Affordable Headphone Amp (With DAC?)

thetawave2
thetawave2 Posts: 268
edited April 2012 in Electronics
My wonderful girlfriend just bought me a pair of Grado SR80i headphones for my birthday! (Thanks to my brother and best friend for guiding her in the right direction ;) )

Anyway, I'd like to have something to drive them that will do a little better job than my MacBook's soundcard or my iPod. I don't want to spend too much money on a headphone amp, though (~$200), but I do want to get some serious sound out of these headphones. Is there a headphone amp that will offer me serious performance at a very low price?

If it offered digital to analog conversion via USB and/or toslink, that would be even better (and would allow for some increase in the price I'm willing to pay). The ultimate would be a preamp with a DAC and headphone output so I could use my computer with either my headphones or my amplifier, but I'm not sure if there's anything like that within my price range. I'm not too afraid of the used market, if that will make a difference....

Thanks for the help!
My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
Post edited by thetawave2 on
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Comments

  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited April 2012
    Check this list....

    http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=43

    If you can squeak $25 more bucks out, the Creek OBH-11 would be a nice budget rig. $225.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,171
    edited April 2012
    http://www.acoustic-fun.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=32

    A little out of your range, but I have been extremely impressed with the build quality, quality of parts and sound of Keces products. This would be a serious performer, no doubt

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,289
    edited April 2012
    http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HMEF2A get tubie for $169 the review even spec's your Grado's

    "This $169 little dude will deliver performance of amps twice the price once you find that right pair of headphones that match up (we highly recommend the Grado SR-80's, though we've heard the Sennheiser HD580/HD600's are a nice match too). And if looks are your thing, you'll certainly be the cool kid with one of the sexiest amps around."
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited April 2012
    A little above your price range, but sounds nice.

    http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhd/index.php
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • thetawave2
    thetawave2 Posts: 268
    edited April 2012
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HMEF2A get tubie for $169 the review even spec's your Grado's

    "This $169 little dude will deliver performance of amps twice the price once you find that right pair of headphones that match up (we highly recommend the Grado SR-80's, though we've heard the Sennheiser HD580/HD600's are a nice match too). And if looks are your thing, you'll certainly be the cool kid with one of the sexiest amps around."

    I do like tubes, and the price tag too. Have you had any experience with this amp yourself?

    Thanks to everyone for your recommendations! I've been looking at all your links. I have a bit of research to do I think....
    My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
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  • thetawave2
    thetawave2 Posts: 268
    edited April 2012
    Ordered the HiFiMan EF2!
    My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
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  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    edited April 2012
    thetawave2 wrote: »
    Ordered the HiFiMan EF2!
    Well, how do you like it ? Any buyer remorse ? Thinking about one myself.
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  • thetawave2
    thetawave2 Posts: 268
    edited April 2012
    chumlie wrote: »
    Well, how do you like it ? Any buyer remorse ? Thinking about one myself.

    It's pretty darn good. Soundstage and bass are much much better. I can see how the bass might be a little much with some headphones, however. The channel imbalance I heard about in some reviews is really at the extreme low end of the volume knob, but if you have 32 ohm headphones like me and want to keep your computer on full volume, that's where you'll be. I'm pretty surprised at how much power this thing has and may look for some tube equivalents with lower gain ratios.
    Any other questions? :)
    My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
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  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    edited April 2012
    Well yes, one more. I see in your original post your getting the Grado SR80's. In your blog its the 60's. What are you useing with this amp ?
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  • thetawave2
    thetawave2 Posts: 268
    edited April 2012
    chumlie wrote: »
    Well yes, one more. I see in your original post your getting the Grado SR80's. In your blog its the 60's. What are you useing with this amp ?

    This thread refers to a pair of sr80i headphones I got for my birthday. My blog refers to a pair of sr60 headphones that belong to my friend. From now on, I'll be using the sr80i, unless I find time to do a shootout '80i vs '60.

    Thanks for visiting my blog! I really appreciate it :)
    By the way, the post about the sr60 headphones on my blog is a little funny. What I heard seems inconsistent with the things I've read and the things I've heard from my sr80i's. I don't know if I had some kind of equalizer on iTunes messing with the sound and didn't notice or if the headphone output of my laptop colored the sound enough to take that much detail away from headphones many others describe as "forward," but it's something I'll be revisiting in the future.
    My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
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  • evhudsons
    evhudsons Posts: 1,175
    edited April 2012
    I was looking at the hifiman online when looking for headphone amp info. There are also lots of diy "Cmoy" amps that you can make yourself or buy premade. Then I saw the hifi man tube amp and was rethinking what I would want. One review said that he upgraded the actual tubes themselves and had a big improvement.
    Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe
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  • thetawave2
    thetawave2 Posts: 268
    edited April 2012
    evhudsons wrote: »
    I was looking at the hifiman online when looking for headphone amp info. There are also lots of diy "Cmoy" amps that you can make yourself or buy premade. Then I saw the hifi man tube amp and was rethinking what I would want. One review said that he upgraded the actual tubes themselves and had a big improvement.

    I'm looking forward to trying some tube upgrades too :)
    My Stereo: Tannoy D100s, Yaqin MC-100B, VPI Traveler, Dynavector 10x5 MC Phono Cartridge, heavily modified Yaqin MS-22B phono preamp, TEAC EQA-20 equalizer, Belkin PureAV PF30 Power Conditioner, Canare 4s11 speaker cables, Custom dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers
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