Headphone Amp ?

Marine-RX179 said:
Should have really just grabbed the Cambridge Audio DACMAGIC XS V2 from RS now that they are on sale at just £39!!
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That might just do for me work, didn't buy that SMSL M3 as I read reports about glitches on frequency changes. Can't see anything about it's power output though, my work headphones are K712's.

Do you know if Android 7/8 are still working with USB Dac? Ordered one anyway,
 
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It is very nice,i changed the tubes in mine to better ones,Can also get the next version up that has 4x tubes.
Really good amp,Been tempted to build my own with one of those kits you can buy,as i have a soldering iron and stuff already :)
 
The Audioquest Dragonfly red is very versatile and very hard to beat in terms of value for money. I don’t think there would be all that much in it SQ wise between that and a Schiit Modi/Magni stack and it’s cheaper and more versatile.

If the budget doesn’t stretch that far then a Dragonfly Black is still a highly competent performer for almost half the price.

Although the Cambridge Dacmagic XS at Richer Sounds is an absolute steal at that price!! Probably not as good as a Dragonfly but £39 is giving them away
 
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Andrew Britain said:
The Audioquest Dragonfly red is very versatile and very hard to beat in terms of value for money. I don’t think there would be all that much in it SQ wise between that and a Schiit Modi/Magni stack and it’s cheaper and more versatile.

If the budget doesn’t stretch that far then a Dragonfly Black is still a highly competent performer for almost half the price.

Although the Cambridge Dacmagic XS at Richer Sounds is an absolute steal at that price!! Probably not as good as a Dragonfly but £39 is giving them away
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There's no way that a chincey simple OP-amp based amplifier is going to be as good as a larger amplifier that is not purely op-amp based. Having said that, those of you out there buying garbage like Dac Magic... there is a certain point where all you'll accomplish is moderately distorted loudness. You won't get any of the true benefits of a headphone amplifier- fuller, richer sound. Sound that you can feel. Sound that you can reach out and touch, if you will. Will it be louder? Yes. Will it be "GOOD"? No. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, in which case I ask why you've spent more than 50 squids on headphones in the first place? I mean I really can't understand the logic of pairing 300-500 pound headphones with a 40 pound dac/amp. It just makes no sense to me. It's like the pictures you see online of people who've paired KEF LS50's with a 200 pound amp instead of a 2000 pound amp and they say they don't "get" what all the hype is about the LS50's.

HD650s are a perfect example of a headphone which, though expensive, is not prohibitively expensive, and although they do sound good with a 100 pound amp, they scale so well that if you throw them together with a 1200 pound amp, they will blow your mind.

Don't underestimate what good electronics can do for you.
 
In my opinion, in a perfect world I would match decent headphones with a high end amp.
However, if I had a budget to keep to I would spend it all on the headphones, keeping a little to the side for a small amp.
For my ears, the most performance is gained in the headphone. 200 hp + 50amp sounds better than 125hp + 125amp.
Of course the better headphones scale with amp. But the gains for price are far smaller than with transducers.

I love testing amps and headphones with my friends. Over the years, all can hear the difference in quality between headphones. Although a few questioned whether it was worth it, they don't deny there is a quality difference. When we test amps, from £70-£1700, many really can't hear the difference or need to swap amp many times to hear the difference.
 
mistersprinkles said:
There's no way that a chincey simple OP-amp based amplifier is going to be as good as a larger amplifier that is not purely op-amp based. Having said that, those of you out there buying garbage like Dac Magic... there is a certain point where all you'll accomplish is moderately distorted loudness. You won't get any of the true benefits of a headphone amplifier- fuller, richer sound. Sound that you can feel. Sound that you can reach out and touch, if you will. Will it be louder? Yes. Will it be "GOOD"? No. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, in which case I ask why you've spent more than 50 squids on headphones in the first place? I mean I really can't understand the logic of pairing 300-500 pound headphones with a 40 pound dac/amp. It just makes no sense to me. It's like the pictures you see online of people who've paired KEF LS50's with a 200 pound amp instead of a 2000 pound amp and they say they don't "get" what all the hype is about the LS50's.

HD650s are a perfect example of a headphone which, though expensive, is not prohibitively expensive, and although they do sound good with a 100 pound amp, they scale so well that if you throw them together with a 1200 pound amp, they will blow your mind.

Don't underestimate what good electronics can do for you.
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I didn’t say it would be “as good”, I said there wouldn’t be much in it :) I would invite you to try one if you can before rubbishing something you’ve never listened to. The Dragonfly’s really do sound surprisingly good.

Simple common sense tells you that the DacMagic will not work well with a very expensive set of headphones but for people on a budget they are very well regarded.

The real benefit of the Dragonfly of course being it’s versatility as I say - I use mine with my phone on the go, as part of my main Hi-Fi system plugged into my laptop and as part of my computer audio system plugged into my PC.

If you are THAT serious about your headphone sound (I have a separates system and speakers for that, so I am not) then by all means get both and have the benefit of portability and the sonic benefits of a desktop amp (though you should probably get something with more chops than a Magni/Modi stack if you want to really hear the benefit)
 
I don't read too much in to opinions of audio stuff. The problem is a lot of people will write a load of hyperbole to justify an expensive purchase, almost as if they are actually trying to convince their selves how good something is rather than others. I do not believe for one minute my ears could tell the difference between a cheap DAC like a Schiit Modi and their Yggdrassil. I had a Magni 2 so will be interested to see how the DAC Magic compares although it's a diffrent product, I suspect not anything in it.
 
Noxia said:
I don't read too much in to opinions of audio stuff. The problem is a lot of people will write a load of hyperbole to justify an expensive purchase, almost as if they are actually trying to convince their selves how good something is rather than others. I do not believe for one minute my ears could tell the difference between a cheap DAC like a Schiit Modi and their Yggdrassil. I had a Magni 2 so will be interested to see how the DAC Magic compares although it's a diffrent product, I suspect not anything in it.
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That is a problem with audio but you learn to trust your own ears. The Dragonfly Red was a present so it cost me nothing. I can hear the improvement between it and the older Dragonfly 1.2 I had.

Of course they and the DacMagic XS are DACs and headphone amps in one so it would be misleading to try to compare them to a stand-alone DAC.
 
I currently use on-board sound with Senheiser PC350 SE headset. Would using a DacMagic make an audible difference or do I really need better headphones and / or separate sound card?
 
Although DacMagic XS is on sale for £39, it punches way above its weight and even at its normal rrp of £99 it could still be considered a good portable DAC/headphone amp combo.

I have headphones like the Sennheiser HD700, Sony MDR-MA900, Beyerdynamic DT770 250ohm and I own the DACMagic XS alongside Asus STX, Sound Blaster X7, Aune T1 MK2, Korg DS-DAC100m and even the bit more expensive headphone amp like the Schiit Lyr2.

A portable DAC/amp unit that's priced at £50~£100 is never meant to "destroy" non-portable units that are £180~£400 that need to draw power from the wall; what they do offer is decent performance with convenience for mobility, much like comparing laptop to desktop.

For reference, I first had the DacMagic XS V1 but carelessly misplaced it and never found it, so I bought it again on the V2 that offer the same hardware but with a updated look.

I find it ridiculous for people to call the DacMagic XS "garbage", when they probably never even tried it themselves and base their judgement solely on the low price of the product. In term of audio performance, I would rate it on-par with, if not tinny bit better than even my Asus STX; though if pushing high ohm headphone such as my DT770 250ohm, my STX is definitely better in the amp aspect.
 
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Noxia said:
I don't read too much in to opinions of audio stuff. The problem is a lot of people will write a load of hyperbole to justify an expensive purchase, almost as if they are actually trying to convince their selves how good something is rather than others. I do not believe for one minute my ears could tell the difference between a cheap DAC like a Schiit Modi and their Yggdrassil. I had a Magni 2 so will be interested to see how the DAC Magic compares although it's a diffrent product, I suspect not anything in it.
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I was having USB problems with my Modi so took the plunge and bought a Modi Multibit. I was expecting subtle improvements at best but the differences were easily heard by my 60 year old ears. Most apparent was the imaging, instruments no longer played in some vague area, they were pinpoint accurate and something else that made the instrument separation even better was that each instrument had a lot more space around it (probably comes under imaging). The highs were smoother but with more detail and the bass had more grunt and all together, it was just a much more enjoyable sound. If the difference between the Modi and the Multibit is so easily heard, then the difference between the Modi and Yggy would be even more apparent.
 
rids57 said:
I was having USB problems with my Modi so took the plunge and bought a Modi Multibit. I was expecting subtle improvements at best but the differences were easily heard by my 60 year old ears. Most apparent was the imaging, instruments no longer played in some vague area, they were pinpoint accurate and something else that made the instrument separation even better was that each instrument had a lot more space around it (probably comes under imaging). The highs were smoother but with more detail and the bass had more grunt and all together, it was just a much more enjoyable sound. If the difference between the Modi and the Multibit is so easily heard, then the difference between the Modi and Yggy would be even more apparent.
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Interesting thanks, I suppose without being able to A/B sample it would be hard to say for sure.
 
OK so I got my DAC MAGIC XS and wow what a difference , I can hear " everything" sounds that I never heard before :)...so I shall be playing with it more this very night .
 
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