Should I buy an Amp/DAC for my HD 6XX

[Swesaera]

I just ordered the HD 6XX's from Massdrop and I don't know whether or not I should buy an amp/DAC.

I really have little idea about audio as a whole but I'm pretty sure I understand the bare minimum.

If I were to get an amp/DAC I wouldn't want to spend anything over £200 so something like £100 for amp and £100 for DAC.

I could just get an amp like the Schiit Magni for £110.

I just want to make sure that I don't get an amp that can't power my headphones

 

My motherboard is the Asus ROG Strix Z370-E so I'd be using that as the DAC if I just got an amp.

 

Any recommendations are welcome

[The Pizza Thief]

44 minutes ago, Swesaera said:

-snip-

 

Any headphone can benefit from a good amp/dac, I recommend the Atom over the Magni, https://www.jdslabs.com/products/190/atom-amp/ 

Watch this video, his reviews are great. 

Cheers

[BMW_X6_50i]

As a non-audiophile, I have an Asus ROG STRIX Z390-H Gaming, and I just recived my HD 6XX, they sound amazing, you can really hear the highs and all that, especially on electronic/higher pitched music, but really any kind of music stands out more, provided you have a good quality sound file, you hear more details, (I tried my old eurobeat collection, which has a variable 120-150kbps, it sound the exact same as my old headset, now the constant 224kbps tracks have a real difference) and I don't have an AMP, just onboard audio. Then again, you need to see if you have interferences, I had slight buzzing on my previous headset (Roccat Kave Solid 5.1) and sometimes pops, I don't seem to have them as much here, or at least I don't notice them

 

It is quieter, and by that I mean you need to up the volume in windows and the music player to get what you had before. Even though I had a channel mixer addon to upmix since my previous headset was real 5.1, and only games use all 6 speakers, and in that addon I upped the volume of individual channels by a fair bit so I don't know.

But what I can tell you, is that except if you listen REALLY loudly to your music/games, it's fine. (edit: also make sure that your tracks aren't really quiet, if they are you 100% need to up the gain on them)

 

You probably can benefit from an AMP/DAC, maybe you get more/louder details, I might buy one eventually too, I need to see if I can plug them in my parent's Sony home theater to try it out, it must have a good AMP/DAC lol.

[Swesaera]

17 hours ago, Brynjar said:

Any headphone can benefit from a good amp/dac, I recommend the Atom over the Magni, https://www.jdslabs.com/products/190/atom-amp/ 

Watch this video, his reviews are great. 

Cheers

Problem is that shipping from the US costs so much in tax and duty that it puts me off buying them, I'm already paying a sizeable chunk to get the headphones.

That Atom is really tempting me though.

[Swesaera]

11 hours ago, BMW_X6_50i said:

As a non-audiophile, I have an Asus ROG STRIX Z390-H Gaming, and I just recived my HD 6XX, they sound amazing, you can really hear the highs and all that, especially on electronic/higher pitched music, but really any kind of music stands out more, provided you have a good quality sound file, you hear more details, (I tried my old eurobeat collection, which has a variable 120-150kbps, it sound the exact same as my old headset, now the constant 224kbps tracks have a real difference) and I don't have an AMP, just onboard audio. Then again, you need to see if you have interferences, I had slight buzzing on my previous headset (Roccat Kave Solid 5.1) and sometimes pops, I don't seem to have them as much here, or at least I don't notice them

 

It is quieter, and by that I mean you need to up the volume in windows and the music player to get what you had before. Even though I had a channel mixer addon to upmix since my previous headset was real 5.1, and only games use all 6 speakers, and in that addon I upped the volume of individual channels by a fair bit so I don't know.

But what I can tell you, is that except if you listen REALLY loudly to your music/games, it's fine. (edit: also make sure that your tracks aren't really quiet, if they are you 100% need to up the gain on them)

 

You probably can benefit from an AMP/DAC, maybe you get more/louder details, I might buy one eventually too, I need to see if I can plug them in my parent's Sony home theater to try it out, it must have a good AMP/DAC lol.

Yeah I think I will wait until I have the headphones and use them for a couple of weeks then decide.

[xtroria]

Most mid to high end motherboard nowadays will have sufficient power to drive those headphones. Unless you start hearing noise floor or static which indicates faulty audio jack, I would just use motherboard.

 

I had Z170MX-Gaming 5 and it was way more than enough to drive K7xx which is a more power hungry headphone. I don't see how an Asus Z370 won't be able to