[TechnicallyDead]

I bet this thread has been made enough times that it's cliche but bear with me.
 
So I'm in the market for a pair of "audiophile" headphones. To my understanding, there is more to getting the best sound than just an awesome pair of headphones.
 
I keep seeing DAC and amp popping up everywhere I look and regardless of my searches, I'm no closer to understanding which I need and why. I'm very confused. Is a DAC and an amp the same thing or are they two separate entitites? I got feedback from another forum that with lower impedance models (which i was told means how much power is needed to move the drivers in the headphones?) you don't need an amp. But then I keep seeing reviews for the 32 ohm models that they should be hooked up to an amp/DAC. 
 
Now I'm going to be plugging into my laptop and the sound quality from just the speakers is absolute **** so I figure it's a good investment to make in this amp. 
 
I'm not comfortable with buying headphones if I can't get clearly noticeable, good sound out of them. 
 
I've settled between Sennheiser HD558s or BRAINWAVZ HM5s. But I will make no move to buy them until I get this whole DAC thing cleared up.
 
Help a dumbass out.

 

[TechnicallyDead]

PLEASE.
 
I need some input from people who make high quality audio their life.

 

[Muzika]

I had the same confusion when I started looking into this stuff but I suggest you look harder. I'm new but have been reading this forum for days (and nights) - there's lots of information about the DAC/amp thing. It's just kind of lazy to make a thread and then bump it 15 mins afterward IMO...
 
Here's my interpretation, if it helps:
A DAC is a digital-to-analogue converter. As I understand it, it converts discrete digital information (1's and 0's) into an analogue electrical form which is further processed by the speaker to produce the sound you hear. Your laptop will have a DAC which is probably 'onboard' as part of your motherboard. It's basically what you plug your 3.5mm jack into. Most onboard soundcards are not the best, however, which is why people buy external DAC's or dedicated soundcards. I'm not sure how exactly the more expensive DAC's process the information better - I just take people's word for it - you could research this more yourself.
 
Amps... I think they boost the amplitude of the signal. So I guess you could say they make the sound louder but I know it's more than that and has an impact on sound quality. Like you say, whether you 'need' one depends on the headphones, amongst other things.
 
Do some more searching and reading...

 

[TechnicallyDead]

okay i've reached my decision.
 
i'm not buying an unnecessary means to an end. thanks for nothing. $100 some headphones will sound fine without the extra driving.

 

[Muzika]

Thanks for nothing? After <1 hour? That's rather impatient and rude.
 
Enjoy your headphones...

 

[wolfetan44]

Quote:

Thanks for nothing? After <1 hour? That's rather impatient and rude.
 
Enjoy your headphones...

Lets hope he's gone soon

 

[Vidmaven]

We live in a world where instant gratification has become the norm. Such a shame.

 

[Koolpep]

Hope he never comes back. Asking for info he could easily read up himself right here, then ridiculing the responses he gets .... If that's the state of the young generation, feeling entitled to everything, giving nothing back to the community....well good night humankind.


Technicallydead, was a typo, he meant sociallydead.

 

[kvtaco17]

Man, how'd I miss this gem... I hope this was an obvious troll attempt and that the op really isn't as socially broken as implied.