What amp to get for my H140/H120s?

[Tigerz]

What kind of amp do people here use?

I have some Sennheiser HD650's. To get the most out of my headphones and H1x0 I gather that I should get an amp. Maybe someone can advise on what difference this would make and what is good that doesn't cost too much.

Thanks

[__Fud__]

Home or portable? What price range? And I'm naturally assuming you'll want an optical input, right?

[jamato8]

Well with optical then a dac will be involved. There are so many good choices so as stated above, what price range and what purpose?

[Tigerz]

Ok, I don't know much about this kind of thing I admit. I'm just after getting more from my player really.

Optical input would be desired. It would just be for home purposes. Nothing too big and pricey but an amp that still does a good job. Anything above £160 would be expensive in my opinion.

So I need a DAC too. I'd need advice on this also!

[jamato8]

I would go over the Head-Fi.org: Headphones, iPod earphones, portable audio, MP3 players, high-end audio. You will be able to find out all types of information on headphones. The Heed might be nice but there are many options. There are also some nice ones with a dac and amp in one box for home use that sound pretty good.

[caligula]

for $250 (excluding postage and possible custom and post office fees) you could go for the ibasso d1 pretty much the cheapest amp/dac combo WITH opitcal in. It gets a fair amount of love on head-fi.org and their amps look to be solidly built.

I am going for a d1 when my wallet recovers.

Can be used on its own, or in conjunction with another amp, so the optical in is dealt with by the dac then you can either connect your headphones to that and the amp section will kick in, or connect it to another amp to utilise that amp after the d1's dac has done its business. (dac = digital to analog converter)

That should be a very nice rig, but some say the hd650 require a very powerful amp, certainly a home amp, I have never listened to a hd650 out of a portable, but, I personally feel the headphone should be alright out of a portable, its just that for it to sound its best a good home amp is needed.

Just as an aside, if you were interested in branching out into home set ups, I would take a look at the little dot amps as an introduction to home amps (if and when you feel ready to lay down more money check out graham slee gear, apparently his solo home amp was produced with the sennheisers in mind, and apparently sennheiser use his solo amp at trade shows etc. Another wallet denting purchase I can see in my future... lol

Good luck with it anyway, I have recently discovered the h120 and it is an amazing player, even more so when you realise how many years ago it came out.

[Lsportline43]

I am running my H132 with an iBasso D1. It sounds great to me... but then again I am no authority on audio equipment. Many people on Head-fi.org do like the combo. I too have the same headphones as you, the Sennheiser HD 650.

By the way you can change the opamp in the D1, so it can sound differently. If you don't know what opamps are it is simply a little chip like piece in the amp that changes the sound signature of the amp. I don't know too much about it, but I know that much.

Basically I recommend this combo. I bought mine off of head-fi.org forums and you could probably find one there too.

[Rocinante69]

Originally Posted by caligula

for $250 (excluding postage and possible custom and post office fees) you could go for the ibasso d1 pretty much the cheapest amp/dac combo WITH opitcal in. It gets a fair amount of love on head-fi.org and their amps look to be solidly built.

I am going for a d1 when my wallet recovers.

Can be used on its own, or in conjunction with another amp, so the optical in is dealt with by the dac then you can either connect your headphones to that and the amp section will kick in, or connect it to another amp to utilise that amp after the d1's dac has done its business. (dac = digital to analog converter)

That should be a very nice rig, but some say the hd650 require a very powerful amp, certainly a home amp, I have never listened to a hd650 out of a portable, but, I personally feel the headphone should be alright out of a portable, its just that for it to sound its best a good home amp is needed.

Just as an aside, if you were interested in branching out into home set ups, I would take a look at the little dot amps as an introduction to home amps (if and when you feel ready to lay down more money check out graham slee gear, apparently his solo home amp was produced with the sennheisers in mind, and apparently sennheiser use his solo amp at trade shows etc. Another wallet denting purchase I can see in my future... lol

Good luck with it anyway, I have recently discovered the h120 and it is an amazing player, even more so when you realise how many years ago it came out.

Do you know where one can find an iBasso D1? I've searched & can't even get their website to load

[jamato8]

Just google iBasso.

I have most all their products as well as many other. The D1 does a nice job and is the most versatile amp/dac portable on the market. You can use just the amp section, just the dac section or both. You can use USB, coax and optical digital. It automatically detects input from a source and output from the dac or just the amp. It is recharbale and can run with the charger plugged in all the time or just off the batter. You can replace opamps and on and on and all for $249.oo. So how is that? And, they have great service.

[Lsportline43]

Hmm... I just tried to go to their website: www.iBasso.com

It seems to be down. I've visited it before and never had a problem until now. I did email them a day ago. They emailed me back immediately. So I don't know what's going on, but I think it's just their website down.

[caligula]

the site appears to be down for me too, very first time.

Well hopefully they will get it fixed soon, but I am sure you would be able to order one via email if their site isn't back any time soon, they are a very reputable company

[jamato8]

Yeah, I contacted iBasso and they just changed the company they had their site on and it appears that it isn't working right now.

[Rocinante69]

Thanks for all the replies!!! Tried Google (& ASK) - The info you can get there is fairly sparse... kinda surprising! It'll take me awhile to save up for it at any rate!

[Rocinante69]

Is there a way to hook the H110 up to my PC given the fact that that my soundcard (Turtle Beach Montego DDL) has an optical input? What cable/converter would I need to do this, given it were possible? It also has optical out & I have that hooked up to my Home Theatre System & when I play my .ogg files off the PC HDD. they sound pretty sweet...

[jamato8]

What is the input to your card optical? Is it toslink or a mini optical input like the iRiver? You can get a mini to toslink or mini to mini optical in most lengths you would need. I would not go over 3 feet or so but you can longer. You can get excellent quality optical cable in any length and end termination Sys Concept Inc. Fiber Optic Products Attenuators, Patch cords, Laser Diodes, Connectors, MP3, Toslink, Hybrid Adapter and more: Toslink to Toslink Premium Optical Cable 0.05 to 50 meters

Email Joseph with the length you need end to end and what termination you need. He provides excellent service. I have used his optical cables for a number of years now as have others I have given this information to.

[Rocinante69]

It's toslink, so I need a mini to toslink, 3 feet isn't an issue, thanks! Am I safe in assuming that this setup isn't as good as having an actual DAC (like the iBasso), is that correct?

[H1400WannaBe]

That is a safe assumption. I always thought digital in meant recording from sources, not actually listening to it on the PC, whereas with the D1, it actually converts it to analog sound for you to hear. I might be wrong.

[jamato8]

The iBasso D1 is a USB or coax or optical input dac and it has an amp section. You can use it with any of the digital inputs and output to another amp or you can go from the dac section to the amp section as a complete unit. You can also use just the amp section, bypassing the dac section, which would allow you to use the D1 as a headphone amp using another outboard dac or the line out of a DAP. The D1 is the most versatile portable on the market but it isn't the smallest. There is nothing though that comes close to offering all of the features and it runs off of the internal battery or external wall converter and it can be left plugged in without overcharging the internal battery. iBasso also offers excellent customer service. So there. :^)

[H1400WannaBe]

It's too bad iBasso doesn't offer the D1 anymore, I was going to buy one but it wasn't on their site. I emailed them and they say it's not made anymore...maybe they're suiting for a new edition D1 like the D2 Boa, but who knows.

[fl00r]

Sorry, I had the very last one.....and I love it!
Here's my (hardly) portable setup while waiting for my H120 to arrive: SlimX > toshlink > D1 > mini-to-mini > Xin Supermacro III > ER4p

Ben

[squark]

Originally Posted by jamato8

Well with optical then a dac will be involved. There are so many good choices so as stated above, what price range and what purpose?

Maybe for home use. But what are the choices (with optical input) for portable use? Is there anything currently available?

[Lsportline43]

Originally Posted by fl00r

Sorry, I had the very last one.....and I love it!
Here's my (hardly) portable setup while waiting for my H120 to arrive: SlimX > toshlink > D1 > mini-to-mini > Xin Supermacro III > ER4p

Ben

Wow nice setup... I think I will eventually get a dedicated amp to pair with the iBasso D1. I'm thinking I want something from Ray Samuels Audio or a LaRocco Pocket Reference II/Diablo.







LaRoccos are oh so pretty... only if their Customer Service could be as good.

[MoAv]

Wow it is such a pretty little amp. my iBasso feels fat and ugly.