[blse59]

Listening to these cans using the headphone-out of my laptop. In my opinion, the need for an external amp for these headphones is overstated. I'm starting to think the need for an amp in general for most headphones is overstated.

 

[Midgetguy]

  Listening to these cans using the headphone-out of my laptop. In my opinion, the need for an external amp for these headphones is overstated. I'm starting to think the need for an amp in general for most headphones is overstated.

Might depend on the ears. I definitely prefer the HD600s amped compared to not; HD558s though I don't have an issue with leaving unamped. I can even happily play those with my iPod Touch. The thing is, I can't help but be a little biased though. I'm not only using my external units for the power delivery, but more importantly their DAC functions. Onboard audio out of my laptop or PC just doesn't offer as good of an experience. So while the extra power delivery is good (and in some of the high-end cases a necessity, though you're right, the HD600 can kinda work either way), my main thing is having an external DAC, which needs an amp if you're gonna listen to anything

.

 

[blse59]

 
Might depend on the ears. I definitely prefer the HD600s amped compared to not; HD558s though I don't have an issue with leaving unamped. I can even happily play those with my iPod Touch. The thing is, I can't help but be a little biased though. I'm not only using my external units for the power delivery, but more importantly their DAC functions. Onboard audio out of my laptop or PC just doesn't offer as good of an experience. So while the extra power delivery is good (and in some of the high-end cases a necessity, though you're right, the HD600 can kinda work either way), my main thing is having an external DAC, which needs an amp if you're gonna listen to anything

.

Yeah, you're right. I think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference but for someone who wants peace of mind knowing they're getting the highest quality audio, a dedicated external amp and dac are the way to go for the simple reason that their sole purpose in life is to deliver quality audio.

 

[Billheiser]

 
Yeah, you're right. I think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference but for someone who wants peace of mind knowing they're getting the highest quality audio, a dedicated external amp and dac are the way to go for the simple reason that their sole purpose in life is to deliver quality audio.

I don't do it for peace of mind just in case it makes a difference.  I use external DAC and amp because it makes a clear, appreciable, and musically significant positive difference.

 

[Midgetguy]

 
I don't do it for peace of mind just in case it makes a difference.  I use external DAC and amp because it makes a clear, appreciable, and musically significant positive difference.

+1. If onboard audio sucks enough, a DAC/amp makes a big difference. My motherboard's audio definitely falls in that category

 

[Shaffer]

I don't do it for peace of mind just in case it makes a difference.  I use external DAC and amp because it makes a clear, appreciable, and musically significant positive difference.

Agreed. These are very revealing, transparent headphones that happen to have a pleasing tonal balance even when driven by poor amplification, like a laptop. There's just more to sound than tonal balance.

 

[Puma Cat]

 
Yeah, you're right. I think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference but for someone who wants peace of mind knowing they're getting the highest quality audio, a dedicated external amp and dac are the way to go for the simple reason that their sole purpose in life is to deliver quality audio.

Why do you think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference? People can see the difference between an HDTV and an NTSC display, and the difference is visual as opposed to auditory. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Why do you think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference? People can see the difference between an HDTV and an NTSC display, and the difference is visual as opposed to auditory. 

 
I wouldn't use that example - for most people it's easier to see the improved sharpness and resolution on moving (and still) pictures than how natural something sounds or how well laid out the soundstage is. Heck, soundstage is always the last thing people notice when they get into audio.

 

[blse59]

Why do you think most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference? People can see the difference between an HDTV and an NTSC display, and the difference is visual as opposed to auditory. 

I honestly don't think most people can tell the difference. I've plugged these cans in a Sansa Clip, a laptop, and an external amp and I'm not confident I'd be able to tell which was which in a blind test. And I believe I am more conscientous and aware of audio than the average man on the street.

Visual is different. I think as humans, visual is our dominant sense. I think most of us would be able to tell with a high degree of confidence if someone laid a RAW photograph and a basic level JPG photograph on top of each other and switched between the two zoomed in at 100% that RAW offered finer detail. I'd probably be able to pick out the RAW photograph 10/10 times.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Not all onboard audio are the same ...  Some are pretty decent other are just crap . But it's overall getting better and better , in some years you can expect that most of them will sound at least decently .
 
Also don't forget user bias perception , placebo , no volume matched , output impedance etc ...
 
If you have a GOOD onboard audio , well implemented , and that has enough power / voltage etc , an HD600 (or other headphones) will just sound good from it ( their is still user tastes , that prefer others combinations etc) .

 

[svenake56]

I have owned my pair more than 10 years and still have not found anything worth paying more money for. I have tested the HD 800 but can`t motivate me to buy them, the difference in sound is so small. Today i probably will order new earpads and headband cushion because they are worn out, and that my friends are not cheap  

. I might order new headphones instead haven`t decided yet how to do, it not so much more expensive. Mostly i listen trough the headphone output on my Audio Space tube amplifier, and that is magic, i promise.   http://hifi-punkten.se/bilder/original/Galaxy88[6].jpg  

 

 

[Midgetguy]

  Not all onboard audio are the same ...  Some are pretty decent other are just crap . But it's overall getting better and better , in some years you can expect that most of them will sound at least decently .
 
Also don't forget user bias perception , placebo , no volume matched , output impedance etc ...
 
If you have a GOOD onboard audio , well implemented , and that has enough power / voltage etc , an HD600 (or other headphones) will just sound good from it ( their is still user tastes , that prefer others combinations etc) .

Yeah, my motherboard audio falls closer to that category haha. Definitely with you that they'll eventually sound decent; some would argue, and I'd include myself in this group, that onboard audio is already approaching that point and that decent will happen sooner than a few years. Still, I think that for the high-end stuff in the range of HiFiMan HE-560s and Audeze cans, an external DAC and amp will certainly be of help. There's only so much that physics will allow in the space the audio section of a motherboard can supply. I am, however, confident that onboard audio will definitely be able to decently drive cans like the HD600 in the very near future.
 

  I have owned my pair more than 10 years and still have not found anything worth paying more money for. I have tested the HD 800 but can`t motivate me to buy them, the difference in sound is so small. Today i probably will order new earpads and headband cushion because they are worn out, and that my friends are not cheap  

. I might order new headphones instead haven`t decided yet how to do, it not so much more expensive. Mostly i listen trough the headphone output on my Audio Space tube amplifier, and that is magic, i promise.   http://hifi-punkten.se/bilder/original/Galaxy88[6].jpg  

 

I have no motivation to buy cans in that range. They'll sound amazing and all that whatnot, but it'll almost literally cost an arm and the lower half of one leg to buy one. Heck, several of these top-end audio solutions cost more than my car and I dare say I've found more practical use for that than my headphones.

 

[BobJS]

  I have owned my pair more than 10 years and still have not found anything worth paying more money for. I have tested the HD 800 but can`t motivate me to buy them, the difference in sound is so small. Today i probably will order new earpads and headband cushion because they are worn out, and that my friends are not cheap  

. I might order new headphones instead haven`t decided yet how to do, it not so much more expensive. Mostly i listen trough the headphone output on my Audio Space tube amplifier, and that is magic, i promise.   http://hifi-punkten.se/bilder/original/Galaxy88[6].jpg  

 

 
I envy you.  If I thought the difference in sound between the HD600 and HD800 was small, I would probably have about $20K more cash on hand .... (or more likely spent on another vice, errr.... hobby).

 

[CADCAM]

My mother and father-in-law have a nice HDTV and a great HD signal but I always catch them watching SD instead. I can tell instantly if it's a SD signal on a HDTV. They on the other hand say they can't see a difference. 
As for listening I don't think I've ever listened without an amp unless I'm rockin' cheap iem at the gym. I have a Sansa Clip and will have to try listening straight from my HD600's and report back.

 

[onebigunion]

  My mother and father-in-law have a nice HDTV and a great HD signal but I always catch them watching SD instead. I can tell instantly if it's a SD signal on a HDTV. They on the other hand say they can't see a difference. 
As for listening I don't think I've ever listened without an amp unless I'm rockin' cheap iem at the gym. I have a Sansa Clip and will have to try listening straight from my HD600's and report back.

 To me, from the Clip, the 600 sounds OK, but nothing special.  You can just barely get enough volume, dynamics are lost, and soundstage and resolution is a bit compromised - this is with rockbox on the clip.  I think the main problem is that the Clip is struggling to drive them - it can do it, but its at its limit.  The good thing is that the Clip won't "clip" even at full output so no danger to the phones.