RME Babyface Pro vs JDS Atom

[daftcombo]

The Babyface Pro is measured here.

There will be no audible difference in terms of noise or distortion, but it might not have enough power to drive your HD600 to adequate levels.

You might consider a desktop (not portable) interface from eg MOTU, RME or Focusrite, instead.

In that article, what is the very high and fat peak at 60 Hz in the IMD graph?

 

[daftcombo]

I’m not aware of any reviews, but Focusrite, who generally give honest specs, give the following:

View attachment 28794

+16dBu = approx. 5V RMS, which is plenty for your headphones. 0.0008% THD is well below anything that could be audible. What’s not clear is the output impedance although IMHO, given the HD600’s relatively high input impedance, it's unlikely to be a problem. According to one source, the output impedance on the Clarett series is 7 Ohm, which would be plenty low for the HD600.

In other words, in this case I can’t imagine any audible advantage with the Atom or any other dedicated DAC/headphone amp.

I have a Scarlett 2i4 and the headphones out (though sounding good with easy-to-drive AKG K701) has an impedance of 10 ohm, which is not little. I don't know about the Clarett.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I have a Scarlett 2i4 and the headphones out (though sounding good with easy-to-drive AKG K701) has an impedance of 10 ohm, which is not little. I don't know about the Clarett.

Akg k701 is not easy to drive. 60 ohm impedance with that low sensitivity. It will sound soft on many outputs. However those tend to sound too bright when amped properly. It may sound just fine with weak output.

 

[andreasmaaan]

In that article, what is the very high and fat peak at 60 Hz in the IMD graph?

This?

That’s one of the two test tones (60Hz under the SMPTE standard IIRC).

 

[JohnYang1997]

In that article, what is the very high and fat peak at 60 Hz in the IMD graph?

it's the testing signal. 60hz + 7khz. The 60hz is fat because the fft length is low. rmaa doesn't have high fft length. It's not ideal for highest performance measurements (sub ppm). But good enough for over 0.0002% distortion. And the fat 60hz doesn't mask anything. so it's fine.

 

[andreasmaaan]

I have a Scarlett 2i4 and the headphones out (though sounding good with easy-to-drive AKG K701) has an impedance of 10 ohm, which is not little. I don't know about the Clarett.

It’s 7 Ohm according to the link I posted earlier. But neither should pose any problem for the OP’s HD600, which has an impedance of 300 Ohm peaking at 550 Ohm in the bass.

 

[jasonq997]

Given the price and capabilities of the atom it is a no brainier (I have 3 of them ). The pro interfaces are probably ok for many headphone situations, but why not just get a solution for 99% of them?

 

[ScofieldKid]

Or cheap out and getting a Topping NX4... all-in-one...

 

[daftcombo]

it's the testing signal. 60hz + 7khz. The 60hz is fat because the fft length is low. rmaa doesn't have high fft length. It's not ideal for highest performance measurements (sub ppm). But good enough for over 0.0002% distortion. And the fat 60hz doesn't mask anything. so it's fine.

Thanks. It's thr first time I see two test tones on the same graoh and was confused. I was already thinking it was weird power supply leakage!

 

[Fone]

I have the RME BabyFace Pro. It is built like a tank and the software is very well engineered. It has a lot of features for music producers, so investment is spread out pretty well for $700.

If you just want a DAC and headphone amp, some dedicated components may be a better bet IMHO.

 

[Sevelos]

Assuming you will use this long-term for recording etc, what are you requirements in terms of inputs and outputs and so on?

Thanks andreasmaaan, here are the specs for my desired sound-card:

- Maximum Price - around 700 USD, but I would be very glad to pay less.

- Could be a desktop interface - I don't care whether it uses an external power supply or its form factor.

- I would like this Interface to be of really high quality. I already have two sound-interfaces (Yamaha Ag03 and Tascam US800), and I would like this to be a serious upgrade over them.

- It should have a really good headphone amp, so I wouldn't miss anything by using it with my hd600 vs. using the Atom amp.

Required:
- At least one microphone input (with phantom power).
- At least one instrument input.
- At least one (stereo / 2 mono jacks) input for keyboard. It could be switchable with the Instrument input, not necessary to use both at once.
- Balanced outputs for monitors.

Nice to have:
Unbalanced outputs or a second headphone jack to use with unbalanced monitors (I am currently using the iLoud micro monitors).
This is not a deal-breaker, as I could plug the unbalanced monitors into the regular headphone jack instead of the headphones - a little clumsy.

More inputs/outputs are welcome, but not if it means I have to pay for them a lot.

Thanks, Arie

 

[andreasmaaan]

Thanks andreasmaaan, here are the specs for my desired sound-card:

- Maximum Price - around 700 USD, but I would be very glad to pay less.

- Could be a desktop interface - I don't care whether it uses an external power supply or its form factor.

- I would like this Interface to be of really high quality. I already have two sound-interfaces (Yamaha Ag03 and Tascam US800), and I would like this to be a serious upgrade over them.

- It should have a really good headphone amp, so I wouldn't miss anything by using it with my hd600 vs. using the Atom amp.

Required:
- At least one microphone input (with phantom power).
- At least one instrument input.
- At least one (stereo / 2 mono jacks) input for keyboard. It could be switchable with the Instrument input, not necessary to use both at once.
- Balanced outputs for monitors.

Nice to have:
Unbalanced outputs or a second headphone jack to use with unbalanced monitors (I am currently using the iLoud micro monitors).
This is not a deal-breaker, as I could plug the unbalanced monitors into the regular headphone jack instead of the headphones - a little clumsy.

More inputs/outputs are welcome, but not if it means I have to pay for them a lot.

Thanks, Arie

Hi Arie, TBH I’d probably look at the Clarett 2 Pre USB that I mentioned earlier if I were you, as it’s a little cheaper than similar products from other manufacturers. There are plenty of good options in the range you’re looking for though, and other members no doubt have other excellent ideas. I wouldn’t bother with a separate headphone amp personally, since I don’t think you’ll need more power or get any audible improvement, but the Atom is a very attractive endgame product at $99 if that’s the direction you want to go in. With your budget you almost can’t go wrong with any pro 2-in 2-out interface IMHO, though, so I’m just recommending the Clarett based on it being slightly cheaper than competitors AFAIK.

 

[Sevelos]

Thanks everybody, you have been very helpful and knowledgeable!
I ended-up ordering JDS Atom+Topping D10.
After reading about audio-interfaces for awhile, I understood that choosing one is non-trivial as there are various advantages and disadvantages to each interface. I finally decided not to try getting everything in one box and to separate the mission of getting a good headphone amplifier from getting a good audio Interface.

 

[Earfonia]

Will my Sennheiser HD600 sound better with the Topping D10+JDS Atom than with the RME Babyface Pro?
I ask specifically about my headphones, not about some super-hard-to-drive planar-magnetic ones.

And while I am already asking - will they sound even better with the THX 789+some dac?

Story:
I am looking for a good amp (and a dac) to get the best out of my Sennheiser HD600.
I currently use the Yamaha AG03 (USB) sound interface which gives me enough volume, but I suspect the sound quality could be improved as the Yamaha specs are quite low.

After reading quite a lot and watching ZeosPantera, my choice is currently Topping D10+JDS Atom, or the THX789 AAA+some dac (Topping D10 as well?).

However, as I am doing recordings sometimes, I had an idea - perhaps I could get a good Sound Interface that could also serve me as a VERY-GOOD amp for my headphones.
While the RME Babyface Pro costs much more than the Atom+D10 combined, I was considering getting it.

So, as I wrote at the top, my questions are:
Will my Sennheiser HD600 sound better with the Topping D10+JDS Atom than with the Babyface Pro?
Perhaps even better with the THX 789 AAA + some dac?

FYI, I did a quick test on the RME Babyface Pro, just got it a few days ago:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...able-for-measurements.7536/page-3#post-233867

This is my take on it after a few days of playing with it:
Incredibly accurate meters, love the TotalMix control / mixer panel, Basically we can trust and rely the numbers on the specification of the input-output interface given by RME. They are accurate. So it is a great audio interface.

If you expect a good headphone amplifier, the 3.5mm headphone output is very good in if you're looking for a headphone with:
Very low THD and very low noise. It has 2 ohm output impedance, while the 6.35mm output has 10 ohm output impedance.

But it is on the low power category at only around 70 mW (3.5mm output). So not very powerful for headphone, but sufficient for easy to drive headphones.

My impression after a few hours of listening using the headphone output: It sounds fantastic on IEMs!!!
Mostly, like 95% of headphone outputs I tried, be it headphone output from an audio interface (I have a few, Tascam, Steinber, Zoom, etc.), or good quality DAC (portable and desktop), always hiss with my 1964 Ears V3 In-Ear monitor. It has 119 dB/mW sensitivity. And it has been my hiss detector for years. Very useful for reviewing DACs and Amps . There are so far only 2 headphone outputs that are quiet on 1964 Ears V3, my Onkyo DP-X1 DAP, and the 3.5mm output from the RME Babyface Pro. With sensitive IEMs, the Babyface Pro headphone output sounds really good! Very clean and an amazing perceived dynamic, detail and clarity. It will really helps us in recording and mixing. And it has pretty good perceived dynamic power on IEMs, so it sounds powerful on IEMs (I tried a few IEMs so far). So, for IEMs it is fantastic! For headphones, depends on the required power.

Here are some screenshot on 1 kHz tone at 50mV output level (output level for sensitive IEM), in comparison of Chord Mojo, Fiio Q5, and RME Babyface Pro using Quantasylum QA401. All measured on 33 ohm load.

Fiio Q5:

Chord Mojo:

RME Babyface Pro (3.5mm output):