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Good performance/price headphone amp?

C

colinstu

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
3,563
I've been using Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros (the 250ohm) version for a couple years, and I was always aware that I should be using an amp with them but I never researched enough to find one.

Is it alright that I use the onboard audio too? I'm not a true audiophile, but I'd like to still get the best performance out of my headphones.

Part of my searching years ago (when looking at sound cards) lead to me an EMU 0404 USB... which performed well, but I'm not too sure of it's abilities as an amplifier.

Could I be pointed to some good audio amps in a couple different price ranges for these headphones?

Thanks.
 
Don't know much about the EMU, but I've been using Headroom Total Bithead for the last 6 years.

http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php

It does the job pretty well as it can refine and amplify the sound coming out of any audio source. If connected via USB to a computer, it will completely bypass onboard altogether, becoming a dedicated external sound card/DAC.

It's become much cheaper now too. It cost $120 more 6 years ago.
 
If you are planning on getting an amp I would recommend upgrading your source as well. The Fiio E7 is a portable USB DAC/amp that has gotten pretty good reviews. You can get it for around $100 shipped from Amazon through Micca, which is an official Fiio distributer:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E7-Porta...K1VK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293513798&sr=8-1

I haven't researched the E7 much so I don't know if it has enough juice for the 250ohm DT770, but the neat thing is you can dock it with a Fiio E9 desktop amplifier that can drive just about any headphone out there. I just recently picked one up for a pair of 600ohm DT880s that should be coming in this week. The E9 is supposed to be pretty transparent sound wise and has gotten good reviews over at Head-fi. It currently goes for $130 shipped at Amazon:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/518997/the-official-fiio-e9-thread-with-video-unbox-review

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/521680/fiio-e9-review

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E9-Deskt...Q76K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1293513798&sr=8-2
 
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