DAC/Headphone Amp for Mixing/Mastering

[mixandfish]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a pair of headphones for mixing/mastering, I have decided on either Ollo s5x or s4x. I'd like to pair with a DAC/amp, and would like to know your recommendations on which would pair best. My budget is <$400.

I have read about options like the Apogee Groove, Topping models, iFi, and Grace m900 which seem good, but I am really open to anything. I work in hip-hop frequently if that helps.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Dunring]

A Topping Dx3Pro+ would power them easily. We have one on the Hd6xx and never leave low gain. It's compact and sounds really good. Amazon has specials on used/like new ones frequently.

 

[solderdude]

The OLLO are very sensitive and play loud from the output of a simple USB interface or phone/laptop/tablet/PC already.
You do not need a powerful amp for these headphones.
100mW in 32ohm is more than sufficient.

 

[DVDdoug]

You don't need anything "special". Just like with hi-fi listening for enjoyment, you want low (hopefully inaudible) noise and adequate volume without over-driving the amp into distortion.


...Most pros advise against using headphones for mixing or mastering but I have 2 "opposing" views from Recording Magazine:

This is from "Readers Tapes" where users send-in their recordings for evaluation:

As those of you who have followed this column for any length of time can attest, headphone mixing is one of the big no-no's around these parts. In our humble opinion, headphone mixes do not translate well in the real world, period, end of story. Other than checking for balance issues and the occasional hunting down of little details, they are tools best left for the tracking process.

And this is from a mixing engineer:

Can I mix on headphones?

No. But in all seriousness, headphones can be a secret weapon and it really doesn’t matter what they sound like…

Over time, after constantly listening back to my work from different studios on those headphones I really started to learn them. They became sort of a compass. Wherever I went… It became a pattern for me to reference these headphones to see if what I was hearing was “right”…

I learned them, I knew them, I trusted them. It didn’t matter whether or not I loved them…

So, can you mix on headphones? Probably. I just think you really need to put some time into learning them first…

 

[mixandfish]

Thank you!!