Hi all,
I'm still relatively new to this head-fi thing, having first used headphones for serious listening only a couple of months ago. And I'm quite enjoying it now after being inadvertently dragged in when I bought a new DAC (NAD D1050) which also happened to have a very decent onboard headphone amp section.
As I listen and learn about head-fi I realize it's a great hobby. One where you can enjoy superior sound any time day or night without disturbing the family or neighbours, and without breaking the bank. One thing that struck me as a newbie is the very sudden progression from cheap headphones running off mobile devices to more upmarket cans driven by dedicated headphone amps. On head-fi.org this almost taken as gospel, despite a few brave individuals who question this conventional wisdom at the risk of starting a flamed war being branded a heathen.
Now the reason for this post. I am still playing around with my new toys ... the NAD D1050 and Nuprime uDSD, as well as my rapidly growing collection of cans (five pairs and counting) are all new to me and I truly enjoy exploring how these items interact and what marvelous noises they make. On the weekend I wanted to do a comparison of the PSU-upgraded uDSD against the D1050 as a DAC only. With the rest of the family being struck down by a late-season bout of flu I had to do this comparison on headphones. Neither the NuPrime nor the NAD has line inputs, so I had to find another way.. In stepped my Cambridge Audio Azur 550A integrated amp with its array of line inputs, 1/4" headphone out and remote control. Just perfect for comparative listening.
I will post my findings on the relative performance of the two DACs later, but that is not what this post is about. 90-odd minutes into my listening session I realized something ... "Hey, this ain't bad!" Using the Sennheiser HD600's the 550A has a neutral tonality, good reproduction of timbre, is quite detailed and has reasonably strong dynamics. Overall a very enjoyable experience, a true taste of properly good sound, with "bass breakout" at high listening levels being the only blot on the copybook.
So now the question ... does the standard assertion that you're going to need a dedicated headphone amp with better cans serve any purpose? Or is it a demotivator to new enthusiasts for whom the entrance ticket to acceptable head-fi performance just doubled in price?
Yes I get it that there are impedance matching issues (probably accounting for the mentioned bass aberration) and I get it that anything over 32 ohms will benefit from some form of amplification (as opposed to mobile device). I also get it that there are different ways on-board HP sections work (tapped off power amp section with a simple resistor, tapped off with a resistor network, dedicated op-amp circuit, dedicated discreet circuit, you could even run headphones off speaker terminals with an appropriate resistor network adapter), each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
But what I heard with the 550A integrated amp and HD 600's was pretty impressive ... and waaay better than I've ever heard it sound through speakers.
Don't get me wrong ... there are some jealously nice headphone amps there are out there ... and I can see myself buying more than a couple in coming years. But is this the only way to enjoy top quality headphone audio?
I'm still relatively new to this head-fi thing, having first used headphones for serious listening only a couple of months ago. And I'm quite enjoying it now after being inadvertently dragged in when I bought a new DAC (NAD D1050) which also happened to have a very decent onboard headphone amp section.
As I listen and learn about head-fi I realize it's a great hobby. One where you can enjoy superior sound any time day or night without disturbing the family or neighbours, and without breaking the bank. One thing that struck me as a newbie is the very sudden progression from cheap headphones running off mobile devices to more upmarket cans driven by dedicated headphone amps. On head-fi.org this almost taken as gospel, despite a few brave individuals who question this conventional wisdom at the risk of starting a flamed war being branded a heathen.
Now the reason for this post. I am still playing around with my new toys ... the NAD D1050 and Nuprime uDSD, as well as my rapidly growing collection of cans (five pairs and counting) are all new to me and I truly enjoy exploring how these items interact and what marvelous noises they make. On the weekend I wanted to do a comparison of the PSU-upgraded uDSD against the D1050 as a DAC only. With the rest of the family being struck down by a late-season bout of flu I had to do this comparison on headphones. Neither the NuPrime nor the NAD has line inputs, so I had to find another way.. In stepped my Cambridge Audio Azur 550A integrated amp with its array of line inputs, 1/4" headphone out and remote control. Just perfect for comparative listening.
I will post my findings on the relative performance of the two DACs later, but that is not what this post is about. 90-odd minutes into my listening session I realized something ... "Hey, this ain't bad!" Using the Sennheiser HD600's the 550A has a neutral tonality, good reproduction of timbre, is quite detailed and has reasonably strong dynamics. Overall a very enjoyable experience, a true taste of properly good sound, with "bass breakout" at high listening levels being the only blot on the copybook.
So now the question ... does the standard assertion that you're going to need a dedicated headphone amp with better cans serve any purpose? Or is it a demotivator to new enthusiasts for whom the entrance ticket to acceptable head-fi performance just doubled in price?
Yes I get it that there are impedance matching issues (probably accounting for the mentioned bass aberration) and I get it that anything over 32 ohms will benefit from some form of amplification (as opposed to mobile device). I also get it that there are different ways on-board HP sections work (tapped off power amp section with a simple resistor, tapped off with a resistor network, dedicated op-amp circuit, dedicated discreet circuit, you could even run headphones off speaker terminals with an appropriate resistor network adapter), each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
But what I heard with the 550A integrated amp and HD 600's was pretty impressive ... and waaay better than I've ever heard it sound through speakers.
Don't get me wrong ... there are some jealously nice headphone amps there are out there ... and I can see myself buying more than a couple in coming years. But is this the only way to enjoy top quality headphone audio?
