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OT: Listening to music through high-end headphones

TrustButVerifyTrustButVerify
in Other

Through a complicated story, a good friend is giving me his old Sennheiser HD 800 headphones.

For listening to music, I assume I am not going to get anywhere near their full value plugging into the headphone jack on my PC or iPhone. Does it make sense to think about getting a dedicated headphone amp? Do I also need a DAC?

For the DAC, I think I could use an Apogee One which I already own for music recording purposes. Does that have enough amplification to drive these headphones, or would I also want to consider a headphone amp?

Thanks in advance for any ideas. I know this is kind of a high-end problem, but I would like to make the most of my new acquisition.

Best,
Michael

Comments

  • JohnnyGoodyearJohnnyGoodyear

    I can't help you but would be interested to know the answer(s)...

  • mireko_2mireko_2

    The apogee one should be fine, do a quick test. Play a song through the iPhone then the same through the apogee. Should hear a big difference

  • thatsRayorthatsRayor

    According to Apogee's website the One's headphone output is 30 ohms, so it will be seriously underpowered for the HD800's 300 ohm requirement.

    While I'm no expert I have heard that it's common to spend half as much on a headphone amp as you're spending on headphones. If you're just borrowing the headphones that would be very hard to justify, but I suspect not using an amp will be underwhelming at best. I've tried HD600s directly into a smartphone before and they sounded surprisingly bad.

  • TarekithTarekith

    The Apogee One will work in the short term, but if you're wanting something to match the HD800's, might be worth saving for a more appropriate headphone amp.

  • mireko_2mireko_2

    @thatsRayor said:
    According to Apogee's website the One's headphone output is 30 ohms, so it will be seriously underpowered for the HD800's 300 ohm requirement.

    While I'm no expert I have heard that it's common to spend half as much on a headphone amp as you're spending on headphones. If you're just borrowing the headphones that would be very hard to justify, but I suspect not using an amp will be underwhelming at best. I've tried HD600s directly into a smartphone before and they sounded surprisingly bad.

    wow ok massive difference

  • ProtoProto

    1300,- euro for a headphone and he just give it away. Nice friends you got. :)

  • ToMessToMess

    Well 300ohms is most likely way too much for iphone to be able to drive them properly. Even the 62ohm akgs i have cant be driven properly by my iphone, or even my steinberg ur22 audio interface cant do it properly, just like almost enough(my focusrite 6i6 can do it, but cant drive them super loud).

    Also the ohm mismatch effects the sound, so its not just about how loud they get. Some headphones are more prone to this. At least with some AKGs if you dont drive them with proper ohm, the bass isnt as detailed and deep, highs lose definition(and can get bit too piercing) and i think there is some small mid bump as well.

    So yes definitely get a proper headphone amp.

  • TrustButVerifyTrustButVerify

    Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I am lucky to have a friend like this.

    Looking at some headphone amps under a few hundred dollars, many don't have USB input. I assume if I am going to all this trouble, I don't want to go out of the iPhone headphone jack, but rather (a) use another DAC like Apogee One or (b) use an amplifier that has a built-in DAC like HIFIMAN EF2A USB Headphone Amplifier. The latter option seems more convenient.

    Then the next question is with this setup is there further improvement using uncompressed audio formats versus Spotify. It probably never ends.

  • mrcanistermrcanister

    i think you're wasting your time with headphones like that and ios music apps. who uses 1100 quid headphones- david beckham? get yourself a Rega Elex-R amp and a dave smith ob-6 and you might get something out of them. sell em and get some Sennheiser HD 598 (50ohms) or something along those lines. easy to drive

  • MatthewMatthew

    I remember reading a super in depth review of the iPhone's DAC and it was pretty glowing. I'm just glad I'm not an audiophile.

  • pichipichi

    The Fiio E12 is a good portable amp.

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