4 ms·

I have a pair of nice headphones (Hifiman Aryas, planar magnetics) that need to be driven fairly hard compared to most dynamics, and to that end, I've found tha

I have a pair of nice headphones (Hifiman Aryas, planar magnetics) that need to be driven fairly hard compared to most dynamics, and to that end, I've found that an outboard DAC + amp with enough juice to drive them properly makes a big difference. And not an "unnoticeable to audiophiles only" difference but a very obvious one.

spindle 4y ago
Yes, fair. In fact my best headphones need a dedicated headphone amp too. I'd forgotten that! But it doesn't need to be posh power. Just power.
astrange 4y ago
That's an electrical compatibility thing more than a quality thing. iPhones+headphone jacks have high quality DACs (better than "audiophile equipment" which is a scam) but aren't good with high impedance, partly because it'd drain the battery.