Picked up some 660s on sale looking for a budget/ bang for buck amp for use with my iPhone 12 Pro for listening at my home office.

[Jamesj562]

Picked up some Sennheiser 660s headphones over holiday and I’d like to find an amplifier that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for home listening via iPhone 12 Pro Max I primarily use Apple Music lossless in my car I have a full 3 way active audiofrog setup with helix DSP and amplifiers. I have a topping d10s dac in my car that I use the camera kit to output from my iPhone to the dac to the DSP.

Is the topping NX1s adaquite or am I way off I am a complete newbie to headphone amplification and I would appreciate any pointers. Thanks!

 

[Jamesj562]

And just to mention after a few hours of searching and reading it looks like the Atom Amp+ would be a nice choice for budget option. I’m just curious how I would output from my iPhone to the amp

 

[staticV3]

The original NX1 is specified at 2.9Vrms max voltage.
According to Sennheiser's own specs that's enough for a little over 121dB SPL with the 660S.
ReferenceAudioAnalyzer, an independent tester, measured 2dB/Vrms lower sensitivity with their 660S unit, so a little over 119dB SPL.
In any case, the NX1 will be plenty loud enough with that headphone.

Just two things:
-The NX1 is a pure Amp, so you will need to use an additional headphone dongle to get an analog signal out of your iPhone which the NX1 can then amplify. (Something like the Apple A2049 will do the job)
-Its been almost eight years since the NX1 was released and it has since been discontinued.
Not only have Topping (and everyone else for that matter) made a lot of progress with their circuit designs since then, but I would also be a bit worried about the state of the battery in whichever NX1 unit you can manage to buy nowadays.

 

[Jamesj562]

The original NX1 is specified at 2.9Vrms max voltage.
According to Sennheiser's own specs that's enough for a little over 121dB SPL with the 660S.
ReferenceAudioAnalyzer, an independent tester, measured 2dB/Vrms lower sensitivity with their 660S unit, so a little over 119dB SPL.
In any case, the NX1 will be plenty loud enough with that headphone.

Just two things:
-The NX1 is a pure Amp, so you will need to use an additional headphone dongle to get an analog signal out of your iPhone which the NX1 can then amplify. (Something like the Apple A2049 will do the job)
-Its been almost eight years since the NX1 was released and it has since been discontinued.
Not only have Topping (and everyone else for that matter) made a lot of progress with their circuit designs since then, but I would also be a bit worried about the state of the battery in whichever NX1 unit you can manage to buy nowadays.

Thank you great information! Parts express was the only nx1 vendor I came across. At this point the atom amp + looks like a clear winner for me but what do I know I am a complete novice. It will be used in a desktop setting or in a travel type of environment.

 

[staticV3]

Thank you great information! Parts express was the only nx1 vendor I came across. At this point the atom amp + looks like a clear winner for me but what do I know I am a complete novice. It will be used in a desktop setting or in a travel type of environment.

Just be aware that you will need access to an outlet whenever you want to use the Amp+. It runs purely on 16VAC

 

[Jamesj562]

Just be aware that you will need access to an outlet whenever you want to use the Amp+. It runs purely on 16VAC

Thank you’ll be at my desk at my home office with my double monitors etc. do you see the amp+ being worth the additional money versus the NX1?

 

[staticV3]

Thank you’ll be at my desk at my home office with my double monitors etc. do you see the amp+ being worth the additional money versus the NX1?

I think the JDS Amp+, Schiit Magni Heresy, IEMagni, Topping E30, and Sabaj A10h are all well worth their asking price, according to measurements done by Amir and WolfX-700 over on L7Audiolab.

 

[Firefly00]

Picked up some Sennheiser 660s headphones over holiday and I’d like to find an amplifier that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for home listening via iPhone 12 Pro Max I primarily use Apple Music lossless in my car I have a full 3 way active audiofrog setup with helix DSP and amplifiers. I have a topping d10s dac in my car that I use the camera kit to output from my iPhone to the dac to the DSP.

Is the topping NX1 adaquite or am I way off I am a complete newbie to headphone amplification and I would appreciate any pointers. Thanks!

Have a look at the Topping DX3 Pro+. It measures superbly well, and has Bluetooth built in

 

[Jamesj562]

The original NX1 is specified at 2.9Vrms max voltage.
According to Sennheiser's own specs that's enough for a little over 121dB SPL with the 660S.
ReferenceAudioAnalyzer, an independent tester, measured 2dB/Vrms lower sensitivity with their 660S unit, so a little over 119dB SPL.
In any case, the NX1 will be plenty loud enough with that headphone.

Just two things:
-The NX1 is a pure Amp, so you will need to use an additional headphone dongle to get an analog signal out of your iPhone which the NX1 can then amplify. (Something like the Apple A2049 will do the job)
-Its been almost eight years since the NX1 was released and it has since been discontinued.
Not only have Topping (and everyone else for that matter) made a lot of progress with their circuit designs since then, but I would also be a bit worried about the state of the battery in whichever NX1 unit you can manage to buy nowadays.

sorry for the confusion I was actually looking at the NX1s for $40 delivered

 

[Jamesj562]

Have a look at the Topping DX3 Pro+. It measures superbly well, and has Bluetooth built in

Looks quite nice and a lot of performance and features

 

[Jamesj562]

Bought the atom amp + now thanks guys!

 

[Jamesj562]

I think the JDS Amp+, Schiit Magni Heresy, IEMagni, Topping E30, and Sabaj A10h are all well worth their asking price, according to measurements done by Amir and WolfX-700 over on L7Audiolab.

Accidentally won an auction on an ifi zen dac 2 open box for $139 delivered. Should I try the atom+ and my topping 10S (in my car audio build) or should I return the atom and run the ifi zen dac v2? My 660s comes with a 4.4 balanced cord for the zen dac. I’m wondering if the balanced output would be better to my ears vs the raw power increase on the unbalanced atom+ Amp?

 

[staticV3]

Accidentally won an auction on an ifi zen dac 2 open box for $139 delivered. Should I try the atom+ and my topping 10S (in my car audio build) or should I return the atom and run the ifi zen dac v2? My 660s comes with a 4.4 balanced cord for the zen dac. I’m wondering if the balanced output would be better to my ears vs the raw power increase on the unbalanced atom+ Amp?

Since you alredy have the Atom+ and are waiting for the Zen DAC V2's delivery, I'd say just wait, try them both, and see which one suits your use case and preference most.
If you have the chance to try them both yourself, then there's no point in me theorizing about which one you might prefer.

 

[Jamesj562]

So long story short the zen dac v2 on regular (unbalanced) output is significantly lower output than the atom+ by itself. When I add the topping 10s that’s usually in my car for my big car audio build the atom+ and topping 10s combo is much much more impressive than the ifi zen dac v2. I have heard from multiple sources to not judge the zen dac v2 until I try the 4.4 balanced output as it is supposedly much more powerful. My balanced cable arrives Monday. I will update here once I try the 4.4 balanced.