headphone dac/amp vs avr

[1313stang]

hey all. so im shopping around for headphones, & i keep coming across people who use small portable dac/amps combos, or what appears to be numerous pieces of complicated equipment to run their headphones from a pc. ive been watching alot of a youtube channel called z reviews. so question is why? cant i just run a cheap craigslist avr to pc (where music is stored & played through itunes), & have a more powerful/better sound w my headphones? ive always used awful "5.1 dolby digital"...sound cards w a little speaker system with less than steller performance. i have a large music library, & now thats its cooling down to the 90s im ready to hang out in the garage again. plan is, as im updating all our av stuff in the living rm, i can move everything out here & have a pretty decent system. people online are saying that a seperate, even portable dac/amp sounds better than an avrs headphone amp. that cant be true is it? im a noob, so any response thats too technical i probably wont have a clue what youre talking about lol. thanks!

 

[everettT]

Curious as to how the head phones sound directly out of the computer. As for using an avr, it's no problem but as for better sound, typically it's the headphones that covers the sound. If the output from what ever you are using is enough to drive the headphones, then your all good.

 

[1313stang]

plugged directly into soundcard. back of pc. front 3.5mm has too low volume. soundcard gets the job done, but its just a loud mess. low end soundcard, awful itunes, unreliable, and questionable software, software to run this software, this plug in to run this software that then tells this software to control this cheap hardware....apple to talk to Microsoft...ect ect. im sick of it. i didn't mind when i played games on here, but now its just to surf and hold/play music. eventually will get a large external hard drive, bring my ipad in here, & throw this pc out in the street. lol. i dont expect audiophile reference quality by any means. im looking for loud, simple, reliable, & better quality than this card/software is able to do. & not interested in updating card ect ect

 

[everettT]

What headphones are you using? This simple unit works well, and is portable.

https://www.amazon.com/A3-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00Z9BIODA?crid=3LJ3CM1ZIVS5C&keywords=headphone+amplifier&qid=1538224624&sprefix=headphone+amp&sr=8-6&ref=mp_s_a_1_6

 

[Joe B]

hey all. so im shopping around for headphones, & i keep coming across people who use small portable dac/amps combos, or what appears to be numerous pieces of complicated equipment to run their headphones from a pc. ive been watching alot of a youtube channel called z reviews. so question is why? cant i just run a cheap craigslist avr to pc (where music is stored & played through itunes),& have a more powerful/better sound w my headphones? ive always used awful "5.1 dolby digital"...sound cards w a little speaker system with less than steller performance. i have a large music library, & now thats its cooling down to the 90s im ready to hang out in the garage again. plan is, as im updating all our av stuff in the living rm, i can move everything out here & have a pretty decent system. people online are saying that a seperate, even portable dac/amp sounds better than an avrs headphone amp. that cant be true is it? im a noob, so any response thats too technical i probably wont have a clue what youre talking about lol. thanks!

hey all. so im shopping around for headphones, & i keep coming across people who use small portable dac/amps combos, or what appears to be numerous pieces of complicated equipment to run their headphones from a pc. ive been watching alot of a youtube channel called z reviews. so question is why? A seperate headphone amp/DAC allows the user to bypass the soundcard in the PC and do the digital/analogue conversion and amplification with a better device than that found in a standard PC. cant i just run a cheap craigslist avr to pc (where music is stored & played through itunes),& have a more powerful/better sound w my headphones? To get a "better" sound you will need to bypass the DAC in the PC. Most craiglist avr's are not going to have a USB capable DAC. If they do, then you're in business. ive always used awful "5.1 dolby digital"...sound cards w a little speaker system with less than steller performance. i have a large music library, & now thats its cooling down to the 90s im ready to hang out in the garage again. plan is, as im updating all our av stuff in the living rm, i can move everything out here & have a pretty decent system. people online are saying that a seperate, even portable dac/amp sounds better than an avrs headphone amp. that cant be true is it? Yes, it can be true. The headphone amp in most avr's is just thrown in for user convenience. Even the relatively inexpensive portable headphone amp/DAC's can virtually match the performance of many avr headphone amps. im a noob, so any response thats too technical i probably wont have a clue what youre talking about lol. thanks!

The device referenced by @everettT, as well as others (Cambridge DACMagic XS, AudioQuest Dragon Fly, Cyrus, etc.) would all do a really good job of converting the digital files on your computer and amplifying them for your headphones with very nice quality. That's if you just intend on listening via headphones. If you want to play back through an avr/amp you can go with a desk top model that can also function as a pre-amp.

My experience:
Cambridge Audio DAC Magic XS to PC: Much better than the on board sound card in the PC. Quality compared to my Anthem MRX520 headphone amp....about 85% as nice.
Marantz HD DAC-1 to PC: Far better than the DAC Magic XS, far better than the Anthem MRX520 headphone amp.
Lot's of options and ways to approach this issue. Bottom line, equipment dedicated to a specific task is usually superior to equipment that attempts to do it all.

 

[1313stang]

ok thanks. i was looking at the little fiio units on amazon for under $100..eventually when i upgrade the avr in the living rm, ill move the old yamaha out here....that sucks hearing that co. dont put much into the headphone jack. by looking around online, there appears to be a huge market their not tapping for headphone lovers.

 

[lovinthehd]

You're going to sit in the garage and use headphones? Or are speakers also involved?

 

[CB22]

hey all. so im shopping around for headphones, & i keep coming across people who use small portable dac/amps combos, or what appears to be numerous pieces of complicated equipment to run their headphones from a pc. ive been watching alot of a youtube channel called z reviews. so question is why? cant i just run a cheap craigslist avr to pc (where music is stored & played through itunes), & have a more powerful/better sound w my headphones? ive always used awful "5.1 dolby digital"...sound cards w a little speaker system with less than steller performance. i have a large music library, & now thats its cooling down to the 90s im ready to hang out in the garage again. plan is, as im updating all our av stuff in the living rm, i can move everything out here & have a pretty decent system. people online are saying that a seperate, even portable dac/amp sounds better than an avrs headphone amp. that cant be true is it? im a noob, so any response thats too technical i probably wont have a clue what youre talking about lol. thanks!

A higher end DAC just helps "better convert" high quality audio files files. My reason for having a dac/ amp is that the avr would take up way too much space on my desk at work. You could totally do this though. More often than not you can get a better quality DAC in the combo route than the DACs they put in the entry level avrs. Unless your listening to FLAC or WAV files I' doubt you'll hear a difference between a separates DAC and a AVR DAC. I was listening to FLAC files through both my AVR and D50/O2 combo with the same headphones & I could not tell a difference.

Also, check out massDrop they have some good stuff on there on the electronics side. I would able to get my whole work set up for <$500. Knowing what I know now, my advice to you would be to put your money into better headphones and amp. That' what really makes the difference IMO. Btw, I watched some of Z-reviews videos I can't stand that damn cat .

 

[PENG]

ok thanks. i was looking at the little fiio units on amazon for under $100..eventually when i upgrade the avr in the living rm, ill move the old yamaha out here....that sucks hearing that co. dont put much into the headphone jack. by looking around online, there appears to be a huge market their not tapping for headphone lovers.

I am not aware of any Yamaha AVR that has USB DAC connection to a PC. You would have to store the files in a USB thumb drive or hard drive, or stream music on your PC. If you mainly want to play music from your PC using iTune, Foobar, JRiver etc., to your AVR, it is worth investing in one of those portable USB DAC/headpone amps or just a plain USB DAC.

 

[1313stang]

i thought pc card "line out" could go to a "digital" or somthing in on avr. or yea, jus use usb card or ipod....i get up at 3am for work, so i cant blare sabbath at 330am. i live in a modern track home in Vegas & we all live about 4 1/2 inches from one another lol. speakers are used during normal hrs. ...yea he gets on my nerves too but good general info. ill be getn sennheiser 598 tomorrow, & later audio technica atha?900x later in the week to audition. iv blown my gratos. & have been using/modifying my 10yr old sony v600s.

 

[everettT]

i thought pc card "line out" could go to a "digital" or somthing in on avr. or yea, jus use usb card or ipod....i get up at 3am for work, so i cant blare sabbath at 330am. i live in a modern track home in Vegas & we all live about 4 1/2 inches from one another lol. speakers are used during normal hrs. ...yea he gets on my nerves too but good general info. ill be getn sennheiser 598 tomorrow, & later audio technica atha?900x later in the week to audition. iv blown my gratos. & have been using/modifying my 10yr old sony v600s.

Most computers have dual purpose outputs ie analog and digital from the same output depending on the settings

 

[Bookmark]

It depends upon the motherboard audio as to whether it can drive a pair of headphones I know Asus and Creative have some which will drive upto 600 Ohm pairs. Compared to a decade ago most motherboards now have fairly decent audio and the need for separate cards or external DACs has diminished for most.

Unless you are planning on the more upscale headphones (600+Ohm) most of the current crop are sub 100 Ohm and pretty much anything including phones and tablets can drive them.

I have a iBasso Dx80 which is both a portable player and a DAC for the PC. The Oppo PM3s that I have are I think 26 Ohm and pretty much anything can drive them.

 

[1313stang]

thanks for the input everyone. i only have digital outs on pc. its only a few yrs old. i know a card will drive them, but my original question was why ppl online use the separate little portables vs an actual avr. the card i have now pushes the headphones um, ok. somewhat loud, but doesnt sound great. ive had mid range creative cards & now a junk asus card. the sound reminds me of an 82 s10 i had yrs ago that i put a bunch of cheap speakers in thinking im hot sh.. now, but realizing it sounded like crap...loud crap... but crap all the same. im looking for better quality & less software bs. i got this pc when the switch was happening over to win 10, so it was a early factory or seller reinstall version. & even though i dont have crash issues, theres alot of little wierd things it does that makes me wanna get away from a desktop.

 

[PENG]

thanks for the input everyone. i only have digital outs on pc. its only a few yrs old. i know a card will drive them, but my original question was why ppl online use the separate little portables vs an actual avr.

I understood your original question and thought I responded already in my post #9 if I made the right assumption of what you referred to as "separate little portable....". If so, those devices allow you to play music on your PC using Foobar, iTune, JRiver etc., and do all kinds of things that you cannot do otherwise. You can hook up your headphones to either those little ones, or to the headphone jack on your AVP/AVR. You obviously can use the output on the sound card but not all sound cards are equal, some may not sound good enough for you.

Again, the popular AVRs such as those made by Yamaha, D&M, Sony, don't have the USB DAC feature so you are limited to the options I also mentioned in post#9, that included playing music on a USB thumb drive or small hard drives formatted to FAT. You should be able to get decent sound quality in those scenarios. Is that what you meant when you mentioned "....vs an actual avr" ? If not, what exactly did you mean?

the card i have now pushes the headphones um, ok. somewhat loud, but doesn't sound great.
ive had mid range creative cards & now a junk asus card. the sound reminds me of an 82 s10 i had yrs ago that i put a bunch of cheap speakers in thinking im hot sh.. now, but realizing it sounded like crap...loud crap... but crap all the same. im looking for better quality & less software bs. i got this pc when the switch was happening over to win 10, so it was a early factory or seller reinstall version. & even though i dont have crash issues, theres alot of little wierd things it does that makes me wanna get away from a desktop.

Well then, you have more reasons to get one of those little things, and see if you like the sound quality better.

 

[slipperybidness]

ok thanks. i was looking at the little fiio units on amazon for under $100..eventually when i upgrade the avr in the living rm, ill move the old yamaha out here....that sucks hearing that co. dont put much into the headphone jack. by looking around online, there appears to be a huge market their not tapping for headphone lovers.

Yeah, I would be inclined to try the PC digi outs to an AVR.

For an (cheap) AVR, the headphone output is typically not a dedicated headphone amp OP, but rather an attenuated output pulled from a different output within the AVR.

It could likely be fine for your needs, hard to know until you try it for yourself.

 

[1313stang]

ok thanks all. yea i just couldnt fathom why ppl are paying hundreds of dollars on a desk full of equipment when theres $200 all in one avrs. i also didnt realize the avr headphone jacks are not separate or dedicated on avrs it never occurred to me they just moved the signal around. on a side note, got my sennheiser 598se the other day, meh. decent, & comfortable. weird cuz their on alot of "top" or "best" lists. sad that this is what 170$ gets you. subjective i guess. ppl seem to love the warm muffled tube sound. i tend towards bright and punchy. have audio technica ath900x coming later this wk to try them out.