Transparent Headphone Amp For Dan Clark Audio E3 Headphones?

[kshortime]

I currently have a Lynx Hilo and it doesn’t seem to sufficiently power my Dan Clark Audio E3 headphones. I’m therefore hoping to replace my Lynx for another headphone amp.

Any recommendations on a transparent headphone amp to drive these?

Thank you.

 

[oleg87]

If you're not looking to get spendy, the JDS Labs Atom 2 is transparent and shouldn't be troubled by the E3. I'm biased towards them because of the company's no-audiophile-BS approach and rep for being very helpful if you have any issues.

The Topping A70 Pro seems to be the reigning champ of power/performance/feature set at a reasonable price, but from reading the thread here, its reliability is less convincing.

 

[DBASQL]

Please let us know how you make out, I just ordered these same phones.

 

[kshortime]

If you're not looking to get spendy, the JDS Labs Atom 2 is transparent and shouldn't be troubled by the E3. I'm biased towards them because of the company's no-audiophile-BS approach and rep for being very helpful if you have any issues.

The Topping A70 Pro seems to be the reigning champ of power/performance/feature set at a reasonable price, but from reading the thread here, its reliability is less convincing.

Thank you for the response, I shall definitely have a look into your recommendations. To be honest, I don’t mind about the cost implications, I just want the job done to the best of it’s ability.

 

[Mr Swing King]

Sound quality wise there is no better than a simple Topping E3. We’re already magnitudes ahead of what human hearing is capable of picking up.
Most solid state amps on the market are transparent.
Thinking about build quality and what type of connections you want is way more important.

 

[sharock]

Transparent enough?

Jokes aside, I'd second the Atom stack. I use it with all my headphones including the E3.

 

[kshortime]

Sorry guys, I just want to reiterate, it’s to replace the Hilo HEADPHONE AMP and not the DAC. Thank you!

 

[Gperry1914]

I love my Cayin HA-6A tube headphone amp with my E3s. I recently replaced my Schiit Mjolnir 3 with the Cayin and it’s significantly better (and more expensive esp if you roll tubes). The Cayin has plenty of power and has adjustable impedance settings that work well with the E3.

 

[Zakuman]

I love my Cayin HA-6A tube headphone amp with my E3s. I recently replaced my Schiit Mjolnir 3 with the Cayin and it’s significantly better (and more expensive esp if you roll tubes). The Cayin has plenty of power and has adjustable impedance settings that work well with the E3.

but it is only amp as mjolnir3? i was thinking about mjolnir3 because i prefer planar headphones, which in my opinion are better with pure class A then tubes.

currently i have copland DAC 215 which i enjoy with audeze LCD3

Plus do you know where is good place to buy Cayin in EU?

 

[Gperry1914]

but it is only amp as mjolnir3? i was thinking about mjolnir3 because i prefer planar headphones, which in my opinion are better with pure class A then tubes.

currently i have copland DAC 215 which i enjoy with audeze LCD3

Plus do you know where is good place to buy Cayin in EU?

The HA-6A is an integrated headphone amp, like the MJ3 (minus the pre-amp outputs that I did like having on the MJ3). I had the same concerns about a tube amp with planar headphones but it turned out to not be a worry with the HA-6A. I’m in US so sorry, no knowledge on where you can get one in EU.

 

[Pictus]

From my internet research(not first hand experience) 2 tube AMPs got my attention:
I'm also not sure if anything mentioned here is transparent enough for you.

Cayin HA-2A, it is a Ultralinear tube AMP with NOS tubes.
They just started to make black versions.

Cayin HA-2A Review

In this feature, Marcus reviews the Cayin HA-2A, which is a new entry-level desktop Class A Ultralinear tube amplifier for use with headphones and IEMs. It is priced at $1299. Disclaimer: This sample was sent

headfonics.com

IF want the "ultimate" tube, Aegis Amplifier.
It is manufactured by Cayin, but there is also DIV version.

Aegis DIY Tube Headphone Amplifier

Hello, I am releasing a DIY tube amplifier project, the first complete DIY project I've released on this forum. The amplifier is called Aegis. I started my DIY journey on the headphone forum Head-Fi. I have something of a tube DIY blog there where I catalog all of my ongoing projects. For a...

www.diyaudio.com

For solid state I would look at the Cayin iHA-8

Cayin iHA-8: Fully Balanced "Hyper" Class-A Headphone Amplifier

You are right. This amp can get really hot, especially in Hypermode!!

www.head-fi.org

IF want the "ultimate" solid state, Holo Bliss

Maybe this is transparent enough, check the 17:31 for transparency.

 

[ICantHearYou]

Price point?

 

[Mr Swing King]

The last couple of posts reads a bit like Head-Fi…which is quite alright if you’re into the more subjective part of this hobby.
…but please be advised; something like 95% of headphone amps on the market today are completely transparent to the human ear and sound identical. The headphones you’re using have way more distortion.
This means that if we take the most expensive and gorgeous looking amps out there from Holo, Nimbus, Flux Lab, Violectric or Mass Kobo and set them up against a cheap Topping A30 - volume match them and hide them behind a big box…no one will be able to hear a difference. No one.
That’s not some wild hokus pokus but the truth. Blindtests reveal what we can actually hear without inserting our individual bias. Every properly conducted blindtest I’ve ever witnessed or read about proves this…unless people are using the wrong gear and conjuring up impedance mismatches. The hokus pokus stems from subjective reviews and peeps who are afraid of testing gear blind.
Most hybrid tube amps today are also transparent ie sound the same as any other head amp. You can however still get some tube gear that willfully deteriorate the signal…but the OP was specifically asking for transparency.

 

[dzerig]

I enjoy Mjolnir 3 with my DCA's but really Jotunheim 2 is a better deal for much less money.

 

[Pictus]

I forgot Mentor have measurements here...

FLUX Mentor - teardown, inside pictures and a few measurements

Hello, I had the opportunity, for about a week, to listen and test the newest member from the FLUXLAB-ACOUSTICS headphones amplifier line, the MENTOR headphones amplifier. The manufacturer, an Ukrainian company, specifies an extreme output power on 32 Ohm in mono mode of “only” 33.5W RMS per...

www.audiosciencereview.com