Audeze MM-500 USB DAC/Amp recomendation

[kiniko]

Hi everbody,

I'm a music producer and sound engineer looking for advice.
i'm trying to find the best compromise portable DAC/AMP for working on the road with an Audeze MM-500.
Idealy USB powered (or battery powered) which mean i don't have to carry any power supply and can let my laptop feeding it.

Audeze MM-500 main Spec are:

Sensitivity	100 dB/1mW (at Drum Reference Point)
Impedance	18 ohms
Max power handling	5W RMS
Min recommended power	>100mW
Recommended power level	>250mW

as far as i digged for the last Two days, few options emerge but i started getting really confuse so i prefer to ask proffesional geeks than buying unnappropriate material.
in the studio i'm using an old Benschmark Dac 1 which wok well enough but is totally innapropriate to carry around.
So any Advice would be really welcome at this point.
Maybe i should precise that i'm looking for an amp as transparent as possible, nothing colored.
Thx in advance for reading this.
Kiniko

ps: I could mention that it don't necessarily have to be a dongle like a dragonfly or an apogee groove, and the price is not a major issue if the product is good.
Also my computer is a Macbook Pro mid 2015 with usb 3 type A connector providing 5v 900ma (4.5w)

 

[MRC01]

If those numbers are correct, then the voltage sensitivity is 90 dB SPL at 0.04243 V. That is quite sensitive - these headphones don't need much voltage.

Put differently: 1 V of output drives them to 117 dB which is beyond painfully loud. At that volume they will draw 55 mW of power which is very little power. And 55 mA of current which isn't much. They are sensitive and efficient. Audeze's recommended power looks like conservative overkill.

Another way to look at this is that Amir's 50 mV test drives these headphones to 91.4 dB which is quite loud. They are sensitive enough that you want a headphone amp having low noise especially at low volume settings.

Whatever amp you use, will likely be on its lowest gain setting. These headphones might be plugged into a phone or any other portable device and not even need an amp, so long as you had the right adapter.

Of course, this is considering power only. This frees you to pick a portable based on sound quality without worrying about needing high power output.

 

[kiniko]

If those numbers are correct, then the voltage sensitivity is 90 dB SPL at 0.04243 V. That is quite sensitive - these headphones don't need much voltage.

Put differently: 1 V of output drives them to 117 dB which is beyond painfully loud. At that volume they will draw 55 mW of power which is very little power. And 55 mA of current which isn't much. They are sensitive and efficient. Audeze's recommended power looks like conservative overkill.

Another way to look at this is that Amir's 50 mV test drives these headphones to 91.4 dB which is quite loud. They are sensitive enough that you want a headphone amp having low noise especially at low volume settings.

Whatever amp you use, will likely be on its lowest gain setting. These headphones might be plugged into a phone or any other portable device and not even need an amp, so long as you had the right adapter.

Of course, this is considering power only. This frees you to pick a portable based on sound quality without worrying about needing high power output.

Thx for your reply, i Know they are very sensitive and It's defenatly not a power issue in my case. Maybe i should have been more specific as i need a proper dac/amp in term of convertion and clean amplification as my Laptop Dac/amp is realy bad in the low end and on the top frequencies.
Anything to suggest?
thx in advance
Kiniko

 

[Curvature]

RME Babyface is a good choice.

 

[jae]

If you are fine with controlling output volume digitally on your computer, a lot of the chinese USB dongles reviewed around here and l7audiolab will be more than adequate. Simply plug in and they work and you can't get more "portable" than this, and they are cheap.

Honestly in a lot of cases like yours (producer, on the road etc) I would suggest MOTU M2 or MOTU M4 (all in one interface, amp, dac, adc/mic pre). It's an excellent interface and also USB-C powered, the only disadvantage is that it is a bit lacking in power (maybe only 15 mW for your headphones, but it should be enough for normal monitoring levels). If you have these available on Amazon in your country, I'd suggest buying that and giving it a try, and you can easily return to Amazon if it's not loud enough. Can also find them half price on ebay/used.

RME Babyface as @Curvature suggested is also a great option albeit pricey for what it is. It does not really outperform the cheaper MOTUs in any meaningful aspects except the added power for lower impedance headphones.

 

[kiniko]

If you are fine with controlling output volume digitally on your computer, a lot of the chinese USB dongles reviewed around here and l7audiolab will be more than adequate. Simply plug in and they work and you can't get more "portable" than this, and they are cheap.

Honestly in a lot of cases like yours (producer, on the road etc) I would suggest MOTU M2 or MOTU M4 (all in one interface, amp, dac, adc/mic pre). It's an excellent interface and also USB-C powered, the only disadvantage is that it is a bit lacking in power (maybe only 15 mW for your headphones, but it should be enough for normal monitoring levels). If you have these available on Amazon in your country, I'd suggest buying that and giving it a try, and you can easily return to Amazon if it's not loud enough. Can also find them half price on ebay/used.

RME Babyface as @Curvature suggested is also a great option albeit pricey for what it is. It does not really outperform the cheaper MOTUs in any meaningful aspects except the added power for lower impedance headphones.

Babyface need a power supply so it's not for me in this case.
as i Prefer to have a Volume control next to me Motu M2 could be an Option if a USB 3 port is enough to power it.
The ideal format as far as i digged would me something like the Schiit Fulla or the Fiio K3 but the reviews here are so bad that i prefered to ask..
Thx for you insight. you actualy remind me that i still have a focusrite solo 3gen somewhere that i could actualy try.

 

[staticV3]

@kiniko here's one happy customer driving the MM-500 off an E1DA 9038S G3:

Though a balanced cable is required.

 

[MRC01]

Regarding cables: the MM-500 has the same 3-pin connectors as the rest of the LCD line, so cables made for them will fit. So there is quite a lot of aftermarket options for balanced cables.

It's also worth mention that the MM-500, being planar magnetic, has a flat impedance vs. frequency curve, so its frequency response won't change when driven by an amp with high output impedance.