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So Santa was nice and brought me a nice set of Beyerdymanics DT990 Pro 250ohm cans for Christmas. So far, I'm enjoying them very much. I'm primarily a "speaker" guy, but I wanted a set of phones for late night listening.
My question is about amplification. I am using my regular system for the source and the pre-amp dutues (VPI TT or Rega CD w/Rega DAC for source, Rogue Audio Perseus Magnum tubed preamp), and then routing the music through the second set of pre-outs to a vintage Yamaha A-1 (c. 1979) Integrated, which has a headphone section. This amp is a well-regarded integrated, with huge power supplies and an all DC design. I believe the output to the headphone jack is 35mv at 8 ohms, but I may have that wrong.
In any event, the sound (to my ears) is pretty good. The DT990s reveal a lot of information (similar to my Vandersteen speakers), but also have smooth highs and midrange, and very good (but real) bass. Lots of transparency, no harshness. The Yamaha seems to be able to drive them with power to spare.
Here is the question: Do dedicated headphone amps generally blow away regular amplifiers with headphone outputs? In general, does a lower end dedicated headphone amp like a Schiit Asgard or Magni perform much better than a regular amplifier? Part of me is curious to try one, but it's hard to imagine the sound getting much better than I'm getting from this integrated.
Follow Ups:
High quality, dedicated headphone amps can make the biggest difference(s) if you have headphones that are exceptionally weird (earspeakers, electrostatics, etc...), or are exceptionally difficult to drive for some other reason. Your Beyer headphones are not known for being that difficult to drive. However, different headphone amps sometimes provide different types of tonal balances ("sonic character"). In other words, some amps will seem like a more synergistic match within your system than others will. The most dramatic difference for me, amplification-wise, was when I switched to balanced drive.
Edits: 01/03/13 01/05/13
I'm of the opinion that most headphone sections of integrateds or pre-amps are afterthoughts by design and present compromises to the quality of reproduction. If you really want to hear what your cans are cabable of then spend the money and get a high quality dedicated amp. I have Beyerdynamic T1's paired to a Meier Audio Corda Classic amp and could not be happier.
However..if your pleased with the sound..then save yourself the money and enjoy your music.
.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
Headphone amps certainly can make a difference to the sound of headphones (& quite large ones in my experience - synergy?) but it appears that you have found a good match here going by your description of the sound, unless you feel you are missing something.
I would stay with this setup for now & wait for an opportunity to demo an amp which is free of obligations (perhaps from a fellow enthusiast or understanding dealer) to see if the sound signature is an improvement.
In my experience, if these are underamped, it's likely the bass will feel uncontrolled and loose. And the transition to the midrange won't clearly enunciate.
But when you say, "[they] reveal a lot of information (similar to my Vandersteen speakers)" all I can say is Wow! Seems like you have a good match.
Big differences between headphone amps is seriously over rated.
IMO, you're just fine, especially with the 990 Pros.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
The Schiit pieces are very good for the price, and maybe even pretty
good on an absolute basis. The Decware 'phones/pre amp is superior
for not a lot more money. But you'll never know until you try them.
Until you're ready to spring the bucks, enjoy what you've got.
The music, after all, is what it's all about.
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