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Backen
0
Dec 10, 2017
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I pretty new to this stuff. Is a DAC worth getting and what kind of difference does make?
Numberoneq
28
Dec 10, 2017
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BackenWorth is very subjective. You don't need a dac or an amp for these headphones to work. Having said that most agree the sound from these are noticeably improved over being plugged into a phone or laptop. You'd have to be willing to try to see if it's worth it to you. FYI, I will answer this same question for myself when mine arrive. I will be trying the Magni +Modi stack
Baal_Hammon
9
Dec 10, 2017
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Backenif the source of your music is Digital (files on your phone, computer, or cd) you need a DAC to outsource a Analogical signal which your headphone can understand.
there is a dac in your phone, pc, ipod, CD player...and I guess your music is stored somewhere there.
so your question is probably "do I need a dedicated external DAC ?" no. so why people are buying an external DAC ? -the sampling of the music file is not supported by their phone /pc ...(ex a PCM 24bits at 192 kHz) -they like the architecture and the D/A processor (sound quality, filtering, clarity, noiseless...) -connectivity/dedicated device.
note a "pure" DAC do not usually play music: you need a player , a software to read and "understand" the format of the file , how it is stored (ex ntfs, ext3, fat32) or how it is shared or streamed on a network (SMB/SAMBA) ....so you play on your computer/phone, and send to the DAC via USB.
a "pure" DAC do not amplify the sound...you need an amp for that.
so your question is probably "do I need a dedicated external DAC ?" no. so why people are buying an external DAC ? -the sampling of the music file is not supported by their phone /pc ...(ex a PCM 24bits at 192 kHz) -they like the architecture and the D/A processor (sound quality, filtering, clarity, noiseless...) -connectivity/dedicated device.
note a "pure" DAC do not usually play music: you need a player , a software to read and "understand" the format of the file , how it is stored (ex ntfs, ext3, fat32) or how it is shared or streamed on a network (SMB/SAMBA) ....so you play on your computer/phone, and send to the DAC via USB.
a "pure" DAC do not amplify the sound...you need an amp for that.
Ricardo99
3
Dec 11, 2017
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BackenConsidering this is a 300 ohm headphone, you will not get really loud volume if you drive it directly from your phone or computer. The general use headphones have less than 50 ohm of impedance. The higher the impedance, the higher the power to drive it.
I'm not sure if you are confusing the DAC with the AMP. Some products have both of this. The DAC, as mentioned already, only translates the digital signal (0 and 1) to analog signal (a waveform with variable voltage which will go to your headphone drivers and will be transformed in sound). The AMP gets the analog signal and boosts it.
Your PC and phone already have DAC, but it is usually not as good as an external DAC, have more noise and cannot work with really high bitrates and frequencies.
I have a Sennheiser HD 598 SE and CS and I can use both of them with my iPhone, but I use an external DAC on my computer and I can notice it clears some background noise, especially in quietly parts of the music. Considering they have low impedance, I did not buy an AMP.
After purchasing the HD 6XX I decided to purchase a DAC + AMP. You will be able to use your phone without an AMP/DAC, but it will not sound as loud and as clear as it should be.
If you are not sure, I suggest you to buy the headphone, use it with your hardware and see if it fulfills your needs. But I'm almost sure you will get better results with an AMP/DAC. I will give you a feedback when mine arrives, but it will only be in march 2018.
I'm not sure if you are confusing the DAC with the AMP. Some products have both of this. The DAC, as mentioned already, only translates the digital signal (0 and 1) to analog signal (a waveform with variable voltage which will go to your headphone drivers and will be transformed in sound). The AMP gets the analog signal and boosts it.
Your PC and phone already have DAC, but it is usually not as good as an external DAC, have more noise and cannot work with really high bitrates and frequencies.
I have a Sennheiser HD 598 SE and CS and I can use both of them with my iPhone, but I use an external DAC on my computer and I can notice it clears some background noise, especially in quietly parts of the music. Considering they have low impedance, I did not buy an AMP.
After purchasing the HD 6XX I decided to purchase a DAC + AMP. You will be able to use your phone without an AMP/DAC, but it will not sound as loud and as clear as it should be.
If you are not sure, I suggest you to buy the headphone, use it with your hardware and see if it fulfills your needs. But I'm almost sure you will get better results with an AMP/DAC. I will give you a feedback when mine arrives, but it will only be in march 2018.
Cokeman
1971
Dec 11, 2017
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Ricardo99Actually it's not true saying the higher impedance the harder to drive. Sensitivity is what determines how hard a headphone is to drive more than impedance. So these are 300 ohm, but take a headphone like the T50 MK3s, they are 50 ohms and are MUCH harder to drive than the 6XXs. Or take a headphone like the K7XXs 62 ohms and identically as hard to drive as the 6XXs.
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