphones
and the O2 has a very low output impedance
Which should help for "details" in audio sound.
Plug the O2 amplifier into the RCA outputs on the Titanium HD, should offer a slightly cleaner analog audio signal, compared to the Titanium HD's headphone jack.
If you did not know already, the Titanium HD can send CMSS-3D headphone surround sound thru the RCA outputs.
 
My O2 can drive my 600-Ohm Beyerdynamic headphones (DT880 & DT990).

 

[xkonfuzed]

People use the O2 with the HD600 and HD650 which are 300ohms, so it has abundant power for something like the HD558. 

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

The O2 is more then enough for driving the 50-Ohm HD558 headphones
and the O2 has a very low output impedance
Which should help for "details" in audio sound.
Plug the O2 amplifier into the RCA outputs on the Titanium HD, should offer a slightly cleaner analog audio signal, compared to the Titanium HD's headphone jack.
If you did not know already, the Titanium HD can send CMSS-3D headphone surround sound thru the RCA outputs.
 
My O2 can drive my 600-Ohm Beyerdynamic headphones (DT880 & DT990).

My Matrix M Stage also drives 600 Ohm, but not as well as I would like. I'd keep something a tad more powerful for a 600 ohm Beyer, they have a resonnance at the low mid bass area due to an increased Impedance around that area, and my Matrix Has a hard time Taming that
 
STILL they sound really awesome through the Matrix, so if you can get something with more power I would, if not trust me the 600 ohms are still enjoyable 

 

[tomb]

Quote:

People use the O2 with the HD600 and HD650 which are 300ohms, so it has abundant power for something like the HD558. 

Power is not the reason.  The HD600 and HD650 are very efficient headphones.  It's just that the power they "want" is biased toward voltage, not current.  That is more difficult to achieve with a solid-state amp than a tube amp.  Some solid state amps can do it adequately, but it doesn't fully explain the physical property that 300 ohms present to an amplifier.  "Abundant Power" means nothing in this context.

 

[xkonfuzed]

Power is not the reason.  The HD600 and HD650 are very efficient headphones.  It's just that the power they "want" is biased toward voltage, not current.  That is more difficult to achieve with a solid-state amp than a tube amp.  Some solid state amps can do it adequately, but it doesn't fully explain the physical property that 300 ohms present to an amplifier.  "Abundant Power" means nothing in this context.

Thanks for the correction. I am learning a lot the more I read this forum and you clearly have more experience in this hobby than me.