Can I better my Headphone amp?

Audio Gear Talk
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I don’t really have a budget yet , but I tend to find whatever money is needed if I think it is warranted . But I think the Benchmark amp I have mentioned above is 3.5k so that would be my limit I think

I think Robert was suggesting the DAC3 as an alternative to the HPA4, not in addition to it. I have the DAC3 DX (because I don’t believe in analog inputs and I have ripped my SACDs to DSF, the last reason to use them). It’s an outstanding DAC/headphone amp and pairs well with the Benchmark AHB2 high-bandwidth power amp.

If you are interested in the THX 888 AAA technology behind the HPA4, there are a number of inexpensive headphone amps using the THX 788/789 instead of the 888, like the Massdrop one or the Monoprice Monolith.

Finally, my next headphone upgrade (in the distant future, most likely) will be to an electrostat, whether the Stax SR-009 or the Sonoma Model One, and those require their own specialized high-voltage amplification. If you see an electrostat in your future, you would be well-advised to hold off on upgrading your amplification.

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22

Thanks @Fazal_Majid

I was thinking of one of the DAC3 variants. I have an HGC w/remote…$2200 direct from Benchmark.

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Some great help on here as always so thank you .
I think I would prefer a one box amp/DAC solution .
I am reading a lot about the Burson Conductor 3X and it is appealing. It appears to have bags of power so would drive both the HEK and the hd800s .

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Agreed I got flamed for dissing the iBasso DX160 I got as it was well below expectations and there review, they refused to admit it had poor WiFi and Bluetooth which many others had suffers sn and accused me of trolling and not owning one as I also didn’t think it sounded any better than my phone and Dragonfly. I have never been back nor will I. Worse than AudioPhile Style and that’s saying something.

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Recommendations are welcome good and bad. What I don’t welcome is people weighing in on a product who have never tried the product, parroting some oddball review. Better to post those reviews and let people consider the source, or state “I haven’t tried the product, but as from what I know…”

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I loved my dx200 but I agree the wifi reception was poor. The Bluetooth was also very poor compared to my iPhone so we had similar issues. I did love the sound of it though

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Never tried the higher end versions, but the dx160was disappointing to me after all the stellar reviews. My new Hiby R5 is better to my ears and £100 less, has much better WiFi which i don’t have to be sat underneath my ap to get it to work, Bluetooth is still a weakness as it has crappy range I guess this comes in cheaper models using same aerial for both or just cheap ass components.

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The poor bluetooth in these DAPs amazes me , you would think these days that would be a major factor to get right. Its one of the reasons I decided to use my IPhone XR for portable music

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In case you consider to look for another head phone amp without being able to listen on beforehand, it is necessary to take several obvious factors into account.
The first factor: will the high quality amp also able to drive your high impedance HD800S at a high quality level. And will this amp also be able to drive a low impedance headphone in the future. Not all excellent headphones are able to do so.

The second factor: is the amp fully balanced internally.
The third factor: read as many reviews of the amp as are available.

In case you consider to exchange the DAC, nowadays there are two mainstream high quality DAC. The first is ESS Sabre 9038PRO with a revealing and very outspoken presence. The second is AKM (4493) 4497 (and 4499) with a more Velvet Sound. Both chipsets are loved by enthousiast. I advise you to be aware where your preference is. And again: check if the DAC is internally fully balanced with two chipsets available (although the comparable inexpensive Topping D90 has only one AKM 4499 with 4 channels internally with good reviews), and two 3 pin XLR output to connect to the headphone amp.

Last, but maybe the most important factor: the source. In general, well recorded recorded high res sources are superior over clumsy recorded low res sources.

In my case, there may be better headphone amps, but I am quite satisfied with my SPL Phonitor 2 with expansion rack to connect my headphones balanced by two 3 pin XLR in the rear of the amp. Of course, this is a personal choice. Soon I may consider upgrading my Topping D70 DAC (AKM 4497), but I am still satisfied, it is far, far better than the DAC in the former HDVD800 amp by Sennheiser.

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Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated.
Yes I understand the HD800S can be difficult to drive so I am looking for a powerful amp. The two I am mainly looking at are the Burson Conductor 3 and maybe the Violectric 281, but right now probably favouring the Burson.
I think the Taurus does quite a good job of driving the HD800S too.

I have an IF Micro BL so I may experiment by hooking that up to my main rig and using it as a DAC. This would take the Devialet out of the equation and to be honest I am not quite sure if it acts as a DAC in my headphone syetem
I have the Nucleus feeding the music to the Devialet and this is configured to use a headphone amp with it by RCA connection.
I use Roon exclusively now and I do have some high res FLAC files but mainly stream my music now and Tidal is used for this. Obviously I pay for the hfi service so get MQA.

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I have some experience of headphone amps and cans having previously owned botht he Focal elear and Utopia and also the Hifiman HE1000 v2’s.

A good secondhand Beyerdynamic A1 would be perfect for the 800’s and very good with the HEK’s. Even better would be a Trilogy 931 which I had for the HE1000’s and was just brilliant. Again secondhand they go for a fair price.

What really surprised be though was how good the headphone stage of the Cyrus 8vs integrated was. Just brilliant - very nearly as good as the Trilogy. This would be my shout - can pick one up for very sensible money secondhand.

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Yep I will likely use my phone in the end for Bluetooth even after buying the DAP for portable use

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We were discussing this in the Discord channel, The use of DAP and having a cellphone.

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I’m using mine now at my WFH desk. Keeps my phone free for other things and my laptop is a work one so cant have Roon on it. Listening to Radio 6 currently.

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Thanks for all the help on here.
I have decided to get the Burson Conductor 3XR headphone amp. This will connect by USB to my Nucleus.
I will then us the Roon Remote app on the IPad to control the music playback.

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Or you can even make it worse!

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That’s a good tip. They are pretty cheap on evilbay.

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Ok I will give my quick first initial impressions of the C3XR

I am not good at describing what I hear and I leave that to others who can do it much better than me but I do want to share my thoughts for those that may be interested.

I am also comparing it to my Auralic Taurus so maybe not a fair comparison as the Taurus is just an amp, but I was looking for an upgrade to my current set up so the comparison is valid to me.

My Taurus was fed from my Devialet 200 which I assume did the digital conversion. And it sounded great to my ears. But yes this lockdown got me thinking …….can I improve this. In a word YES I can.

I normally wait at least a week before I stick my old product back in the chain as if I don’t I can struggle to hear much of a difference with doing direct A to B comparisons if that makes sense, but the difference was quite immediate to me this time so I put the Taurus back in after only two days.

First a couple of moans. The USB cable does not work , I had read about this but assumed they would have corrected this by now. Second I am in the UK and my unit come with a Europe power cable. Also no manual? I know it is 2020 but I still would of liked a manual. So I downloaded it off the Burson website, but to be honest it is not that good anyway .

The UI is a bit Meh if you ask me. For me this is not a big issue as I will solely be using it via USB to use as a Headphone amp so I will not be messing around with the interface .

It is a solid looking piece of kit, but I think the last series of Burson products look a lot better thatn this. Just my opinion.

So all that really matters is how it sounds anyway so none of the above are game changers to me.

And it sounds really good to me and quite a step up on my Taurus. I was pleasantly surprised at this as back in the day the Taurus got some great reviews and I was a little apprehensive about trying to improve on it.

OK its only two days but it is my initial impressions.

The bass is excellent and a big improvement on my Taurus , it has a lot more impact but does not overpower everything else. I love a good bass, but not to the extent that it overpowers everything else. This has a nice slam but a tight bass.

The main difference is the clarity and detail though. This was apparent straight away . It is so clean sounding. Paired with my HD800S then wow it is so so clean. I may have a slight issue that it can be a tad bright at the top end but we will see. I think over the last few years this clarity is what I am craving

The instruments stand out more and there is better separation for sure , this could be due to an improved soundstage as this does feel bigger again.

When I put the Taurus back in it sounded muffled in comparison and it was not a small difference.

So I will listen for a further week and then stick the Taurus back in and have another listen and see where I go from here, but yes so far this has probably exceeded my expectations.

Only problem is I am now thinking maybe I need a headphone upgrade in the future to get the very best out of the Conductor 3 .

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HD800 are a bit demanding !

They also tend to Expose poor source material

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41

I used to think that amplifiers are a solved problem, but then a friends showed me the Drop (formerly Massdrop) THX AAA 789 headphone amp, and it was stunning. And it cost $350! So I bought one. Amp only, I used it with DACs I have, but I needed a dedicated DAC, got a price appropriate Massdrop SMSL SU-8.

Turns out the Benchmark HPA4 is based on the same, licensed THX technology, but with the addition of a lot of Benchmark technology, and it is even more stunning. So I got the Benchmark DAC3 B (the B model does not include a headphone amp, the built-in amp in the other DACs is not the same THX technology). They work well together, integrated remote, connect with professional level balanced cable, etc.) The combination is wonderful.

But I also have a Chord Hugo 2, integrated DAC/amp, portable, also great. I have long used Audeze headphones, the Hugo 2 and the THX 789 both handle them well. But I got a very difficult-to-drive headphone (Hifiman Susvara), so I was interested in the Chord Hugo TT 2 combined with the M Scaler.

So I convinced myself and got both the Chord and Benchmark rigs, for different locations. Both are stunningly good, and they easily solve the problem that the Massdrop is so inexpensive :joy: . When I did systematic testing, I couldn’t really tell a difference, and both drive all my headphones easily.

But what I have found, after half a year, is that the Chord TT2/M-Scaler/Susvara is the rig I most often use, it is sublime. Can’t point to a reason, I just love it.

My point is, these are four excellent amps at widely separate price points: $550, $2,700, $5,000 and $10,000. Any one of them satisfy, and work well with any headphone except the Susvara which requires the top two. (I don’t have a Sennheiser.)

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