Do i need headphone amplifier

[zmrzlapka]

Hello so i wonna buy beyerdynamic dt-990 PRO 250ohm and i wonder if i need headphone amplifier for it ? 

if i need heaphone amplifier, I dont really know which heaphone amplifier i need for 250ohm 

if you can pls help me which headphone amplifiers are good in my budget bcs im tottaly lost in it 

my budget is somewhere around 120€ 

Thank you 

 

[Tusk2435]

3 minutes ago, zmrzlapka said:

Hello so i wonna buy beyerdynamic dt-990 PRO 250ohm and i wonder if i need headphone amplifier for it ? 

if i need heaphone amplifier, I dont really know which heaphone amplifier i need for 250ohm 

if you can pls help me which headphone amplifiers are good in my budget bcs im tottaly lost in it 

my budget is somewhere around 120€ 

Thank you 

 

With 250Ohms you really need an amplifier; without it, your PC is just not going to play loud enough. There are also DAC amp combos, which will bypass the motherboard DAC, but you don't really need another DAC, and you could always get a separate one down the line.
In that budget there are a lot of really good choices: (added audiosciencereview.com review link)

- JDS Labs Atom Amp+, one of the best performing amps for the cost, punching well above its price range. My best recommendation. ASR
- Schiit has the Magni and Vali (if you're into cool tubes and can stretch the budget a little bit). Both only amps; I can strongly recommend the Magni. ASR

- Topping NX4 DSD, DAC amp combo; performs wonderfully and is also portable. ASR

- Fiio has the E10k andd K3s, both DAC amp combos; they measure worse than others, but still great choices for the price. Fiio has also portable units, but they don't perform as well as their desktop counterparts, at least power-wise.

- Audioquest Dragonfly, very well-known tiny DAC amp combo, measures pretty good but won't be driving high-impedance headphones as well as other more beefy units.

- iFi Nano iDSD, performs ok in measurements. ASR

- Audioengine D1, though there's no technical measurements around that I could find.

For all of these (or others you'll take into consideration), you should look for technical reviews, going really in-depth in noise, distortion, power, etc.

[pas008]

if Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming is the motherboard you have I'd say try that first

 

seems to have an amp so try that first

[Tigerleon]

6 minutes ago, pas008 said:

if Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming is the motherboard you have I'd say try that first

 

seems to have an amp so try that first

All motherboards have a realtek amp/DAC or something equivalent. And all of them aren't always good.

[pas008]

Just now, Tigerleon said:

All motherboards have a realtek amp/DAC or something equivalent. And all of them aren't always good.

always hence word try

as a person that has been through dacs amps and headphones, still own quite a few,

seems like anything after haswell days they did up mobo sound imho, just typical interference/usb feedback on some

i thought my z87ws sound was just as great as o2 combo until i added 3rd gpu

[CTR640]

If you'll be getting the DT990 and your motherboard audio is not powerfull enough, don't get a analytical dac/amp like the Fiio otherwise you'll suffer from strong treble/sibilance. In the past, I had the DT880 250ohm to use with Fiio K5 Pro and there was a massive amount of ssssibilance and at some point, I couldn't bear it anymore. Now almost a year later, having the 2 dac/amps (in my sig), sibilance is no longer an issue in any headphone.

 

@rice guruwould be probably be recommending the Monolit Liquid Spark to tame the treble. He has the DT990 too. Analytical dac/amps are not really fun.