Budget amp with alot of power

[Syyron]

Hello, i wanted to get the DT 990 Pros in the 250ohm Version for now and looking for an amp that can power the 990s and most popular headphones on the market right now

since im EU based there are not alot of cheap options compared to the US i dont wanna spend over 150 Euros

i could only find the Topping L30 II in that Price range i would pair it with the USB DAC Speaka do u think this is a good combination?

i also heard that many say that Topping Amps sound "boring" or too bright/flat is that true or would this issue be resolved if i pair it with an external DAC like the Speaka?

do u have any other suggestions or thoughts about it?

ty in advance

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Syyron! Welcome to ASR.

The L30II has about as much power as you can get for 150€, and will have no issues driving the DT 990 Pro 250Ω.

It's a neutral Headphone Amp, so does not impart its own "sound" on your music.

It just amplifies whatever you send to its input. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[somebodyelse]

I thought Schiit would have something competitive, but apparently no longer (based on schiit-europe.com)
I'll back up the point about it being neutral - as are decent DACs.

 

[Dunring]

I have another L30 II coming today, have bought 5-6 of them for the business. It's a fantastic amplifier. If you need more power you can always upgrade later to a 2 volt output DAC. The SMSL C200 is great also, I have a pair of 250 ohm DT990s and a lot of things will power them. The Sound blaster X1 outputs 2.4 volts when it detects 120ohm or higher and costs $50. If you can get a sale on the SMSL DL200 it's also really good.

 

[Bleib]

L30 II or this should work well as well:
https://hifi-express.com/products/sabaj-a20h-headphone-amplifier
Completely neutral as well, with remote too

Ultimately it's the headphones that have their own sound, not these 2 amps

 

[Syyron]

Thanks for all the Answers, does someone know if the 250ohms beyer are significantly harder to drive than the 80ohm ones?
since i tried the 80ohm 770s ones on the USB DAC Speaka and they had enough volume/power do u think the 250ohm ones could work too?
since i wanna get the Edition 990s and they are only availabe in 32/250/600 Ohms.

since i heard that the 32 Ohm version is the worst sound quality wise, most say 250ohm has more refined bass and sound overall better or do u think these changes in sound are minimal and can be reduced/changed with EQ?

 

[staticV3]

Thanks for all the Answers, does someone know if the 250ohms beyer are significantly harder to drive than the 80ohm ones?

Beyerdynamic only specify a "Nominal SPL" of 96dB:


But they do not specify whether that SPL is normalized to 1V or 1mW.

If it's SPL/1V, then both impedance versions of the DT990 will play equally as loud at the same volume on your Amp.

If it's SPL/1mW, then the 250Ω version will play 5dB more quiet, which is about 30% less volume.

Edit:
The DT990 Edition has the same, unspecified 96dB SPL


Ergo, if it is normalized to 1V, then the DT990 Edition 250Ω will play 5dB or 30% quieter than your old DT990 Pro 80Ω.

FYI, the DT990 600Ω would be 9dB quieter or about half as loud as your old DT990 Pro 80Ω.