[Velsu]

Heya,
 
At the moment im using Titanium HD + Beyerdynamic DT 990 250 ohm (premium's) setup. I must say its great and im amazed that this sound card can drive them so well without any help. But 1 year passed and i feel i want more, i want to make another step forward and its time for headphone amp.
 
The question is, which one will suit those cans and sound card best? If its about price its hard to say...i think something between 300$ and 500$ (lower the better tho, kinda low on money).
 
Im not sure if i want normal headphone amp or tube one, i heard that tubes wear out etc. To be honest im pretty newb if its about headphone amping so i need Your help. The music genre's that im listening to (if it has any meaning): Mainly Rock, Metal, Classic Music, Orchestral and some electronic music/trance.

 

[techboy]

For solid state
 
Matrix M Stage or Asgard 2 or Lehmann Rhinelander
 
For hybrid/tube
 
Little Dot MK IV SE or Lyr or Project Ember

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

At the moment I'm using Titanium HD + Beyerdynamic DT 990 250 ohm (premium's) setup. I must say its great and I'm amazed that this sound card can drive them so well without any help. But 1 year passed and i feel i want more, i want to make another step forward and its time for headphone amp.
 
The question is, which one will suit those cans and sound card best? If its about price its hard to say...i think something between 300$ and 500$ (lower the better tho, kinda low on money).
 
I'm not sure if i want normal headphone amp or tube one, i heard that tubes wear out etc. To be honest I'm pretty newb if its about headphone amping so i need Your help. The music genre's that I'm listening to (if it has any meaning): Mainly Rock, Metal, Classic Music, Orchestral and some electronic music/trance.

The $60 PAV2V (Pocket Amplifier 2 Version 2) would drive your 250-Ohm Beyers.
Schiit Magni headphone amplifier is only $99.
Otherwise it might make more sense to upgrade from the DT990 Pro 250-Ohm headphones.

 

[BrownBear]

I can also say that the Asgard is worth looking into, I have one, although mine is an Asgard 1. I can't comment on the sonic differences between Asgard 1 or 2, but I can say that mine is a very nice amplifier, and it can drive a wide array of headphones. I have headphones with differing impedances and sensitivity, and it does great with all of them. It drives my 600 ohm K240 down to my 8 ohm SE-50 just fine. However, these are just my experiences, and yours may differ.
 
In fact, Schiit seems to make some great products. I've heard good things about the Magni, like PurpleAngel mentioned earlier. I'd look into that as well.

 

[Velsu]

Thanks for Your input BrownBear. Very helpful.
 
And uhm...i always thought that headphone amp's increase quality beside driving the headphones? Was i wrong?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for Your input BrownBear. Very helpful.
 
And uhm...I always thought that headphone amp's increase quality beside driving the headphones? Was i wrong?

A true headphone amplifier will increase sound quality, over those low cost line-out jacks that a lot of people plug their headphones into.