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Ovation
69
Apr 18, 2018
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Right now, I'm listening to iTunes via my new MacBook Pro 2017, with my Sennheiser HD630VBs plugged directly into the headphone jack. There is no background noise or hiss. When I pause playback and turn the volume all the way up, there is zero change in the background.
Ordinarily, my home setup is a Schiit Modi2/Magni2 Uber stack. However, unlike a lot of people, I didn't get it for the "extra oomph" or the "better sounding DAC". Until my two Massdrop Senns arrive in the summer, I only have easy to drive headphones--I can easily deafen myself with my current crop with my iPhone, let alone a dedicated amp. But, I have multiple sources in my home office, a few of which have no direct headphone jack, so the Schiit stack allows me to switch easily among the three sources (a BD player hooked to an external display, a region-free DVD player, also hooked to the display, and my laptop). Much easier to switch sources with the stack.
I expect my new phones will benefit from the amp, at least, given their more demanding load--especially the 6xx. But the DAC, to me, makes no difference in sound quality--either from my old 2009 MBP or my new one. And each of them is dead quiet with my headphones (currently, I have the HD630VB, B&W P5 s1, Grado iGe iem). Perhaps I'm lucky. My wife's laptop is a Lenovo (I think--I don't use it except on very rare occasions) and it is a bit noisy through the headphone jack. If that was my laptop, then I'd have gotten a DAC even without the other reasons noted above, if only to minimize the noise.
Ultimately, I've not been able to discern differences between DACs at level matched comparisons in terms of sound quality. But to deal with noise issues, or for the convenience of multi-source setups, they can be great (mine is perfect for that). I would like one with a digital OUTPUT, though, as I still like to dabble with my now ancient Sony MD deck. Been thinking I'd add a Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus to the main system--would give me headphone alternatives for late-night listening and has a digital output to accommodate my eccentric audio format. But that's for another shopping spree.
Apr 18, 2018
Asheikm
2537
Apr 18, 2018
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OvationSounds like a great setup, and you are enjoying it. Can't beat that.
My thoughts on on-board sound cards: They are fine as long as they can play your music (there definitely are technical differences between DAC implementations, but as to whether the difference can be perceived is subjective ). Most on-board DACs are not able to play audio files mastered above 16-bit/4800kHz or files that are in DSD or PCM formats. So if you want to play higher resolution music, you will have to get a better DAC.
On-board sound cards have another disadvantage, subpar headphone amps. Even if you play CD quality audio (16-bit/44.1kHz) on low impedance headphones, the improvements here will be noticeable. Loudness is not the issue, it is distortion from the amp. If the amp is under powered, there will be distortion as the amp can not supply the electrical energy that the headphone drivers require, in order to move freely. There is also the case of some amps having a large output impedance. Output impedance strongly affects the headphone performance, because it changes the frequency response. For example, consider an amp with 40 ohm output impedance feeding a headphone with 32 ohm drivers. In this case less than half of the amplified voltage is seen by the headphone, and a considerable amount of energy never reaches your ears. Additionally, since the output impedance is in series with the driver coil, the frequency response is affected. Output impedance becomes less of an issue when the headphone driver impedance increases, I think that is why most professional headphones are designed that way.
Apr 18, 2018
Ovation
69
Apr 19, 2018
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Asheikm I can see the merit in an outboard DAC for things like hi-res audio formats, especially if they are not able to be played back by the laptop directly. I’m a bit old-school for hi-res, in that I have it on discs, not as files. I have multiple SACD/DVD-A players in the house and it with those I do my hi-res listening. However, I must confess my SACD/DVD-A purchases are primarily for MCH discrete audio, something I don’t do with headphones, obviously. I’m also of the opinion that much of the “better sound” from SACDs/DVD-As comes from the better mastering (ie, far less dynamic range compression than on CDs and streaming/downloads—sadly for the latter), than because of any inherent superiority of the format itself. Then again, I’m no engineer, so I can only go with what I hear.
Apr 19, 2018
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