Headphone Amp recommendations

Hi

I'm finding the volume output a little low on my Fiio E12 since re-configuring my setup, it now runs off the zone 2 pre out of the receiver (limited to '50' due to audio leakage between zones).

The AKG K550's sound ok but the Q701's are quite quiet - unless I use the higher gain setting of the headphone amp but not sure if that is affecting the sound quality.

I've tried a bit of research and I can't for the life of me figure out how to compare headphone/amp combo's to make sure the amp is capable of delivering good performance.

Can anyone recommend a decent headphone amp which would provide more volume than the Fiio? Or advise how to make comparisons? Preferably a desktop amp rather than portable - budget around £100-£200 as will sell the Fiio if something more suitable found. I appreciate I may be limiting the input to the amp by setting the receiver volume to 50% but tbh I'm not sure its a good idea to have that level cranked up permanently anyway).

I also have some Sennheiser 598's on the way if that makes any difference.

Many thanks for any advice

Rich

 

I don't know about more volume than the Fiio, but I have a Schiit Vali that I really enjoy. Definition is incredible, soundstage is wide, and sound is warm. It's only about $130 on Amazon. Very pleased with this purchase. Best of luck.

 

I also have a Schitt Vali with my Q701's and think its a great match. If you check out head-fi there might be other recommendations too, that's were I read about the Vali/Q701 combination.

 

I would also recommend the Schiit Vali. It's a much better amp than the Fiio E12. The Schiit Vali has a larger and more open soundstage. The Fiio E12 has a constricted soundstage that bunches up or bloats the middle part of the soundstage. The Vali is also more resolving than the E12, meaning you'll hear more nuance and detail with the Vali. The Vali is a better amp.

I haven't personally tried the K701 or Q701 with the Vali. I suspect those headphones will be a good match. The AKG headphones tend to like an amp with a bit of color in the sound. And the Vali fits that.

The Vali has a gain of 12 dB.
The Fiio E12 has a gain of 0 dB in low gain mode and a gain of 16 dB in high gain mode.
The Vali will be louder than the Fiio E12 if the E12 is set to low gain.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I've looked a bit closer at the Schiit range, I'm sure I looked at these before I bought the Fiio but never mind.

The Vali looks like a good price - however on looking around it seems the Asgard 2 is also a recommended option, I've decided to make the stretch to the extra cost of the Asgard. It looks good and has some positive reviews, I get the feeling this would deal with anything thrown at it from what I've read.

Any thoughts?

It has switchable gain between 3.5db and 15.6db, whats the deal with these gain switches? I've seen mention it;s for IEM's but which should be used for normal headphones? High or low? Does the high gain just increase background noise along with the higher volume?

Many thanks

Rich

 

Nice choice, Rich. I was looking at that, too, but price was the limiting factor. Please let us know what you think of the amp!

 

One reason for having switchable gain levels on an amp is to make the amp more suitable to a wider variety of headphones. To be suitable with both high efficiency headphones and low efficiency headphones.

An amp with high gain will be inconvenient with high efficiency headphones. With high efficiency headphones you'd only get to use a small portion of the volume knob. Which is inconvenient because a small change in the volume knob will mean a large change in volume. Makes for a very touchy and sensitive volume knob, and the possibility of blowing a headphone driver if the volume knob gets bumped up too high.

The general idea is to use the low gain mode with higher efficiency headphones and to use the high gain mode with lower efficiency headphones.

However, with some amps one gain setting could sound better than the other due to what the amp is doing to change the gain. For example, with the Asgard 2 the high gain mode has no overall feedback while the low gain mode has 12dB of feedback. I don't have an Asgard 2 to confirm, but I'd guess that high gain mode may sound better due to its no overall feedback. On the other hand, I have a Cavalli Liquid Carbon amp that is switchable between 1x gain and 3x gain, and to me the amp sounds better in 1x gain mode (larger and deeper soundstage, more microdynamics). So whether high gain or low gain sounds better will often depend on the amp. On some amps the sound quality difference between the gain modes won't be so noticeable, while on other amps the difference may be noticeable.

 

Try the Schiit Modi 2. It is great for the price.

 

I have a Modi 2 at my office and think it's fantastic.

 

Meant Magni. I always get the stack mixed up.

 

Good stuff Ham.

I've been powering my LCD-2Fs with the Asgard2, sufficiently in low gain mode. If I go past 12 o'clock on the volume knob, I'm going deaf real soon. Plenty of power in low gain mode.

As for high gain, I can't say it did much to improve the sound. It got louder, sooner,for sure and the background was a tad noisier. Low gain provides a very silent background and enough volume for my taste that I don't feel the need for a more powerful amp. Love that Asgard.

 

Another vote for Schiit. Whichever model you can afford. I have the Asgard paired with my Sennheiser HD650's and I do not yearn for anything more than that.

 

Do any of these (all good choices) have balance controls? It doesn't seem like it. I need left-right control due to differences in my ears. This is a deal breaker.

 

I can't think of any dedicated headphone amps that have a left-right balance control, other than an amp like the SPL Phonitor 2. A stereo mixer or DJ mixer would allow you to adjust the balance, but those sorts of mixers have poor headphone amps in them.

Maybe using a stereo mixer connected to the input of a good headphone amp would get you what you need. But the setup would get a bit complicated.

If you do computer as source exclusively there are free VST plug-ins that allow you to adjust the stereo balance, and even do things like swap the left and right channels.

 

I just switched to a Yamaha receiver that, in headphone mode, does not have left-right control. Nasty surprise! I am using a Fiio 17 DAC/phone amp because it has balance control plus treble/bass adjustments, another thing that seems to be missing from the pricier choices and an option that I like.

I went from using the Fiio 17 just on my computer to using it to bypass the receiver in the big set via digital. Actually works pretty well. Using HD 598 headphones.

 

I have a Vincent headphone amp that you can control the volume of left and right independentally. I no longer use this amp, let me know if you'd be interested. Here's a link.

http://www.head-fi.org/products/vincent-audio-khv-111-hybrid-headphone-amplifier-silver

 

I agree with you. Another essential feature for me is a remote. I often listen to headphones while reclining on the sofa and the sofa is too far away from the amp to adjust settings without getting up. I often find that just as I get comfortable for a long listening session, I also realize that the volume is a bit too high or low. Being able to change it without getting up is wonderful. Grace makes some very nice headphone amps that allow both volume and balance to be adjusted with a remote handpiece.
The other way around this, of course, is to have a source component that provides balance and remote volume control, such as the PS Audio DS DAC.

 

Thanks for the info - very useful.

The Asgard turned up today, and the Senn HD598's turned up yesterday - guess what I'll be doing most the weekend

My next thing to decide on is whether to get rid of the Cambridge Audio DAC, originally purchased as it had a built in headphone amp which has been redundant since buying the Fiio. I suppose the question is if the DAC's in the Marantz are as good as the Cambridge - to be honest at the moment I don't think I would be able to tell the difference so might be best to sell off the Cambridge and simplify the setup.

 

I now have the asgard set up, still had some volume issues but once I sorted out the output from the receiver it was all good.

I can happily say that this amp, on low gain, will happily run the Sennheiser 598's, AKG k550 and Q701, without needing to go past half way on the volume dial.

The sound is fantastic IMO, compared to the FIIO it sounded like FIIO was straining a bit but I don't get that with this amp, don't know if that makes sense.

Thanks for all the input

 

Great to hear. Good for. I may look into upgrading my Vali and grabbing an Asgaard sometime.