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Sennheiser HD 650... what my first dedicated Headphone Amplifier?

jmz

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First at all... will I notice big sound quality improvement between my amplifier headphone output and dedicated headphone amplifier?

I'm using Sennheiser HD 650 with Marantz PM6006 UK Edition and with Yamaha R-N602. I'm listening my CD albums from flac files. I recently purchased 2x Topping D10s for 2 systems.


1 setup is:

Intel NUC - USB - D10s - analogue coaxial - Yamaha R-N602

spdif coaxial out is also in use but I could switch it to spdif optical


2 setup is:

Intel NUC - USB - D10s - spdif coaxial - Marantz PM6006 UK Edition

I could use analogue or spdif optical output from my D10s DAC to connect headphones amp

Is it better to build something basing on current D10s DAC or better looking for something else. Most important is that I need to keep current functionality of each setup. But most important will be to gain better headphone output for set 1.

Is it possible to connect TOPPING L30 between my D10s and amplifier as L30 have analogue input and output? What about situation when Topping L30 caused headphone damage? Are those cases explained?
 

solderdude

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Unfortunately both have no specs on the headphone out.

Questions:

Do both devices sound very similar to you ?

Can both devices play very loud without turning nasty in sound ?

Is it possible to connect TOPPING L30 between my D10s and amplifier as L30 have analogue input and output?

no problem. You will also have excellent headphone out function.

What about situation when Topping L30 caused headphone damage? Are those cases explained?

Yes, explained and solved.
 
OP
jmz

jmz

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Unfortunately both have no specs on the headphone out.

Questions:

Do both devices sound very similar to you ?

Can both devices play very loud without turning nasty in sound ?

Thank you for answer.

I found details about headphone out:

Marantz PM6006 UK Edition - Headphone output: 50 mW/32 ohms

Yamaha R-N6002 - Headphone output: (8 Ohm load) 410mV/470 ohms

My headphones are Sennheiser HD 650 (Nominal impedance 300 Ω, Sound pressure level (SPL) 103 dB).

Both amplifiers can deliver very loud sound with HD650 without audible distortions. Regarding my sound preferences with headphones, Marantz is giving more pleasing sound for me. I don't want to say that Yamaha sounds bad... but Marantz is better for me.

I just realized that dedicated headphone amp will not have control of bass, treble and loudness. I must say that I didn't like sound from Marantz with Source Direct turned ON. Because of this I will need to order headphone amp for trial.

Second and most important thing. I discovered that when my Intel NUC was "sitting" on D10s DAC I heard some cracks/crash in sound. Never heard it before using speakers. But it was audible in headphones. I separated them, now they are 25cm from each other. So far no cracks/crash in sound.
 

solderdude

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Marantz PM6006 UK Edition - Headphone output: 50 mW/32 ohms

Yamaha R-N6002 - Headphone output: (8 Ohm load) 410mV/470 ohms

Both amps will have unusually high output resistance which will change the tonal balance of the headphone.
No headphone amps (except the 1 or 2 actual current output amps with a very high output resistance) will be able to deliver the same sound.

All headphone amps will sound less 'warm' and bassy at the same power level.
You will need an amp with tone control on it to reach the same effect or apply EQ.

When they work for you and this is the sound you prefer then buying a headphone amp won't give you more pleasing sound.
They all will be less bassy/warm.
 
OP
jmz

jmz

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Both amps will have unusually high output resistance which will change the tonal balance of the headphone.
No headphone amps (except the 1 or 2 actual current output amps with a very high output resistance) will be able to deliver the same sound.

All headphone amps will sound less 'warm' and bassy at the same power level.
You will need an amp with tone control on it to reach the same effect or apply EQ.

When they work for you and this is the sound you prefer then buying a headphone amp won't give you more pleasing sound.
They all will be less bassy/warm.

Thank you for the answer.

Because I'm "green" with DAC's and have no experience with dedicated headphone amplifiers I will stay with current setup. So far big jump was made by changing Intel NUC sound card for Topping D10s DAC. Wantend to go furher but realized that this way can be a dead end. Maybe if I will find headphone amp with some tone control I will give it try but only with return option.
 

DanTheMan

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There are a few great 100USD headphone amps now. Not sure about UK availability though. I personally use the JDS Labs Atom with those headphones and essentially flawless performance. The Schiit Heresy is essentially the same and I'm sure there are others.
 
OP
jmz

jmz

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There are a few great 100USD headphone amps now. Not sure about UK availability though. I personally use the JDS Labs Atom with those headphones and essentially flawless performance. The Schiit Heresy is essentially the same and I'm sure there are others.
Thank you for the answer. I will take a look.
 

heraldo_jones

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Another JDS Labs Atom user here. If you want to add a little bit of color/eq to the Senns ad a Schiit Loki Mini+ to the setup so you can tweak manually to your taste.
 

DanTheMan

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Have you looked into Geshelli Labs? They also make SOTA, TOTL, ETC... for a low price.
 
D

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If you have an iPhone - super good! The distortion on any headphone is way higher than the iPhone distortion. Spend your money on music or something else.
If you want a dac/amp for headphones I'd recomment Motu 8A - it has DSP, mixer, etc. I store on it the EQ for all my headphones.
 
OP
jmz

jmz

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Another JDS Labs Atom user here. If you want to add a little bit of color/eq to the Senns ad a Schiit Loki Mini+ to the setup so you can tweak manually to your taste.
Thank you for the answer!

I think this can be solution for me.
 
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