The Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphone is a high impedance one which requires very little drive current. The Marantz cd5004 has an dedicated headphone PCB with opamp input and a discrete output buffer. The Parasound P5 preamp headphone circuit may be similar or a 2-stage opamp. (I cannot find any specific about the P5). Both should be more than "enough" to drive the Sennheiser.I have the Parasound p5 preamp and the Marantz cd5004 cd player both, with headphone outputs would either of those be enough to drive the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones with 300 ohm impedance? Thanks!
Borrow a dedicated headphone amplifier from a friend or take the 6XX to an audio store to try it on a dedicated headphone amplifier. You usually can hear some improvement. You can decide if the improvement is worth the extra investment. If not, just sit back and enjoy what you already have.
I use an older model Sennheiser HD600 and consider it one of the best value in headphone. It can be wear for longer session because it is quite comfortable. I use the HD600 with a DIY kit from e-bay and like the combo a lot.
E19 headphone amplifier board K2381 J407 MOSFET Yuanjing Audio
You get an excellent value in the Drop 6xx.
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Using HD650's here and started with an Asgard 3..no DAC..and curiosity got the better of me. I ended up building the WHAMMY amp, and it makes the 650's really shine...lots of detail and clarity, with a very natural sound, and yes..nice solid bass. Start with plugging them into what you've got...then try a good amp. That way you'll experience the upgrade. When the Senn's are happiest, you'll hear it.
My little experiments with small headphone amps for HD6** 300R headphones have taught me a lot- you only need a absolute max of 100mW and there are many way to accomplish this.
I chose to use small 1W dissipation tubes, and got an output of about 50-60mW, which should be enough for 115dB SPL.
No doubt, it can be done with almost any good audio op amp too.
I chose to use small 1W dissipation tubes, and got an output of about 50-60mW, which should be enough for 115dB SPL.
No doubt, it can be done with almost any good audio op amp too.
HD6XX are great value headphones - I have a design for an SE classA amp well suited to these (and also to other higher impedance cans like DT880s). Schematic here : lingDAC - cost effective RBCD multibit DAC design
No, that's not so good for driving higher impedance cans as it has no voltage gain. The post I linked to got moved, here's an updated link : lingDAC - cost effective RBCD multibit DAC design
It is a waste of the performance of the Sennheiser HD6xx for not giving it a dedicated head amp. There are a large number of reviews on the Sennheiser HD650 which is essentially the HD6xx. You can Google them for more information. The need to have a dedicated head amp to bring out the best of Sennheiser HD650 is generally accepted. But whether one can tell the difference between a dedicated head amp vs. the preamp headphone out is entirely a personal matter.
When I listen to headphone, the 2 important factors are:
(1) Long session comfort which means light weight and open sound.
(2) A 3 dimensional sound stage which will not make the music 2 dimensional or all in the head.
To me, the depth of sound stage is particularly important in headphone listening. It needs a good phone and a good dedicated headphone amp to bring it out. Otherwise, the music becomes 2 dimensional. Just my 2 cents.
An IC input based headphone amp can sound very good too. But it needs the circuit topology and power supply to be all top notched.
*WHAMMY* Build thread
Personally, I prefer solid state symmetrical headphone circuit, which gets rid of the input/output cap for a tight bass. I like the linear MOSFET output stage for its smooth highs. The HD6xx has fairly extended response at both end. If you are the more adventurist DIY type, watch the thread on JC2-HPA that zung started.
The JC2-HPA Headphone Amplifier
When I listen to headphone, the 2 important factors are:
(1) Long session comfort which means light weight and open sound.
(2) A 3 dimensional sound stage which will not make the music 2 dimensional or all in the head.
To me, the depth of sound stage is particularly important in headphone listening. It needs a good phone and a good dedicated headphone amp to bring it out. Otherwise, the music becomes 2 dimensional. Just my 2 cents.
An IC input based headphone amp can sound very good too. But it needs the circuit topology and power supply to be all top notched.
*WHAMMY* Build thread
Personally, I prefer solid state symmetrical headphone circuit, which gets rid of the input/output cap for a tight bass. I like the linear MOSFET output stage for its smooth highs. The HD6xx has fairly extended response at both end. If you are the more adventurist DIY type, watch the thread on JC2-HPA that zung started.
The JC2-HPA Headphone Amplifier
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