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
0-200 = lo-fi 300-900 = mid-fi 1000 - 5000 = hi-fi
There is a belief among headphone collectors that says the headphone is what matters, and the transport, DAC and amp don't matter after a certain point. That belief is utterly false. Just like headphones, the DAC and amp have an enormous impact on sound quality of a headphone.
That's the one you want.
Having said that, I assume that your price scale implies new, unused 'phones. And I also believe that some of the cost factored in these hi-end cans is for the materials used and perhaps the technology behind their designs and functions. But keep in mind that a high-end (read: expensive) pair of headphones does not necessarily mean that it will have a "hi-fi" sound. There are a huge number of variables that can influence how something could or should sound regardless of price. Sorry, but your price chart is mostly inaccurate and misleading, especially in the so-called mid-fi range. I guarantee that for under $1000, you can get a LOT of very serious hi-fi cans that would make even considering spending more a futile exercise in diminishing returns.
Also, there isn't an explosion of hi-fi brands. That segment consists almost entirely of Audeze and HiFiMAN due to rise of the modern planar magnetic, who have left the major manufacturers in the dust in the high end. The ultra high end you have Abyss (planar) and Stax (electrostat). Dynamics are being left behind. The one and only hi-fi product Senn makes (HD800) is pretty bad unless mated with high end equipment and modded -- oh, and it costs $1,000 (old version). There's a number of boutique manufacturers like Mr. Speakers, ALO, etc that puts out hi-fi products, but they are all well over $1,000.
There area huge number of variables -- that boils down to the quality of your equipment in the playback chain, including your headphones. For example, I have a playback chain that is worth around $4,000 not counting headphones. I plugged my $60 Superlux HD668B into it....and it sounded so bad I couldn't bear to listen to for more than a minute. Likewise, plugging my $1,300 TH900 into a $120 Chinese custom build amp from eBay (selected for it's impedance to play well with the TH900) -- sounds like trash compared to my reference system.
You even make a case for the importance of using amps, DACs and other related equipment with these headphones to get the best out of them. Well you can do the same thing to mid-fi cans and make them "better". I think your reference system is what it is because of what you spent on it so it has to be good, right? In fact, I think for you, any cans with a 4-figure price tag on it is hi-fi and that's simply not true. Maybe to your discerning (undiscerning maybe?) ears, that holds true but to tell someone that spending $300 to $900 on cans will only get you mid-fi quality is just flat out wrong.
Like I said before, I can name several hi-fi offerings in this price range but you say I can't even mention one. You know what? You're right. Because you're own logic will tell you that no matter what I say, you'll classify it as mid-fi simply because of the price. Thanks goodness this misconstrued ideology is not the industry's de facto standard.
For example, when I owned the HD600 (while my HE-6 was in storage), I grabbed a used TH900 for $900. Even with modest amping and DAC at the time, the TH900 obliterated the HD600. Attack speed was so much higher that it literally made me wince coming from the HD600. The HD600 has good resolution, but the TH900 was greater still. Bass performance went through the roof. But most importantly of all, micro-details came pouring out -- kick drums sounded like something hitting a drum skin instead of an indiscriminate thump. Where a violin sounded like a violin played from a keyboard on the HD600, the TH900 made it sound like bow fibers rubbing against strings. The TH900 sounds so much better not because it costs nearly $1,000 more, but because it uses priority cellulose drivers, premium wood cups, carefully matched parts, and and a high-end cable -- but, not surprisingly, that level of engineering and technology costs money.
And how much of that $2999 is simply what Dr Fang thinks they're worth?
It's not as simple as saying "sound has a cost". There are other factors to consider because I can guarantee that every headphone in that hi-fi price range are not going to sound fantastic just as everything in your $300 - $900 range is not going to sound mid-fi, however you define that, and you've proven that with your TH900 description. But you paid under $1000 for them used so maybe they were demoted to "mid-fi". I'm sure they didn't sound like that to you.