What would be a good portable Dac/Amp to use with my HD6xx and Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone?
I am new to this hobby. I purchased a HD6XX and plan to use it with my Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone, that has a 3.5mm jack. I was wondering if I needed a portable dac/amp or just a portable amp and if so what would one recommend? Any assistance one could provide, would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, Haz
Mar 7, 2024
This week I got the DT880 and today received the K712, though I haven't heard the others personally I can try and comment from what I have read while doing my research, and hopefully give you a better idea of how they compare as I understand it.
I'll start with the K7xx vs the K712. They are very similar. The K7xx is said to have a touch more bass, while the K712 will have a bit better highs and possibly mids. Also the K712 will have a bit more soundstage and detail. This difference are not very pronounced, and not worth paying considerably more for the K712 (I paid $277.99 for my K712 open box on ebay, this was just before I got the notification about this drop being active). Other say the difference is a little bigger, each person will interpret the the difference differently according what THEY hear.
I find the K12 VERY pleasing with a mostly neutral sound and the slight 3db boot in bass. I find the bass pleasing while being driven from my Bound Blaster E5 and JDS Labs C5D (running at 3dB boost, the 6dB boost is good with some music and a touch too much with others, I don't use the zero bass boost setting fromn the C5D with any of my headphones or IEM). High are nice clear and neutral and not harsh to me. THe mids and vocals also come across as neutral and pleasing. These are a great reference headphones. If you want BIG bass these may not be enough (the bass boost one the C5D can help giving you 0, 3 and 6 dB boost to suit you needs). The K7xx should be a similar experience. The comfort is great on this light weight beast.
With the assumption that the K712 and K7xx are similar I can compare then to my DT770 (80 ohms version). The DT770 (and the DT880 and DT990) are more v shaped, with boosted highs and lows. This make it a more fun headphone, but I find it becomes fatiguing and I will turn the volume down after a while. The mids and vocals are slightly recessed and the bass of the DT770 is pretty strong and powerful (in a good way). The DT770 definitely has more bass then the K712, not accurate but FUN. THe DT770 is more lively and fun, but also more fatiguing and not the best choice for long listening. BTW the 80 ohms version is considered to greater bass then the 32 ohms and the 250 ohms version. I really like DT770. Also Very comfortable though a bit heavier than the K712. The ear pads are like giant soft pillows on you head. I also love this headphone. Wish I could keep the bass and lose some of the treble boost. I can play the K712 louder because of it less harsh treble.
The DT770 is closer to neutral than it's bigger brothers the DT880 and DT990. The 880 and 990 have more bumped up treble, especially the 990. Some find them piercing others love it. I don't think I could take it seeing as the 770 is more than enough treble boost for me. I think the 770 especially the 80 ohms version of the 770s but am not sure if the 880 and 990 have similar bass or more, though I doubt it more as that might prove to be too much. The 880 and 990 will have superior sound stage as they are semi-open and open, respectively. They may also offer a bit more detail with the more pronounced highs, if you can take it.
Also the K7xx , K712 and the DT990 are open and will over a bigger soundstage then the others (the DT880 being Semi open and DT770 being closed).
It comes down to what sound signature you like most. Do you love treble detail? Do you want BASS BASS BASS... or a more neutral accurate representation of you music. Are you looking for reference accurate sound or something more fun.
The K712/K7xx do have a larger foot print. See pics.
*small to medium size person. maybe it'd work with a large head.
The ear sups are about 4.5 inches in diameter.
Personally, I find the K7xx to be very detailed (I love that) and the mids are not laid back or reduced to my ears, (not obvious anyway). Highs are non-fatiguing and accurate. I find the K7xx to be quite revealing cans (a good thing). Bass is not muddy at any time and accurate. I find the sound stage not as wide as I imagined, but definitely in line with what open cans should be and far wider than my Senn HD518s. I'm coming from Sennheiser HD518s obviously, so that is quite a leap as they are a different animal. I also compared the K7xx with my newly acquired, risky purchase of the Takstar Pro 80s, yes, those are closed cans, I found the Takstars equally nice, but different and not quite as comfy, but not uncomfortable. I can wear the K7xx longer than any other cans I had or have. Overall, if I could compare the K7xx with the K712, I would hasten to bet that I could not tell the difference, at least not without great difficulty. I'm very happy with the k7xx.
I like the all black color scheme of the K7xx vs the orange and black of the K712 (though it growing on me). The more understated color scheme is my my style.
I'm sure most of those getting the K7xx will enjoy then greatly.
My guess is that they are very similar or identical, and the person that says it no contest is probably imagining it from some per-conceived perceptions that the K712 would be better (or has truly GOLDEN ears).
Remind me of a post a read recently where a guy did a ABX test with lossless and MP3, and found he really couldn't tell the difference and most of the time and that is was so close he had to strain really hard just to try. He mentioned that before he would swear that FLAC sounded better, when he wasn't doing blind test. He was now forced to admit it was pretty much all in his head. Not saying their aren't people out there that might actually be able to be much better and telling the difference, just that the vast majority of us can't. I know I can't.
Since I have the K712 and didn't pay too much more for them I'll stop thinking about the K7xx (at least for now... LOL). I'll continue to drool after the Fidelio X2 or L2 for now and continue looking for a deal on them.