Warm Amp to drive DT1990 Pro

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
1

So, I’ve been trying to find a headphone to upgrade from my DT770 Pro 80ohm, and all my research has lead to the DT1990 Pro.

The only negative is that I’m afraid of the high 8k Peak.

So, to make it less harsh/fatiguing I wanted to buy a warm sounding amp and DAC to Drive them.

My budget is arround 200 dollars for the DAC and AMP, but I can stretch it to 300 if it is worth it.

It can be a combo, or separate devices. But it has to be available in Amazon France or UK

A Pre-out would be nice, but not necessary.

Some people mentioned the ifi DSD Nano (is it enough for the 1990?) but I wanted more alternatives. Would be good if I could have a little bit of headroom for listening loud and for future upgrades. Thanks!

2

If you are worried about that peak use an EQ.

3

Hmmm, do you think you could get a monolith liquid spark over there? I’m not sure though if you can

4

No, I don’t think so. Do you think the IFI Nano could work for me?

5

I think it would work, but it may be a bit lacking in power for louder listening

Actually what about an xduoo ta10?

6

Do you mean a digital or an eq device?

I didn’t really want to eq, unless it’s a device, or some software that would apply the effects only to one source, or enable/disable it through a hotkey

7

Is that a Hybrid tube DAC/amp Combo?

It is available in Amazon UK, and in my price range. But is just 1 unit from 1 seller I think. May be a good choice, do you have any other recommendations?

8

The ifi Nano drove my old 770 250 ohm Pro’s just fine :+1:

9

Yet it is, it’s a pretty nice combo

The ifi xdsd is nice but a bit out of budget. I don’t know what else in that budget would be a good fit

10

Would you recommend an eq device, like the schiit loki?

11

they are pretty nice to have, can be useful, but if you wanted something with more granular control software is the way to go imo. Otherwise for a simple tweak they are pretty nice

12

Also, I don’t have any experience with tube amps. I heard you have to change tubes. And since I live in Brazil, and not in Europe, I wouldn’t have access to other tubes, only importing (and the import fees here are enormous).

13

The ta10 comes with pretty decent stock tubes that imo you don’t really need to change unless you want to. The tubes won’t play a huge role in the sound as it combines solid state with a tube input stage

14

Ok, thanks. So I think the options would be the TA-10, the underpowered ifi DSD Nano, the over budget XDSD or buy another DAC/Amp and EQ

15

I really do wish you could get the liquid spark amp over there as I think it would do exactly what you wanted lol

16

I will see if I can’t get one somewhere, if I can’t, I will stay with those alternatives

17

Good to know! Did you have any volume headroom? Sometimes I like to listen really loud

18

It’s been a while since I had the 770’s but I can’t recall any headroom regrets

19

Ok, thanks. I think that is my main option for now

20

The only headphone out is the 3.5mm which can be run balanced but 3.5mm trrs cables are hard to come by, I got one made by Oidio sound UK and another from Hart Audio Cables US.
I also used the direct out to feed my Little Dot tube amp.