[counterpoint]

I have been a long time lurker on this forum and I have spent 100s of hours researching here. I have researched long and hard before I created this post. You know you are hooked when you decide that 700 euros to feed your headphones is money well spent.

I compose electronic music using Cubase in a small studio and I prefer to work on headphones and so do my neighbors. I recently bought Beyerdynamic DT880s and I am simply not getting enough volume out of them. I would to hear these cans clearly at a higher volume so I could back the faders down in the mix and give my gain structure some headroom.

My current sources are the M-Audio Firewire Solo and the Native Instruments Audio 8. The NI Audio 8 advertises itself with "Ultra high quality Cirrus Logic™ AD/DA" but the headphone out is pathetic so I have not really heard what it is capable of. I currently use the output of the Solo which at max is "just enough".

I don't know which road to go down.

A new DAC with a better headhpone output? Benchmark DAC1 or Mytek Stereo96 (Mytek is supposed to have a higher output headphone amp than the Benchmark). I would love to hear the detail of a better DAC that is for sure! This would also kill two birds with one stone and I could buy a dedicated amp later.

Or if I should get my dream amp the Lehmann Audio Black Cube and hook it up to the Audio 8.

An amp will only amplify the source so logic tells me to get a better DAC running from the coax out of the m-audio. But will I get enough volume to get the the headroom I want from the headphone output of these DACs? Or with the better quality will I even crave the higher output?

I am lucky to have a job where I can spend far too much time reading the wealth of information on this forum. But honestly I think my head is going to explode at this point trying to make this decision.

 

[ipumuk]

Quote:

I am simply not getting enough volume out of them

the output volume of your dac says nothing about the quality.

you should first solve this problem and get an amp for around $100-150.
this investment will be worth it even if you decide to change dacs later. you will ALWAYS need an amp.

in every system you need a device that delivers analog output and a device that amplifies it. you need that second part.

 

[Currawong]

I somehow doubt a $150 amp will improve anything. I don't know the Audio 8, but have owned a Lavry DA-10. If you were going to buy something like it, I'd get it first, then consider a better amp later, as the HP amp in the DA-10 was quite acceptable. The only DAC 1 I've listened with had a crap HP out, but it was a few years old, and I gather they have somewhat improved the quality of it more recently.