Topping D90se - Can I drive headphones directly with it

[bearcatsandor]

Eventually I'm looking to have a Topping D90se + A90 direct + DCA Stealth set up. I can't afford all 3 at once, so I'm getting them piece by piece. If I start with the D90se so that I can finally play some of the DSD files that I have, can I hook that up to my Sony MDR 7506 headphones with this 3.5mm headphone to XLR converter (I''ll need one more M2F converter of course) and use the preamp function of the D90se?

Will the volume control be reasonably fine grained? I listen at moderate levels (at most 65 dB), but would the output be enough?

How much risk am placing my hearing in? If this thing chirps or switches into linear mode, I'd probably be deafended, so how likely is that when fed via computer -> usb?

 

[AudioMoksha]

You have steps of 0.5db for volume control in the pre-amp mode, all the way to -99db. That is a lot of volume range to work with, I do not see that being an issue.

Not once have I seen the D90 trip/glitch to cause it to go to full volume, never had an issue in the pre-amp mode.

I have never tried the XLR converter to headphone experiment on it though, hence I cannot speak about it. However, the product in the link does not look right to me, to get that to work you will have to add another converter(like you mentioned) that is too many converters in one chain. It should be just one dual XLR to female adapter(that female is what your cable termination for the DCA will be to get into).

If you are starting to save money and build an entire chain, look around the forums. I started just like you and picked the Topping, with what I have learnt and experienced over the years, if I were to start again I would not pick Topping.

 

[tesarpa]

That would be quite surprising if DAC line out has enough power to drive headphones. Maybe if it is some really very sensitive ones, you get some sound, but I doubt the quality. The line level output offers standard voltage, but usually it is not designed to provide required amount of current. There are exceptions, like Chord Hugo TT2, where manufacturer claims up to 16 watts of power out of XLR line out, but this clearly is not standard amongst other DACs.

If you have limited funds, think about DAC/AMP all-in-one. Topping, SMLS, Yulong etc. have many choices.

 

[bearcatsandor]

Thanks folks.

@AudioMoksha What makes you regret that purchase?