HeadPhone Amp ?

[humax]

As someone mentioned above the Schiit series seems to be popular with the Beyers and start around £100 or a little less if you are lucky. Fiio also do some reasonable options though more designed for portable use and/or DAC/amps.

Or if you are feeling adventurous make your own CMoy

Make my own I cant even make a cup of coffee a guy on another forum has suggested the Modi2 around £165.

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[humax]

Just been looking at the Fiio range but they only seem suitable for headphone up to 150 Ohm.



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[EsaT]

Yes speakers on kinda of low on the day time but i live in a street house so to blast my music at night i put the headphones on so i don't wake the street up

So that means headphone amplifier needs to be after NAD unless putting it paraller with it.
Line inputs don't cause any real load so you could certainly use y-cable from E-DAC to connect it to both headphone amp and NAD.
TV is likely to also have some analog out.

Actually If NAD's headphone output has switch which disables/mutes speaker output when headphones are connected that would be better.

That's good to know as i hate spending money so what would you say i should be spending and on which Amp.

No need and sense to pay anything over 100€.
Heck, £120 gets whole USB sound card with very good DAC, and the connections of sound card including inputs maknig it possible to use it as headphone amp.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/crea...-card-with-headphone-amplifier-sp-183-cl.html
https://techaeris.com/2016/09/29/sound-blasterx-g5-review-amplify-enhance-headphone-audio/
That should tell how much "audiophile" makers charge for single purpose devices.

And Objective2 was designed for "straight wire with amplification" neutrality and being indistinguishable from headphone amps considered reference level in blind testing.
http://www.headnhifi.com/amplifiers
It's available also as DIY kit, myself made two of those some five years ago.
You just don't want to turn gain to high on it with 250 ohm headphones.
Because it was designed to drive 600 ohm Beyers to hearing damage in minutes and some more volume.

 

[humax]

So that means headphone amplifier needs to be after NAD unless putting it paraller with it.
Line inputs don't cause any real load so you could certainly use y-cable from E-DAC to connect it to both headphone amp and NAD.
TV is likely to also have some analog out.

Actually If NAD's headphone output has switch which disables/mutes speaker output when headphones are connected that would be better.


No need and sense to pay anything over 100€.
Heck, £120 gets whole USB sound card with very good DAC, and the connections of sound card including inputs maknig it possible to use it as headphone amp.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/crea...-card-with-headphone-amplifier-sp-183-cl.html
https://techaeris.com/2016/09/29/sound-blasterx-g5-review-amplify-enhance-headphone-audio/
That should tell how much "audiophile" makers charge for single purpose devices.

And Objective2 was designed for "straight wire with amplification" neutrality and being indistinguishable from headphone amps considered reference level in blind testing.
http://www.headnhifi.com/amplifiers
It's available also as DIY kit, myself made two of those some five years ago.
You just don't want to turn gain to high on it with 250 ohm headphones.
Because it was designed to drive 600 ohm Beyers to hearing damage in minutes and some more volume.

Great stuff. I was wondering how it was all going to connect together. So i just need a Y-cable with them little plugs on to go to the back of the NAD and I'm good to go ?

Also liking the look of them Sound Blaster cards as well so i think i need to read some reviews on them to see what people think about them


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[Marsman]

Just been looking at the Fiio range but they only seem suitable for headphone up to 150 Ohm.

Both the K2 and A5 are rated for 300 Ohm headphones, but the Ohm ratings are just guide lines really.

FiiO seem quite conservation when it comes to recommending what Ohm headphones work best for each of their products. E10K is recommended for up to 150 Ohm, but it does a decent job of driving Sennheiser HD600/650 headphones which are 300 Ohm. My FiiO X1 DAP has less power than the E10K and that does a commendable job to be fair with my HD600's.

The E10K would have no trouble with the DT770's, but then, it is a DAC as well as amp. Can't use it as just as an headphone amp. A good inexpensive option though.

 

[EsaT]

Great stuff. I was wondering how it was all going to connect together. So i just need a Y-cable with them little plugs on to go to the back of the NAD and I'm good to go ?

One line out can be easily connected to line inputs of two devices, like speaker amplifier and headphone amplifier.

That NAD likely has quite a few separate inputs, both analog and digital/optical.
And you should already have it working with one source cable from PC and another from TV.
We just need to have headphone amp as parallel other output/listening device.

But connecting outputs of two different sources directly to one input isn't excatly something I would do, because that connects those outputs also to each others.
Device called "audio switch" can be used to connect two sources to only one input. You simply use switch to select which source you listen like in this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...eo-Headphones-Selector-Switcher-/253153739961

 

[humax]

Both the K2 and A5 are rated for 300 Ohm headphones, but the Ohm ratings are just guide lines really.

FiiO seem quite conservation when it comes to recommending what Ohm headphones work best for each of their products. E10K is recommended for up to 150 Ohm, but it does a decent job of driving Sennheiser HD600/650 headphones which are 300 Ohm. My FiiO X1 DAP has less power than the E10K and that does a commendable job to be fair with my HD600's.

The E10K would have no trouble with the DT770's, but then, it is a DAC as well as amp. Can't use it as just as an headphone amp. A good inexpensive option though.

Looks great and not to expensive but I'm not sure it will fit on to my NAD as i don't think it has that fitting on it.


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[humax]

One line out can be easily connected to line inputs of two devices, like speaker amplifier and headphone amplifier.

That NAD likely has quite a few separate inputs, both analog and digital/optical.
And you should already have it working with one source cable from PC and another from TV.
We just need to have headphone amp as parallel other output/listening device.

But connecting outputs of two different sources directly to one input isn't excatly something I would do, because that connects those outputs also to each others.
Device called "audio switch" can be used to connect two sources to only one input. You simply use switch to select which source you listen like in this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...eo-Headphones-Selector-Switcher-/253153739961

So does that little box just connect to the back of my NAD

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[Rroff]

And Objective2 was designed for "straight wire with amplification" neutrality and being indistinguishable from headphone amps considered reference level in blind testing.
http://www.headnhifi.com/amplifiers
It's available also as DIY kit, myself made two of those some five years ago.
You just don't want to turn gain to high on it with 250 ohm headphones.
Because it was designed to drive 600 ohm Beyers to hearing damage in minutes and some more volume.

Made my own USB powered variant (did strip out the power management stage but the power on bump is pretty low) using a DCP010507D DC-DC POL to generate the negative rail and common ground, dual 470uf cap bank w/ LC filter into 317/337 reg pair and using OPA1612 for gain and LMH6643 buffers with some of the capacitors uprated to polypropylenes and some Elna Silmic IIs shoved in there for good/bad measure (though they have a bit of a "DSP" like effect) its not perfectly neutral but pleasurable signature - slightly smoother without loss of detail where the O2 is a touch raw as many amps that are actually close to reference/transparent tend to be. Has half the power of the original O2 though that could be changed by using the 2 watt variant of the DCP.

Don't tend to use it with my Sennheiser 600s but gets a lot of use as its easy to listen to smooth and low fatiguing.

I'm kind of fascinated by the O2 as engineering wise it is a masterclass - playing about with an approach for a simplified version that could even be implemented on even prototype PCB while retaining a lot of the performance of the original.

 

[Marsman]

Looks great and not to expensive but I'm not sure it will fit on to my NAD as i don't think it has that fitting on it.


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It can do, as there is a 3.5mm line out for connecting powered speakers or an amplifier. You'd just need a 3.5mm to 2x RCA cable.

Whether or not it's the best choice though, I suppose depends on what you're looking to spend and whether you're looking for any more features than just simple stereo DAC with a headphone amp and connection to the NAD amp.

The Creative G5 has more features, as it's essentially an external sound card.

If you're just looking for a decent simple DAC/headphone amp with line out for speakers though without spending a great deal, then the E10K is a good budget solution.

 

[EsaT]

So does that little box just connect to the back of my NAD

NAD has separate inputs for different sources, so it doesn't need audio switch to separate sources.

Looking from pictures that NAD has only analog inputs so your TV's analog out is connected to it.
TV likely has only one analog (line) output, right?

So you would need two Y-cables, one for both E-DAC and TV.
With one "branch" from cable of both E-DAC and TV connected to separate inputs of NAD.
Other branch of Y-cables would then connect to audio switch with headphone amp connected to "common" connector.
Using pics of that eBay switch A and B connectors would be inputs and C used as output for connecting to HP amp:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...eo-Headphones-Selector-Switcher-/253153739961

Could do drawing if that isn't clear enough.


So much easier when you use only PC for listening and watching everything and there's no need for complex connections between lots of devices...

 

[humax]

It can do, as there is a 3.5mm line out for connecting powered speakers or an amplifier. You'd just need a 3.5mm to 2x RCA cable.

Whether or not it's the best choice though, I suppose depends on what you're looking to spend and whether you're looking for any more features than just simple stereo DAC with a headphone amp and connection to the NAD amp.

The Creative G5 has more features, as it's essentially an external sound card.

If you're just looking for a decent simple DAC/headphone amp with line out for speakers though without spending a great deal, then the E10K is a good budget solution.

I'm really torn between the Creative G5 and the E10K as they both get very good reviews in you tube. How much better would the Creative G5 be over the Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC sound wise ?


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[humax]

NAD has separate inputs for different sources, so it doesn't need audio switch to separate sources.

Looking from pictures that NAD has only analog inputs so your TV's analog out is connected to it.
TV likely has only one analog (line) output, right?

So you would need two Y-cables, one for both E-DAC and TV.
With one "branch" from cable of both E-DAC and TV connected to separate inputs of NAD.
Other branch of Y-cables would then connect to audio switch with headphone amp connected to "common" connector.
Using pics of that eBay switch A and B connectors would be inputs and C used as output for connecting to HP amp:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...eo-Headphones-Selector-Switcher-/253153739961

Could do drawing if that isn't clear enough.


So much easier when you use only PC for listening and watching everything and there's no need for complex connections between lots of devices...

Just had a look at the back of my NAD and there is a cable that comes from it and leads to my Humax PVR. I think my brother fitted it and that must be how i get the sound for my TV because when the Humax is swithed off i don't get the sound coming out of my speakers and i have to use the TVs crappy little speakers. Yes a drawing would be great as i get a little lost with were everything should plug into. If you do a drawing can you do a picture of me in the background scratching my head please.

 

[EsaT]

Just had a look at the back of my NAD and there is a cable that comes from it and leads to my Humax PVR.

Well, that's weird...
Though could it be that TV some model which lacks analog line out?
Can't think of any other reason for why to make it that complex needing to have PVR powered for getting sound to external speakers.

Anyway just substitute TV with that PVR in previous explanation.

 

[Marsman]

I'm really torn between the Creative G5 and the E10K as they both get very good reviews in you tube. How much better would the Creative G5 be over the Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC sound wise ?


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The Creative has a better DAC than the E-DAC. It's better on paper, but whether you'd hear any difference is hard to say. Some people might, some won't. One of those things you can't know without trying first.

Not sure why you're asking about the G5 compared to the E-DAC. That would imply you're either considering getting the G5 or using the E-DAC with a different headphone amp; unless you were thinking of using the analogue input on the G5, with the E-DAC as the DAC and G5 as the headphone amp.

If the latter, then I'd just use G5 as DAC and headphone amp.

As for the E10K, that functions as a DAC and headphone amp; but as it's USB input only, it can't be used just as a headphone amp.

For the choice between the E10K and G5, then it comes down to whether you will want the extra features of the G5, like microphone input and the 5.1/7.1 surround effects provided by SBX prostudio, or just a basic stereo DAC that the E10K is.

As for which sounds better; then, according a guy on Head-Fi who has both, he couldn't hear much difference between them.

 

[humax]

Well, that's weird...
Though could it be that TV some model which lacks analog line out?
Can't think of any other reason for why to make it that complex needing to have PVR powered for getting sound to external speakers.

Anyway just substitute TV with that PVR in previous explanation.

Not sure why its like that to be honest it is an old TV and having looked at the back of the TV i don't see anywhere for that cable to fit. so does that mean i only need one Y-Cable to get the headphone amp to work now ?

 

[humax]

The Creative has a better DAC than the E-DAC. It's better on paper, but whether you'd hear any difference is hard to say. Some people might, some won't. One of those things you can't know without trying first.

Not sure why you're asking about the G5 compared to the E-DAC. That would imply you're either considering getting the G5 or using the E-DAC with a different headphone amp; unless you were thinking of using the analogue input on the G5, with the E-DAC as the DAC and G5 as the headphone amp.

If the latter, then I'd just use G5 as DAC and headphone amp.

As for the E10K, that functions as a DAC and headphone amp; but as it's USB input only, it can't be used just as a headphone amp.

For the choice between the E10K and G5, then it comes down to whether you will want the extra features of the G5, like microphone input and the 5.1/7.1 surround effects provided by SBX prostudio, or just a basic stereo DAC that the E10K is.

As for which sounds better; then, according a guy on Head-Fi who has both, he couldn't hear much difference between them.

I'm really just looking for something that wont cost the earth and is easy for me to fit without having to run cables all over the house. i don't really need microphone input and the 5.1/7.1 surround effects so i think the E10K would be fine for what i need it for.

 

[humax]

Anyone have the FX-Audio DAC-X6 ? comes in around 60 quid and gets some very good reviews



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[EsaT]

Not sure why its like that to be honest it is an old TV and having looked at the back of the TV i don't see anywhere for that cable to fit. so does that mean i only need one Y-Cable to get the headphone amp to work now ?

Two Y-cables.
Just connecting one to PVR instead of TV and other connected to E-DAC.
With one "branch" of cables connected to those separate inputs of NAD and other branch to audio switch selecting which source is connected to headphone amp.
(so that outputs of E-DAC and PVR are never directly connected/shorted to each others)

 

[EsaT]

Anyone have the FX-Audio DAC-X6 ? comes in around 60 quid and gets some very good reviews

It has only digital inputs and can't work as headphone amp for separate analog source.

I'm really just looking for something that wont cost the earth and is easy for me to fit without having to run cables all over the house. i don't really need microphone input and the 5.1/7.1 surround effects so i think the E10K would be fine for what i need it for.

And neither does Fiio E10K have analog input.
Unlike sound cards they aren't designed to handle any input from other devices/sources.

But both could be used as sources for separate headphone amplifier...
And we're back to square one having DAC and TV/PVR as sources but no actual headphone amplifier.


For closed headphone DT770 should work quite well for binaural sound gaming at least if you equalize strong bass lower.
Besides 360 directionality there should be sense of distance in first minute of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1_20T8x_OI
Unless having bad interference prone implementation PC's integrated sound card should drive it well because of low current need.
250 ohm DT990 (same driver) works quite well with Realteks.