Sound card or USB DAC and head phone amp for Sennheiser hd 800D

mr91 · Mar 3, 2014

After reading what does it take to make a PC a Hi-fi Platform, I decided to upgrade my head phones.

I'm interested in a Sennheiser hd 800's and want to know what the best DAC and headphone amp combination works best for them.

I listened to the Sennheiser hd 800's at the store with a external usb amp and the sound was unbelievable, In my opinion they sound better than the flagship grado's.

I'm looking for something that is good value because based on the article getting a top of the line unit is unnecessary.

I currently have use a pair of audio technica ath-m50 and they sound good on my Xonar DX sound card however they are low impedance headphone and if I use this sound card with the hd 800's I'm sure the sound will be clear but I don't think I will get enough volume.

Any Suggestions?

legokill101 · Mar 3, 2014

for this i would recommend http://www.jdslabs.com/products/48/o2-odac-combo/ as it is extremely high quailty for a reasonable price has low output impedence so is usable with a lot of headphones, and most importnalty has a VERY neutral sound so it will let your headphones sound the way they were intended or if you are willing to splurge something like the benchmark dac 1 http://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/products/products/benchmark-dac1-usb-digital-to-analog-converter. and a amp of your choice

mr91 · Mar 3, 2014

Thank You!

I was thinking about the Jdlabs and o2 combo however i don't like the fact that they don't come with a 1/4 jack.

What do you think about the Asus Essence one?

legokill101 · Mar 4, 2014

i would stay away if you have any intention to use lower impediance headphones as my understanding is that the xonar essence one also has very high output impedance and thus is not sutiable for most headphoes but you can get a objective two with 1/4 inch jacks here https://www.mayflowerelectronics.com/shop/mayflower-custom-products/desktop-objective2/ and use a serprate odac

mr91 · Mar 4, 2014

Thank you, I will look into this option - Do you like the Woo Audio WA 7?

legokill101 · Mar 4, 2014

meh im not a fan of tube amps because i prefer amps that dont change the sounds while tube amps with their high total distoration and output impedence are the worst for that but if you like the changed sound tube amps produce then thats your choice as some do like it

mr91 · Mar 4, 2014

Thank you, I will keep that in mind when I go back to the headphone shop and do more testing.

What are you using for your setup?

legokill101 · Mar 24, 2014

sry im so late but just a O2 amp various sources and seinheiser hd 580s

mr91 · Mar 24, 2014

No problem, I think I will get the ALO Pan am with the mullard or Russian tubes.
However I am going to wait a few more months.

Thank You!

legokill101 · Mar 28, 2014

ALO pan? link? im assuming thats a dac. also be awware besides the corleration/distortion of the sound of tube amps they have high output impedance so if you use headphones that are under around 50 ohms you will dampen the frequency response

mr91 · Mar 28, 2014

It's a DAC/Heaphone Tube amp. I plan to buy this if I get the HD 800's.
I believe the HD 800 have 300 ohms of impedance, I also plan on getting better vacuum tubes to enhance the sound stage and improve sound quality.

Below is the link

http://www.aloaudio.com/amplifiers/the-pan-am

Based on my research and listening experience, I think this is the best option in the $500 rage.

legokill101 · Mar 29, 2014

I would stay away from that combo as the DAC chip is none oversampling which is a big hit as oversampling makes a rather significant difrence is sound quality.

mr91 · Mar 29, 2014

My understanding is that the DAC is a Wolfson and it supports high definition audio 96kHz/24bit.

A more advanced Dac will support 192Khz/24-Bit however my understanding is that Itunes hd movies and song quailty is similar to cd quality 44khz.

I'm planning to use higher quailty and complex audio if I decide to upgrade to the HD 800's however based on my limited research it's challenging to
find HD audio @ 96kHz/24bit and that there isn't a big difference between 96kHz/ & 192khz. " Tomshardware mentioned that it was very difficult to distinguish the difference between a high end integrated audio dac and a high end one.

I have a Asus Xonar dx with a cirrus logic that supports up-sampling however I can't tell the difference between between 96 and 192 when using my audio technica's however i'm not sure if that is relevant.

My understanding of your answer is if I get 96kHz/ quality audio and use oversampling to convert it 192khz I will get a significant increase in audio quality.

I listened to the HD 800's with the the ALO pan am and then I tried the pan am with a High quality 32-bit DAC (AKM4480) dac from a Fostex unit and I couldn't tell the difference and I couldn't find much stuff at 192khz. Personally I was satisfied with the 96khz 24 bit quality when paired with the hd 800's

Where can I buy high Quality audio to take full advantage of a high end dac?

Will oversampling cd quality music or movies make a big difference?

legokill101 · Mar 29, 2014

I can tell you that is will make a difrence because up sampling is just means it is being outputed at a high sample rate then it is being imputed at wheras oversampling means that it is actualy sampling the imput at a much high frequancey then its being outputted at and yours should be fine it just i would stay away from none oversampling dacs since you can find oversampling dacs at your price range which is why i recomended the ODAC

mr91 · Mar 30, 2014

I can use oversampling however my max is 96khz isn't it? The odac is better for oversampling however i need to pay an extra 150 on top of the panam because the odac/amp combo is not ideal for driving the hd 800 according to tomshardware and other audiophile websites.

hannibal · Mar 30, 2014

Nuforce Icon is also suitable alternative. Or Cambridge Audio http://www.cnet.com/products/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-plus/, but that one is quite expensive... Or Arcam http://www.cnet.com/news/arcam-rpac-headphone-amp-and-usb-dac-hands-on/

mr91 · Mar 30, 2014

Thank you, I will look into the Nuforce and cambridge audio, the Arcam I already tried but it didn't have enough power to drive the hd 800's in my opinion.

Sound card or USB DAC and head phone amp for Sennheiser hd 800D

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