Compact Amps for wired Headphones
If you care about audio quality you should invest in a quality headphone. The headphone market is actually exiting. In recent years Chinese manufactures like HiFiMan have opened up the market for stelar HiFi headphones at affordable prices. Also traditional companies like Sennheiser and the French Focal have a range of headphones at any imaginable price point to fulfil your musical desires.
Feeding your headphone
But with the investment in quality headphones, comes the question of the ‘amp’. Most headphones benefit from being powered not by your laptop or phone but by a dedicated amplifier, some headphones even require it. Sennheiser’s HD range is famous for its high impedance, meaning you need a lot of power to drive the headphones properly and hear their full potential.
The Stack
Most HiFi listeners will take the step of investing in a ‘stack’ of devices to power their shiny new headphone. The stack comprising of a digital to analogue converter (DAC for short) and an amplifier. Some dandies add even a third component: a ‘clean’ power supply and ‘high end cables’.
The convenient alternative: the DACAmp
When you’re looking for the most convenient solution, you can get a combined DAC and headphone amplifier, sometimes called a DAC-Amp. The advantage being less clutter: fewer cables and power bricks around. Plus it should be the best possible match between DAC and amplifier. In theory the amplifier might have some flaws which the DAC can be tuned for or vice versa. If you’re buying separate amp and DAC, you’ll have to hope you are pairing them correctly.
There’s been a steady stream of new DACAmp combinations, most getting high praise. One common shortcoming of these is their low(ish) power compared to dedicated amps. This is only a specific concern of course,
Topping DX7 Pro ($649.99)
Shows the benefit of integrating the DAC and AMP with perfect channel balance which is rare with separate DAC and amp. No true downsides although not the best for sensitive headphones, recent dedicated amps like the Topping A30Pro will be a better pick.
Buy: you want to have Topping’s class leading performance in a convenient package. Amir from audiosciencereview.com uses this as his daily DACAmp.
Avoid: You have sensitive in-ear monitors
FiiO K9 Pro ($650?)
Yet to be released, but looks promosing. Based on the renowned ‘premium’ Japanese DAC chip AK4499.
Matrix Mini-i 3 (pro) ($855–$1025)
Matrix Audio makes very expensive equipment, probably that’s why this sub-$1000 DAC/AMP is called ‘mini’. But the performance is not mini. Comes with high recommendation from Zeos. It includes network functionality, which is a rare feature in this product category. Specifically it allows you to use Roon or Airplay to play music from any device and set the output to be the Matrix Mini. Allowing for stand alone playback to your headphone (or a set of speakers). The display even shows album art, a big leap from the orange and black LCD displays you find elsewhere. I hope they add Spotify and Tidal Connect someday.
Buy: You want a streamer+headphone DACamp in one classy package.
Avoid: You want to spend less than $855
iFi Neo iDSD ($699)
You’ll see this on many reviewer’s desks. iFi has a solid reputation for bringing affordable quality to the market with their Zen product line. The Neo iDSD is a DAC and Preamp with headphone jack. It’s a good performer, just not the most powerful one. Though probably ten times more powerful than your laptop’s headphone jack, so
Buy: You want a high tech gadget with all the specs and high bandwidth Bluetooth input.
Avoid: You need to drive high impedance headphones or don’t need all the bells and whistles.
Summary
The dac/amp combo is an interesting category. Less clutter, perfect integration often coupled with extra features like streaming or bluetooth. The DACAmp category deserves your consideration as they can compete with the discrete DAC+AMP stack. Only if you have very specific amplification needs with very sensitive or insensitive headphones you can check out the dedicated headphone amplifiers. More products in this category are being released every quarter, so stay tuned.
In short DACAmps we’ve seen here are all a great pick and will be a huge upgrade from your phone or laptop’s output!
