17-Apr-2019, 09:59
(17-Apr-2019, 09:12)thumb5 Wrote:(16-Apr-2019, 22:57)Womaz Wrote:(16-Apr-2019, 22:13)thumb5 Wrote: Just wondering: why do you think the (Devialet) DAC is the limiting factor in your current set-up?
The truth is I don’t know if it is or not. I have not tried any other set ups . I was just wondering if a dedicated DAC would do a better job. Like a dedicated headphone DAC, as my dedicated HP amp was a big improvement over the Devialet .
As you know I love my 200, but will a dedicated HP DAC give a better performance ? A dedicated HP DAC will have been designed to do exactly that. The Devialet was not . If this makes sense
(16-Apr-2019, 23:18)mdconnelly Wrote: I won't pretend to understand how Devialet has implemented the DAC, but what you get with the recommended setup using line outs for headphones did not sound nearly as good as I was expecting to would/should. For me, separate DAC/amp sounds better. I've been using an iFi Micro iDSD DAC/amp for portability and ease of use, and it sounds quite good. But there are plenty of more expensive DAC/headphone amps that likely sound far better. If/when I listen more via headphones, I'll likely go down that rabbit hole.
The reason I asked is that the differences in sound-quality between well-designed, accurate DACs are likely to be much less than you heard when changing from driving the headphones directly from the Devialet pre-amp outputs to driving them from a dedicated headphone amp.
That's because, as @Jean-Marie alluded to, the pre-amp outputs are not really designed to drive headphones: they may work OK with easy-to-drive (high impedance) headphones but not so well with low-impedance headphones which are harder to drive. A dedicated headphone amp is always likely to be a better choice as its input will be a good match for the pre-amp outputs and its output will presumably be designed specifically for driving headphones.
That said, there may be other benefits of having a separate, dedicated DAC to drive your headphone amp apart from sound quality and the last thing I'd want to do is discourage you from experimenting
As you know I am not one for experimenting I dont have the time or inclination. I tend to research and research and then buy or leave things as they are.
Yes this has got my interest though as I am sort of assuming that a dedicated DAC will do a better job then the Devialet with my headphones
Devialet 200 -- Roon Nucleus-- Sonus Faber Olympica 2 -- Tellurium Q Black Speaker Cables --
Chord Qutest -- Niimbus US5 Pro Headphone amp —HifiMan HEK, Abyss 1266TC
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Chord Qutest -- Niimbus US5 Pro Headphone amp —HifiMan HEK, Abyss 1266TC
Newcastle upon Tyne, England