Looking for headphone amp

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
82

IMO for what you have listed, that auralic is pretty dang sweet, and the gilmore lite mk2 is also very nice, both I think would be pretty sweet pairings with the cans you have. There are potentially more options that you haven’t listed as well

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83

Gilmore MK2 or RNHP is my vote. I have the HP-3 on the RNHP it after some break in do sound pretty nice.

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84

Has anyone had experience with the Klipsch Heritage Amp/Dac?

85

It’s solid overall, nice all in one if you are looking for an all in one

86

So personally I would actually shy away of the rnhp in this case because I think both the lcd 3 and the hp3 might want some more slam behind it

87

If you have a list in that price range ($500 - $1000) I’ll start researching. I’m scouring the headfi classifieds daily.

IMO for what you have listed, that auralic is pretty dang sweet, and the gilmore lite mk2 is also very nice, both I think would be pretty sweet pairings with the cans you have. There are potentially more options that you haven’t listed as well

88

Can you expand upon R2R and how they are “weird”? I have no experience with audio-gd other than they seem to get very split opinions on the internet.

89

There are two ways of implementing a DAC:

  • R2R DACs are based on an array of resistors that can map PCM values 1:1.

  • Most modern DAC are Delta Sigma which is based on a mathematical approximation of the PCM with 1 to 5 bits at very high rates.

Based on measurements DS DACs are better, while R2R DACs hace better transients. The main issue with R2R DACs is that the resistors cannot be precise enough. Anyway Audio-GD makes their un R2R DACs and they are very good, but they sound different to other DACs.

As per the weird amplification, this is based on my observations, Audio-GD amps seem to be current based instead of voltage based. Which drives headphones differently than a regular amp, you will notice differences in the frequency response and it varies depending on the headphone. I have had luck with low impedance dynamics.

My main system is similar to the R-28 (R-1 + NFB-1AMP) and I really like it, but I now some people wouldn’t like it.

If you want perfect measurements you need to look elsewhere. It definitely sounds different than a THX amp with a DS DAC.

4 Likes
90

Hello,
Is a R2r Dac more neutral as a Delta sigma?

You have explaine a R2R is not so good in presicion it is possible to hear that ?Or are the difference in Low banch who you say is minimal?

91

I am hitting a bit of a language barrier, but there are more than 2 ways, way more:

  1. Direct Switch, each combination of input bits is represented by a resistor. You need 2^n resistors making it nearly impossible for high bit-values.

  2. Current Switch (parallel switched), each bit is represented by a switch which either adds to the overall current or just directs its resistor to ground.

  3. Time based, basically PWM. Requires a simple low pass.

  4. Delta Sigma, similar to PWM, but instead of varying the pulse width, the pulse rate is varied.

  5. Nested Converter (interleaved DAC?), several DACs of the same architecture work on different phase shifts to realise extremly high sampling rate.

Simple answer: No

When running high-frequency applications, you would want to avoid R-2R as the signal paths get longer the more significant the bit.
20kHz is not high-frequency from an electronics perspective.

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92

In audio we have mainly R2R and Delta Sigma. Obviously you can have variations of those, your 1, 2 are the same idea with different implementation, similar to R2R. Your 3, 4, 5 are the same idea behind Delta Sigma with different degrees of complexity.

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93

That’s like a personal opinion, I like how it sounds.

It sounds different, but I cannot pin point issues with the R2R. There are a lot of variables after the DAC that can influence the sound. To me the Audio GD R-1 sounds good for my gear, I don’t think it’s missing something. With higher-end gear you might notice issues.

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94

They are vastly different.

Concept No 1: Each combination of bits is represented by a switch (transistor/MOSFET) and a resisitor value.

Concept No 2: Each resistor and switch represents one bit.

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image1551×830 110 KB

Edit: Neither would work from this representation.

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95

It follows the same idea, at the end you have Vcc and a resistor. If you have a single resistor or an equivalent resistance made by multiple resistors it doesn’t change dramatically the the overall idea. R2R is like an optimization.

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96

Thank you Guys :v::+1:

97

That is like, uh, your opinion man.

Analog Devices Training document, Chapter 6 - Converters:

98

Yep, my opinion.

99

Thanks for all the responses guys I think based upon the feedback I will avoid the Audio-Gd products as the dac tech doesn’t seem to be my cup O tea.

100

Hey Mon I’m going to reach out on the Auralic this weekend and if no dice the Gilmore. Do you have any others on your short list of headphone amps that you would suggest in the $500 - $900 price range?

101

For the headphones you have, the liquid platinum is pretty nice, the aforementioned gilmore lite mk2, violectric v280 is pretty awesome if you can find one, same with the lake people RS-08