Not really, better choice and amp able to deliver at least 200mW at 300ohm or 100mW at 600ohm
Hi! Welcome to HFGF!
For DT880 600 the Monolith Liquid Spark is the best entry-level amp, IMO. If you live in the US, the next level up would be Schiit Asgard 3. The DT880 scales up ridiculously well too, squeezing out more and more performance with higher tier amps and dacs. If youāre looking in the mid to upper hundreds, it sounds really great on some of the tube amps in the range (Bottlehead Crack w/ Speedball, Shortest Way 51+, Cayin HA-1Amk2).
3 Likes
The Emotiva a-100 sounds warm so it gives the dt880 a little elevation in bass while making them sound a bit more intimate since the soundstage isnt presented very well with the emotiva compared to a dedicated headphone amp like the Asgard 3. Emotiva sounds a tiny bit bloated, not as clear, and not as full compared to the asgard 3. Asgard 3 is much better at soundstage presentation compared to the emotiva and doesnāt sound as warm but still has a warmth to it imo. I prefer the asgard 3 but I switch to the emotiva if I want something less technically good and for something more in my face.
Emotiva and Asgard both settle down the highs a little if you find them sibilant but thats only if its something your looking for. Havent heard the L30 with the dt880.
as @WaveTheory mentioned, the dt880 is amazing on the bottlehead crack with speedball and the asgard 3 would be the level up in the 200$ range.
@WaveTheory Hello, nice to meet such a great community here! First of all, Iām from Europe, Romania, and sadly I canāt find good stuff hereā¦ Iām surprised I couldāve find Emotiva (because Iāve heard theyāre very hard to find in the US). The Topping L30 is the only amp I can findā¦ and the A30 too for 10 euros less. Schiit is nowhere to find, more so for JDS or Monolith. My budget isnāt that big for what you listed there 
, plus I wouldnāt find any of them nearby and I donāt want to import (because the post here is a little pittyā¦)
As you can see, Iām not an expert. I tried my best to understand all the things Iād need to know for choosing a great amp for the Beyers, I did a week of intensive research but still confused. I even started relearning school physics haha Anyway, the video that confused me the most is The Beyerdynamic DT 880 (600 Ohms) Does Not Need The Power You Were Told - YouTube (I hope I am allowed to post links here, sorry if I broke the rules). This guy, as Iām sure you all know, says that you need high output impedance to get the most out of the Beyers. It seemed pretty logical, since even Beyerdynamic replied him that the best amp for 880s is the A2 (which isā¦100ohm output impedance), so what Zeos ālearnedā me about the 880s (that they need a huge amount of POWER to sound great) is wrongā¦ well, I then read some comments and there was one professional engineer that explained why what this guy said makes no sense (but tbh I didnāt understand what he really wanted to say, because of circuit technical things I donāt understand at all). Spent days on Reddit asking if x would be better than y or z depending on the output impedance, and it ended with the answer āNo, you donāt need high output impedance, on the contrary, you need as low output impedance as possible. At least theoreticallyā¦ā. Iāve seen Beyerās reply on why the A2 has 100ohm output impedance, and they didnāt say āto work well with high impedance headphonesā, in fact, they didnāt say a word about the sound qualityā¦ they only said that it is in case of a quick circuit occurs, to prevent the headphone out from danger, which makes me think that the high output impedance really makes no sense.
ā¦But that guy heard better sound on higher output impedances and Zeos saidā¦ AGHHHH IāM SO CONFUSED XDDDDDD
Someone please help me
1 Like
Amplifier Impedance matters! Why it is important to have a low output impedance (explained) - YouTube there is also this video, which seems to clarify the things. But AFAIK the Emotiva doesnāt have low output impedance, and this makes me confused againā¦
Low output impedance is not always the best thing especially for high impedance headphones, here a thread where there is a list of many shops in the eu
The 880 are not the easiest headphones to drive but the emotiva is pretty exaggerated as power.
The liquid spark is available in Europe
The aune x1s if you need a DAC as well is a valid option
The aune x7s if you want to use the balance out in the future is also a good choice
The ifi zen can (not the DAC) is also a good option and as the the x7s is balanced as well
If you want there are also more āpremiumā options like the lake people g109 g111 Lehman Rhinelander and linear sometimes you can find them used for a good price and they drive them pretty well.
1 Like
I would honestly go for a g103s if you can @SirDariusH, it drives the 880 600 ohm pretty well at a fairly reasonable price, a step up from the spark without going overboard. Personally I would pass on the L30 and a30, imo they sound pretty bad compared to other options in the range. A liquid spark might be attainable from audiophonics last time I checked as well
A used rhinelander or drachenfels could be an option for a reasonable price, and if you can find a used linear for a good price thatās a solid pick (same for the higher end lake people)
Well, I was thinking about the L30/A30 because, as I said, they are the only sub 200 euros amps I can find in Romania, so thatās whā¦OH MY GOD Monolith on Audiophonics is 160euros PLUS 130 SHIPPING. Now thatās insane XDDDDDDDD
I see the Lake People g103 on Thomann for 270 euros. Cheaper than the Emotiva (280 euros).
@lafonte Wow! I see the Aune X7S and the X1 PRO in Romania. The X7S is 290 euros, the X1 Pro is 310. Well, now I see they have Topping A50s for 205 euros too(what do you think? The same with the L30 but balanced? Zeos liked it). Looks like they filled the stocks and brought new goods. I see Aune T1se (290), Topping NX4(160).
The g103 is a pretty good choiceā¦ but a friend ordered from Thomann and it took 5 weeks till he got the order (especially because of our shitty post, itās bad overall, not only when you import something from letās say the US)
Thatās a rip lol, hard pass
I would much rather have the 103s over a basx for powering headphones as others have mentioned beforehand
Hmmmmm, and Iām guessing there arenāt any other stores that carry lake people that would be available to you?
Nope. I barely found these Aunes and Toppings, which are among some of the popular brands. I canāt find any Schiit, Monolith, JDS so thereās no chances Iāll find a not-so-well-known-brand like Lake People nearby.
The SH market here isā¦ trash Iād say, so I canāt find good used amps
Either I buy one of the ones I typed above and wait like 1 week, or buy from thomann and waitā¦ a month and a halfā¦
Well, out of the aune vs the topping, Iād easily pick the x7s, although my preference would be the lake people if you could. To throw something else out there, could a eufonika h7 or h5 be an option? Itās a tube amp and should be around 330 ish euro so pretty close to the price of an aune or lake people, probably a bit more expensive but it is a really enjoyable combo with an 880 600
Also I forgot to ask, but do you have a dac?
My advice on amps is just listen to @M0N. Even with the wait time, the G103s would be worth it over any of the Toppings you listed, IMO.
I might make a post explaining output impedance. We get lots of questions about it and it might be nice to have a single reference to point everyone to. Good luck in your search!
5 Likes
The only place I see Eufonika h5 and h7 is eBay (300 pounds + shipping which I think itās expensive plusā¦ time).
Iāll ask more people I know who ordered from Thomann to tell me how much time did it take to arrive. Or maybe Iāll buy the X7S anyway if it really is such a good amp.
@WaveTheory Thanks!
Monoprice has a shop in Europe maybe is worth check it out because the spark is the best option if you want to keep the budget low
Iāve got the h5, is my first otl so I cannot compare but I think is a great amp and probably Iām going to open a thread of it because Iām really enjoying it and is a product that few know. But be aware if you want to get it that the stocks tubes are not really a good match with the 880 so add an extra cost.
Shipping would probably kill it in the end, so itās probably not all that feasible of an option
Itās a pretty great alternative to those who want something like a bottlehead in the eu, also imo the stock tubes in the h7 seem to be a bit better than in the h5 when I had tried them, but great amps for sure. You are correct in that itās probably going past the budget at this point
Although for some reason they donāt sell the cavalli amps on it
Hmmmā¦ I canāt find the Liquid Spark on this link. The only place I see the Liquid Spark is monoprice.com, not monoprice.eu. I think Iāll search the Liquid Spark on the list you linked like one hour ago.
Thanks guys for the help! Far better than Reddit, I shouldāve come here first
Oh, right. I forgot to say something about the DAC too. Iāll be using my Scarlett Solo as DAC.
Cool, should be just fine and later on you can get a nice upgrade in the future if you feel like it
I noticed it too, sorry for the false hope, like @M0N pointed out it doesnāt sell the cavalli amps just the thx.
The Scarlett will do the job with all the amps
What did you like of the lake people compared to the aune? Because I owned a g109 and the x7s at the same time and comparing them in single ended the sound signature was pretty identical but the g109 was a little behind the x7s in instruments separation and balanced was even more pronounced. Of course everyone has is personal tastes.
@lafonte Ok I found the Aunes even cheaper and on a site from Romania: x7s for 260 euros, and x1s for about the same price. I see an x8 too for 265. Is the g103 really THAT MUCH better?
oh and @lafonte you said something about the Zen? I was planning buying the Zen for a long time, but then Iāve heard whatās wrong with it (weak DAC) and I abandoned it. I think there is no way you can use only itās amp. Am I wrong?