[phones1]

I just purchased the Sony HAPS1/B and want to play Sennheiser 600 phones out of them. The Sony has a headphone jack. Will the Sennheiser's be improved by outputting an external headphone amp out of the HAPS1/B, like an Asgard 2. Or will Sony's onboard headphone amp be as good quality.
 
Thanks,
 
Marty

 

[phones1]

Just to be more clear the Sony HAPS 1/B is a component that plays music files, focusing on high resolution formats. It has a DAC and though it works in conjunction with a computer, the files are stored on the unit itself and played from the unit. It's supposed to sound pretty sweet.
 
I'm just getting back into serious music listening (after a 20 year hiatus when I had the old Stax Pros) - I stopped with MP3 files because it seemed the days of high fidelity were over. Now I see there's some options with FLAC files, etc., so am getting back into it. The Sony seemed like a great machine for processing the high res files, and it's supposed to have a great DAC. I researched headphones and decided on the Senns HD600.
 
I'm just not sure about the Sony's headphone out -- if it will take full advantage of the 600s which I understand need a little finesse in the amping. So did some research and the Asgard 2 seems like a good choice, if I would need a better amp. 
 
I just don't know if the Asgard -- or some other headphone amp - will be redundant, and that what's in the Sony as far as the quality of its amplification, is fine enough. Because my ears aren't that trained after being so long away from serious listening, I probably won't know just by listening to the Sony and the Senns if what I have might perhaps be improved considerably.
 
I guess since Schiit has such a great return policy I can just go ahead and get it and see. But wanted to ask anyway in case someone would know right away whether the Sony HAPS with the Senn HD-600, even though it has a headphone jack, would benefit from a separate high quality headphone amp.
 
Thanks for reading...
 
Marty

 

[monkeysixtysix]

I have had the HAP-S1 since Christmas and I love it. I currently use it with the Senn HD650 and the Audeze LCD-3 and have been extremely happy with the results. Drives both of them very well and I think the sound is fantastic. Over the past year, I have also tried the LCD-2, LCD-X, and the Hifiman HE-500 and 560. Again, it drove all of them very well and there was plenty of headroom to spare...
 
I am sure there are better amps out there, but I wanted an "all in one" solution and for all of the features the Sony has, I am not sure their is a comparable product out there (perhaps the Oppo HA-1). In terms of the Asgard, I think that would be more of a "sidegrade" than an upgrade.
 
I would go as far as to say the Sony is pretty underrated around these parts. It's a great product. There is a thread dedicated to it that may provide some more info for you: http://www.head-fi.org/t/680611/new-sony-high-end-dsd-gear-including-a-usb-dac
 
Hope that helps.

 

[phones1]

Thanks -- that's extremely helpful and kind of what I thought from the feedback I've been hearing, as well as the price of the product itself. Knowing that it handles your collection of very good headphones so well makes me confident I won't need to upgrade the amp.
 
I did read through the dedicated thread and it's quite impressive. Almost everybody raves about the sound. A number of people had problems downloading their music files. Hopefully in the meantime there's been upgrades to fix that. If not, that's not a huge concern to me, as I'm going to copy files over individually rather than globally, as I need to give my music connection a much needed pruning. 
 
Again, thanks.

 

[monkeysixtysix]

FWIW... I have had no issues with the music transfer software, works perfectly with correct album art, metadata, etc. The only issue I have had is with the remote app for iPhone, but Sony recently updated that and it has worked perfectly since then.
 
Good luck with your HAP-S1, it's a great device...

 

[iclckjohn]

You said it drove the HE560s well.  I had mine on and had to max the volume out (which stopped at 70) I also got some distortion at certain crescendos in base. Sent the phones back for replacement. Have not gotten them back yet but have been doing a LOT of research in the meantime. So many say that it may not have enough juice to drive the planars. I've been on tech support with Sony and no one can give me a solid answer to "What is the output of the HAPS1" either in wattage or Ohm or Vrms (it needs a minimum of 330mVrms to achieve 90dBspl)  
I thought that the distortion was caused by a problem with the phones. I may have been wrong. I guess that I will find out when the new ones arrive. But in either case, I was wondering if you feel that indeed the 560s were driven very well or that not much difference would be noticed with a secondary amp coming out of the haps1?  Thanks, JM