AMP/DAC combo for HD700

[BlackFountain]

Hello,

 

I might soon be buying the HD700 headphones by Sennheiser and really need some advice for buying amps and dacs. The price I'm willing to pay is from around 200-300 euro's and I might be able to stretch out to 500, but only if necessary or relevant. I already saw some like the O2+ODAC combo or the Ifi iDSD Micro and the Modi/magni combo. Now I would like to know what is the best around that price range (or at least what you think is best) and I want a combo which is quite small, not necessarily like pocket-portable, but at least portable enough to take it with you and set it up somewhere else. Also I'd like to be able to connect my Iphone to it with the lightning cable. So if you know anything about other nice combo's or can tell me something more about the 3 I mentioned before, that would be helpful.

[The_Strict_Nein]

HD700s will not require much amplification, being Sennheiser and having good sensitivity.

 

That being said, my O2+ODAC combo has been great for being able to hear very quiet videos. However, while some static has been stripped out which is super nice, the audio quality hasn't changed that much. This is speaking about HD600s, which have twice the impedance of HD700s

[H4X3R]

Fiio Alpen E17

 

http://www.audiobot9000.com/match/sennheiser/hd-700/with/fiio/alpen-e17

 

From a review (in german, i can translate if you do not understand):

 

was für ein Klang!!! benutze den Fiio sowohl mit einem Sennheiser HD 700 als auch mit den Beyerdynamic t70. 

Wertet den Klang extrem auf und hat für alle die es brauchen auch einen Equalizer der top!!!! ist. 
würde ich jeder Zeit wieder kaufen 

[NannerBeans]

Pretty sure there's nothing with a lighting connector

[Goldilock]

Centrance DAC Port + Alo National

[xtroria]

HD700 is a pretty efficient headphone at 150ohm, so in general power isnt a problem. Amp matching though is another case.

Ifi idsd micro is popular due to it's portable and can power some power hungry planar (4W @16ohm).

Personally i'd recommend lyr 2, but for smaller enclosure ifi micro is my top pick

[BlackFountain]

The German thing I do understand, because I'm half-German. Are there maybe even better amp/dac combos also from Fiio? Or is that not even needed? And with lightning connector I mean a lightning cable to USB which can be plugged in to such a combo. The Lyr 2 is just an AMP right? Not a combo.

[BlackFountain]

Sorry but I really need some more help, there's just sooooo much to choose from, Cypherlabs, JDSlabs, Ifi Audio, Mayflower, Schiit, Burson, FiiO, Beyerdynamic and Fostex.

[BlackFountain]

Sorry but I really need some more help, there's just sooooo much to choose from, Cypherlabs, JDSlabs, Ifi Audio, Mayflower, Schiit, Burson, FiiO, Beyerdynamic and Fostex.

[Lays]

Sorry but I really need some more help, there's just sooooo much to choose from, Cypherlabs, JDSlabs, Ifi Audio, Mayflower, Schiit, Burson, FiiO, Beyerdynamic and Fostex.

 

 

Magni Modi / o2 odac for price to performance, spending any more than ~$200-250 is basically throwing money in the fireplace unless you specifically need the features of a higher end unit, because sound quality will be negligible.

 

Not to mention they'll last for future upgrades of headphones as well.

 

If you don't want to spend a lot but still want good quality, fiio e10k / monoprice dac/amp.

[BlackFountain]

Okay thanks. Also, do those have a way to be connected to a PS4? I'll be using the HD700s for gaming a lot too. (PC seems obvious to me)

[BlackFountain]

Oh and yeah, I might have an AMP at home which could be good enough for the HD700s too, that means that I just have to buy a DAC, (or a combo so that I can take it all with me), but a DAC could also be an option. The AMP is an old Kenwood A-5S, almost no one on the internet seems to know much about it. I'll first buy the headphones, try them out with that AMP and some CD's before deciding to buy a combo OR a DAC. Do you guys have some ideas for DAC's too maybe? Also in the price-range of 300. 

[BlackFountain]

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[SSL]

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If you're going to spend $300 then you might as well the the O2+ODAC and be done with it.