[ADVICE] Dac&Amp for € 500/600

[Anto102]

Hi! I'm looking for a Dac&Amp for a budget around € 600.

After reading some reviews i ended up to buy a Topping DX7 Pro for € 599 + shipping.

I will pair it with a Beyerdynamic DT880 600Ω.

Is it a good choice or is there something better for that budget?

Thanks in advance

 

[Doodski]

The DX7 Pro measured very well here @ ASR. Paired with your 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT800 headphones this is very good.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-dx7-pro-dac-and-headphone-amp-reviewed.9446/

 

[ZolaIII]

If you don't need BT you could go for LOXJIE D10 and Schiit Magni 3 Heresy all together around 250$ and you get perfectly good DAC regarding line out (a little weird looking tho) and much better headphone amp. Dig a little bit around hire if you don't like LOXJIE for something which would better suit you but regarding Heresy you won't find anything better for sure.

 

[Anto102]

Noob question

In Topping's thread a user wrote

XLR out will have more power, which is useful if you're trying to drive high impedance headphones. (e.g., 300 Ω or 600 Ω)

do i need an XLR to 6.3mm Jack adaptor?

 

[Doodski]

In Topping's thread a user wrote

Can you link us there to this commentary?

 

[Anto102]

Can you link us there to this commentary?

Here

 

[Doodski]

Here

Ahhh ic.
Yes, the balanced out as a general rule will output ~2x. I can't find details about your Beyerdynamic DT800 600Ω. Is this a 880?
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/

 

[Doodski]

@solderdude might be able to help you if he's available. He's the maker of that headphone DIYaudioheaven.wordpress.com website.

 

[Anto102]

Ahhh ic.
Yes, the balanced out as a general rule will output ~2x. I can't find details about your Beyerdynamic DT800 600Ω. Is this a 880?
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/

Yes, sorry, my bad.

I've changed op

 

[Doodski]

Yes, sorry, my bad.

I've changed op

QUOTE>
"This DT880 version is 250Ω but it also exists in a 32Ω and 600Ω version. The 250Ω and 600Ω versions are intended for home usage and have to be driven from an amplifier that can supply enough voltage. Portable sources can not supply enough voltage. For these devices the 32Ω version is better suited. Not suited for on the go and commuting because of its open design. The 600Ω version measures and sounds somewhat different."

The 600 Ohm version is the best version for your amp choice.

 

[Doodski]

do i need an XLR to 6.3mm Jack adaptor?

If you can adapt for XLR you will have more power on tap. That would be best for power although you might have enough on the 6.3mm plug and less distortion too.

 

[solderdude]

do i need an XLR to 6.3mm Jack adaptor?

You cannot use a balanced amplifier with the DT880 unless you re-wire the DT880.
It has a fixed 3-wire cable and for balanced you need a 4-wire cable.

You also cannot use an 4-pin XLR to TRS adapter, even when you find one they can NOT be used.
There are TRS to XLR (4 pin) adapters so you can use a balanced headphone on TRS output.

 

[ZolaIII]

@Anto102 just don't complete things up.
I think ideally 100 mV is enough to drive those. What do you think @solderdude? Mentioned Heresy can pump up to around 140 mV.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...gni-3-and-heresy-headphone-amp-reviews.10311/
Mentioned LOXJIE scored 115 dB SINAD. Both are rather cheap and hell of a combo for high impedance or planar power hungry cans.

 

[solderdude]

I think ideally 100 mV is enough to drive those

I assume you mean mW instead of mV , in that case I agree.

The DX7 Pro can output 6V (16.8Vpp) = 60mW into 600 Ohm.
The headphones are rated for 100mW.
Heresy/Atom can reach 8.5V = 120mW = 3dB louder.

600 Ohm headphones are fairly voltage insensitive so noise levels (SINAD, but noise dominated) doesn't have to be very high.

Efficiency of the 600 Ohm is about 100dB/V so 115dB peak SPL (about 95dB average) which is loud enough. One has to keep in mind that the DT880 are kind of bass-shy and applying some bass boost quickly reduces the max. SPL.

 

[ZolaIII]

I assume you mean mW instead of mV , in that case I agree.

The DX7 Pro can output 6V (16.8Vpp) = 60mW into 600 Ohm.
The headphones are rated for 100mW.
Heresy/Atom can reach 8.5V = 120mW = 3dB louder.

600 Ohm headphones are fairly voltage insensitive so noise levels (SINAD, but noise dominated) doesn't have to be very high.

Efficiency of the 600 Ohm is about 100dB/V so 115dB peak SPL (about 95dB average) which is loud enough. One has to keep in mind that the DT880 are kind of bass-shy and applying some bass boost quickly reduces the max. SPL.

Yes but it's always good when you have additional headroom and can took it as advantage to have more optimal output & less distortion also better operating conditions not pushing it to hard.
Edit: I don't think that anything will change as long as you keep it in line with lower mids and I know those are on the bright side.

 

[Anto102]

You cannot use a balanced amplifier with the DT880 unless you re-wire the DT880.
It has a fixed 3-wire cable and for balanced you need a 4-wire cable.

You also cannot use an 4-pin XLR to TRS adapter, even when you find one they can NOT be used.
There are TRS to XLR (4 pin) adapters so you can use a balanced headphone on TRS output.

Maybe it's a little overkill for my knowledge of the argument.

As far as i use the regular 6.35 jack the DT880 are good to go or i mandatory need an unbalanced dac?

 

[Doodski]

Maybe it's a little overkill for my knowledge of the argument.

As far as i use the regular 6.35 jack the DT880 are good to go or i mandatory need an unbalanced dac?

Ask @solderdude

 

[ZolaIII]

Maybe it's a little overkill for my knowledge of the argument.

As far as i use the regular 6.35 jack the DT880 are good to go or i mandatory need an unbalanced dac?

If you don't intend to do complete rewiring of those you need to use unbalanced connection to it including DAC & Amp out.

 

[solderdude]

Maybe it's a little overkill for my knowledge of the argument.

As far as i use the regular 6.35 jack the DT880 are good to go or i mandatory need an unbalanced dac?

You can use the TRS jack out of the DX7 Pro or buy a separate DAC and headphone amplifier.
The DAC output and amplifier input can be balanced (less chance of groundloops bothering you ?) or simple RCA.

The amplifier section must have TRS output (unless you rewire the DT880) and would recommend an amplifier that can at least deliver 200mW into 300 Ohm (= 100mW into 600 Ohm)
No need to go for more than 500mW (0.5W) into 300 Ohm though.

 

[HammerSandwich]

Efficiency of the 600 Ohm is about 100dB/V so 115dB peak SPL (about 95dB average) which is loud enough. One has to keep in mind that the DT880 are kind of bass-shy and applying some bass boost quickly reduces the max. SPL.

Innerfidelity measurements (PDF) show more like 96dB/V. Close enough.