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
Would prolly drive the T1 being sold right now just fine, though.
I do not understand why this is so hard to understand. an OTL amp is best suited for 100ohms to 600 ohms because it has a high Voltage peak to peak. Orthos use current as the primary medium to deliver "sound".
For instance, my HE-400s and T50RP will work with my bottle head crack, but they sound particularly crappy, and generate distortion. They sound amazing on my solid state, just like the my HD650s or DT880/600s due to the high impedance.
Also, one last question about amps. Do tube amps that aren't OTL (meaning they have an output transformer) the same in terms of driving and paring potential with headphones as solid states? That is, are non-OTL tube amps the same as solid state amps? Where the only difference is sound signature of tubes vs solid state?
Also, why do hybrids like the Bravo exist? Do they serve a specific purpose or is it just for a different sound?
Ok thats a lot of questions, but so hard to find answers! Thanks!!!
Bottlehead produces amps like this, which aren't well suited to orthos (the Crack is also an OTL design), BUT they also produce other amps which are perfectly orthodynamic friendly. Like the S.E.X. and the Mainline.
So while the most commonly spoken about Bottlehead amp - the Crack - is not suited to orthos, Bottlehead does make amps which are more than up to the challenge of driving orthodynamic (i.e. low impedance, low sensitivity) cans.
My Matrix works well w/ all above + T50RP, HE-400
Hope that clears up any ambiguity. English is not my first language. Hybrids exist for a variety of reasons. However you need to be careful. The bravo does a decent job for what it is, gives you a slight flavor of tube sound (distortion) however the amplification stage is all solid state. Products like the Aune however only use the tube if the are driven off the audio input, whereas the DAC input does not utilize the tube at all.
The thing about hybrids, is they tend to be on the cheapish side, and they are lackluster compared to a full OTL amp, and often add more distortion than is wanted from a solid state. Pick your poison, but I strongly suggest owning one of each :)
The Aune T1 is actually the opposite, the tube is used in the DAC stage, and the amplification is all solid state. To get the benefit of the tube you have to use the USB input.