[brat]

For 4-5 months I use a Corda Prehead with my HD650s. I like this combo and never thought about another amp or cans... Since yesterday.
For the first time I plugged the 650s in the headphone jack of my Denon DCD-685 and the sound surprised me: I listened to an album of Erik Truffaz (trumpet/drums/bass/piano jazz). The sound of the drums become more volumetric, the bass increased and somehow the sound of all instruments extended downwards. The whole impression was of improvement and reality of the sounding. In the next few hours I listened different electronic music and the increase of the bass and the "volume" of some sounds with the headphone jack of the Denon was significant.
Now I wonder - is all this just an effect of the increased bass or just the DCD-685 gives better headphone amplification than the Prehead

 

[acs236]

Have you tried the 120 ohm jack of the Prehead? Maybe your receiver headphone jack has a higher output impendence and you like that sound?

 

[Banfi T.]

I know it is quite confusing...I have a modded DCD-1450 (I use it just as a transport) and it has a very good headphone amp. In fact with this palyer there is no need to have an external amplifier, just really expensive ones can outdue it, but they also need better source then the Denon. Maybe you Denon has the same headamp as mine...

 

[gpalmer]

You don't say which of the two appears to be more accurate. Around here accurate tends to get more emphasis than appealing, it's what most of the folks here are looking for. I think the Prehead tends to be accurate and neutral, it might be that you like more bass than what is strictly accurate. Then again, I think some of the Denon's have good headphone amps, some of the members like markl who tried many amps wound up sticking with his headphone jack on his 5801.

 

[pundm]

Good heavens, I was going to order a prehead mk 2 se in a few weeks. If it can't beat the headphone output of a denon player i might get disappointed...

I own a Denon DCD-1450 too. Fine build, neutral, but a little more punch and speed would be nice sometimes. I must confess that the sound with the HD 650 is quite impressive: full-bodied, punchy, quite accurate, convenient. The sound detail can also be greatly enhanced by taking care for the correct phase (electricity support) and by closing the open coax-digi-out by an appropriate plug -> the sound gets less "impressive" in terms of "boom-boom", but much more natural and detailed.
BUT: The Denon does not work equally well with other headphones. For example the Sennheiser HD 595 sound terrible with it: veeery dark, bloated bass, complete lack of detail ... urrgh! The HD 595 sounds much better out of any potable i've used. A Sony CD-780 was quite fine but also lacked a lot of detail.
I agree with acs 236 and think its a matter of the output impedance of the denon; the HD 650 (high impedance) takes it greatfully, others (may) suck.

 

[smuh]

pundm: I don´t think any of those higher-end amps beats another, it is just a matter of preference... Some like hash highs others don´t and sometimes you just find the amp that has _the_ synergy or brings synergy to your setup and your ears are in heaven

but as always preferences change...

 

[pundm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smuh pundm: I don´t think any of those higher-end amps beats another, it is just a matter of preference... Some like hash highs others don´t and sometimes you just find the amp that has _the_ synergy or brings synergy to your setup and your ears are in heaven but as always preferences change...

Hello smuh,

I agree that there is a lot of taste behind a lot of "this amp is clearly better than..."-statements. I bet you have read michaelxrays furious missionary posts about the CEC HD53 or the grado/sennheiser-debate on hifi-forum.de (for example thread "Starke Kopfhöreranlagen" or "AQVOX - Candeias LEF".

Also the source always has to be considered.
My post was more about the denon/prehead-comparison. In general I would expect a XXXX$ headamp to be superior to ANY headphone output of any CDP with most headphones. As I've mentioned, the denon output is clearly NOT compatible with every headphone (though with the Senn HD 650, where it produces a slightly dark, but impressively "full" and dynamic soundstage).
As far as I have read, the prehead ist a good match to almost every high quality headphone. But in a few weeks, I will know more.

 

[smuh]

I´ve seen his posts, but I tried to skip most of the thread, because his arguments and opinions were treated like being 100% true and un-discussible

I can understand that spending lots of money on an amp for non or only a small noticeable difference is nothing a lot of people would like to do