Great-Sounding Headphone Amp for About $100

[Ron Resnick]

A friend has asked me to suggest a high value for dollar, good-sounding headphone amp for about $100.

Unfortunately and embarrassingly I had to admit that I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about headphone amps.

Please recommend a very modestly priced headphone amp. My friend has Sennheiser HD600 headphones.

How good is the Schitt Audio Modi?

Thank you.

 

[cjfrbw]

JDS Labs Atom apparently performs and measures very well and became a darling of the budget minded. It used to be $100, but reputationed-up to $150 or so, although some shopping around for used or sales could be cheaper.

 

[Bodhi]

For about $100 bucks, a 2nd hand Audioquest Dragonfly Red would do a decent job as a dac/headphone amp streaming music off a laptop, though obviously that wouldn't be applicable if your friend wants to do headphone sessions on his hifi system.

 

[dalethorn]

DragonFly Black, Monoprice Monolith Liquid Spark, PA2V2, almost any FiiO in that range, particularly the E17 series. If a tube amp is possible, the Bravo Ocean is a great one.

 

[DHMC]

I'm old school. Sennheiser high impedance(300 Ohms) headphones should be driven by an integrated amplifier with a headphone jack such as vintage NAD3020 (20W/ch).

 

[LL21]

Hey Ron,

I dont think either will work for your friend due to cost but with some hard bargaining when on sale, he might get close enough to be tempted.

1. I got a special deal on my Sennheiser HD650s (with an Apogee amp essentially for free. ) https://apogeedigital.com/products/groove
My wife uses it with her computer when listening on her laptop.

2. Meanwhile, I use this with the main rig if for some reason speakers are out (rarely if ever the case) https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/british-hifi-heritage-arrives-headphone-world-arcams-rhead

I also managed to buy this at a steep discount though not quite 100.

 

[dalethorn]

I'm old school. Sennheiser high impedance(300 Ohms) headphones should be driven by an integrated amplifier with a headphone jack such as vintage NAD3020 (20W/ch).

A tube amp like the Bravo Ocean takes care of that, due to the power required to heat the tubes. I kept mine cool by using my Macbook as a large heat sink.

 

[Joe P]

Ron,

If your friend can afford Sennheiser HD600s, tell him to pony up and get a Chord Mojo.

That's what I use with my Sennheiser HD600s. Great combination!

 

[Onepoint5]

I'm old school. Sennheiser high impedance(300 Ohms) headphones should be driven by an integrated amplifier with a headphone jack such as vintage NAD3020 (20W/ch).

I'm with you on this. After an SPL Phonitor2, Sony TA-Z1HES, the one that beats them is the clarity and fullness of the headphone jack on a pre-amplifier.

Gone are the differences of a) cabling, b) power supply noise c) more loops where noise can from, especially on the AC side. I use Accuphase C-2420, which has a switch for phones to cater for the higher impedance headphones, HD-800s, HD-820. Many hours to A/B, then one day plugged into the pre-amp and never looked back.

 

[the sound of Tao]

DragonFly Black, Monoprice Monolith Liquid Spark, PA2V2, almost any FiiO in that range, particularly the E17 series. If a tube amp is possible, the Bravo Ocean is a great one.

Also with DragonFly Cobalt just released there’ll probably be a slew of DragonFly Reds coming onto the second hand market shortly.

Great sounding is probably a stretch for any thing @$100 in relative audiophile terms but for the average punter everything is relative and some improvements can clearly still be had over the sound quality of the typical output of a laptop etc at this price.

It’s amazing how quickly we audiophiles can talk ourselves up into the pricing stratosphere without fear or trepidation.

Depends also on context so how your friend is planning on using his headphones as well Ron.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, gentlemen!

 

[bazelio]

If he can stretch to $149, then this.

https://www.schiit.com/products/vali-1

It is going to be pleasing and inoffensive to 90+% of people.

 

[Brucemck2]

The Schiit products provide great bang for the buck, and allow you to tube roll (a bit) to boot