cazzesman Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 Hi I haven't used headphones for 40yrs but they have obviously come a mighty long way in that time. I recently saw the Bakoon HPA-1 amp for sale and had no idea what it was so started researching. This led me to the Bakoon HPA-21 that seems to be the current 'Rave' in headphone amps. Can someone fill in the gaps in my Headfi education As the 21 is just an Amp and nothing more you obviously need a pre/dac combo with analogue out to drive it. It seems that the combos I have researched are all Amp/Dac or Pre/Dac/Amp configurations for headphones. Do they make just pre/dac combos? In an Amp/dac combo will the combo Amp interfere with the workings of the 21 Amp? What is the best way to connect from the music source into a HPA-01 or HPA-21? Hardware wise that is. Thanks. Regards Cazzesman
GregWormald Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 I'm no expert on this area--so feel free to disbelieve or disagree with anything I say. AFAIK most 'headphone' amps are really just a pre (input, controls, small amp out). Some have built-in DACs, some don't. If you want to play digital files then of course you will need a DAC somewhere before the pre. I don't see a TT on the system list above, but a pre-pre and RIAA compensation would be needed if that source was to be included. Some headphones are easy to drive and do very well with minimal amping, others are difficult and respond well to good amps. It will probably come down to how much headphone listening you'll be doing, how critical that that listening will be, and how much you want to spend. I have both a hard-wired headphone amp connected to my main system and a portable amp for travel. Both have a cross feed circuit for helping to get the stereo image away from the middle of the head which I really like--others hate these circuits. Neither of my headphone systems are a substitute for the SGR CX4F speakers, but they aren't close in price either. I much prefer listening to speakers. Good luck with the search--I'll be keeping an eye on the thread. Greg
thoglette Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Some headphones are easy to drive and do very well with minimal amping, others are difficult and respond well to good amps. It will probably come down to how much headphone listening you'll be doing, how critical that that listening will be, and how much you want to spend. This is the crux of the matter - I have both ends of the stick - Grado SR-60 (very sensitive) and Stax SR-30 (needs at least 1/2 watt) Especially if there's a DAC in there and the volume control is done in the digital domain. (eg. the otherwise excellent LHLabs Geek Out struggles with very sensitive headphones) I have both a hard-wired headphone amp connected to my main system and a portable amp for travel. Both have a cross feed circuit for helping to get the stereo image away from the middle of the head which I really like--others hate these circuits. Ditto. I'm a liker - but there are many different flavours of "cross feed" I still like my "HeadRoom AirHead" the best from this perspective. In terms of education both HeadRoom themselves (see http://www.headphone.com/pages/headroom-labs ) and http://www.head-fi.org are good places to start. Edited August 13, 2014 by thoglette
Telecine Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) If you have a decent preamp with low output impedance, you can probably drive your headphones using the pre-outs. I drive mine using the unused XLR outputs of my preamp, utilising a special cable that Zaph made inexpensively for me. You may already have the best headphone amp that you will buy. Edited August 13, 2014 by Telecine
cazzesman Posted August 13, 2014 Author Posted August 13, 2014 Tele I only have L & R RCA preouts and they drive the CXF4's. I joined the Head-fi forum and asked my question over there so I will get back with an answer in due course. Regards Cazzesman
rx79ez08 Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 Most headphones amp have volume control, in that sense they are like pre and amp combo. In fact some amps like Violectric V281 and SPL Phonitor 2 have pre-amp out in addition to the headphones out. I don't think I seen a pure power amp with no volume control in the headphone world. You still need to feed your amplifier with audio signal. Which might be from a DAC, CD player or vinyl system. Some DACs have a decent headphones output for example the Sennheiser HDVD800 and Benchmark DACs, but you can use the line-out from these DACs to drive into your favorite headphone amplifier. Then you have the choice of using either the DAC or the headphones amplifier to control the output volume.
migasson Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 Hey. Just my two cents! I haven't had the privilege of hearing the Bakoon, but I understand the cost of it is $2999USD.. at that price, theres a few others which are certainly worth listening to, my favourites are the Woo Audio amps.. $3699AUD will get you a Woo Audio WA5 LE Lite amplifier, then add a DAC of your choice, or what I used to own, a Woo WA22 amplifier for $2799, then add a DAC of your choice.
DRC Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 If you have a decent preamp with low output impedance, you can probably drive your headphones using the pre-outs. I drive mine using the unused XLR outputs of my preamp, utilising a special cable that Zaph made inexpensively for me. You may already have the best headphone amp that you will buy. Keen to hear more about this option! Using HD800s, and could get an XLR cable fairly easily.
cazzesman Posted August 17, 2014 Author Posted August 17, 2014 (edited) Thanks for all the replies. My headfi education is coming along slowly Regards Cazzesman Edited August 17, 2014 by cazzesman
Telecine Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 Keen to hear more about this option! Using HD800s, and could get an XLR cable fairly easily. You want a preamp with low output impedance, mine is less than 1ohm. Here is a picture of the cable that Zaph made for me:
GregWormald Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 Keen to hear more about this option! Using HD800s, and could get an XLR cable fairly easily. Zaphod has continually stated that ME preamps make great headphone amps--just plug the 'phones into the output. I've never tried that route myself 'cause I had the Headroom Little with cross feed when I got the ME 15, and I couldn't be bothered plugging and unplugging all the time. Greg
gavtron Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 I run the LCD-3 headphones direct from the XLR output of the AMR DP 777 (DAC/PRE) it works great There are boxes around to convert amp speaker taps to headphone outputs as well.
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