Piece of Schiit Headphone Amp

[Todd]

For a variety of reasons, I've had to spend more time listening to music via headphones recently, and this practical reality will persist for some time to come.  Up to now, I've focused on building stereo rigs that played through traditional loudspeakers, and as a result, neither my main system nor my bedroom system has the capacity to play music via headphones.  Only my "home theater," anchored by a rather pleasant NAD C372, has such a capacity, but the headphone jack leaves a bit to be desired.  (There are only really two problems with it: 1.) the output level of the headphone jack is too high, and 2.) it doesn't sound good.)  All this means that I had to get a headphone amp.  The idea did not excite me.

First of all, even though I have to listen to more music via headphones, I had no desire, and still have no desire, to spend lots of cash on a headphone amp.  They come in a wide array of prices, of course, from under a C-note to thousands.  The idea of paying thousands makes me chuckle; it'll never happen.  Likewise, buying bottom of the barrel seems unattractive.  Being a die-hard Naimie, it seemed natural to consider the Naim Headline, but that's $500 bucks, and it requires a power supply, which would run at least another $500, and there was no way I was going to pay a grand or more for a headphone amp.  (It is possible to use one of my pre-amp jacks to power the Headline, but then my phono pre-amp would be powerless, which would get me nowhere.)  I looked around a little, and tested a few items.  The Grado headphone amp, at least when paired with Grado headphones, sounds awful.  (I believe that has more to do with Grado headphones sounding awful.)  The Pro-Ject headphone amp is okay, but it sounds thin.  I even went to a shop that specializes in headphones and headphone amps and tried a couple different models, mostly tube models, which did little beyond enforce my antipathy to tubes.  Things didn't look too promising.

A local used hi-fi gear came to the rescue, at least temporarily.  I got a nice enough Creek OBH 11, with the upgraded power supply, for just over a hundred bucks.  I got it home, plugged it in, took a listen, and it made some nice sound.  It's beefy and warm.  It's also a bit congested and not exactly too detailed.  Indeed, somewhat against expectations, the sound through headphones was less detailed than the sound through my main speakers.  Perhaps this isn't too surprising as I went out of my way to buy speakers that are a bit on the ruthlessly revealing side.  I started to think something a bit more elaborate was in order, but what?

Then I read about a new company, formed around June 2010, called Schiit Audio.  Yes, it's called Schiit and it's pronounced 'shit.'  The main guys behind it are industry veterans, and obviously the name was selected for its good humor, and probably also for its marketing potential.  Will the company be around for long?  There's always a risk in buying gear from a young company that said company will fold and not be able to service its products.  You just never know if the company in question is the next Mark Levinson, or the next Meadowlark Audio.  Well, it doesn't really matter from my perspective because they offer only three cheap products, ranging from $250 to $450.  The $250 headphone amp is solid state, so that's what caught my eye.  It's called the Asgard (a perfect complement to Schiit).  I bought one. 

It's sweet.  Gone is the beefy, warm, congested, and not very detailed sound of the Creek.  In its place is a smooth, very detailed, nicely balanced sound (by which I mean no frequency range gets a boost).  Right of the box it was a notably better than the Creek, which is funny since the Creek setup is $325 new.  Better sound for less money – I like it.  After it warmed up for about ninety minutes, it sounded even better.  At said point in time, I started spinning a variety of discs to hear what the unit would do.  Piano music, chamber music, orchestral music, pop music, all sounded really nifty.  It didn't matter if I was using my Sennheisers (HD515s) or Beyerdynamics (DT440s), the sound was great.  The Schiit did do something somewhat unexpected: it made the Beyerdynamics sound better than the Sennheisers.  Beyerdynamic headphones definitely have more treble energy, and as a result sound more detailed.  Some people think Beyerdynamics are too bright, and some units probably are, and they are not to everyone's taste, but when paired with the Asgard they sound great, especially for such a cheap pair of cans.  Anyway, string quartets sound superb through this setup.  Each instrument is more clearly delineated than through regular speakers, or at least my speakers.  Piano sounds superb, too, though obviously the lower register lacks heft.  Orchestral music offers a bit more of a challenge.  Detail is abundantly clear through the Asgard, with every creak, every turn of the score's page, every everything easily audible.  It's easier than ever to follow any specific part of a piece of music.  You want to follow the cellos – easy.  The winds, same.  But scale and heft and oomph are of course curtailed.  Yes, yes, the specs say that headphones have great low frequency extension, going all the way down to 15 or 10 or even 5 Hz.  That doesn't matter much, because one only hears an approximation of low frequencies.  Indeed, really low frequencies are felt more than heard, and even moving into the 30-40 Hz range, headphones just do not and cannot deliver credible bass performance.  They also cannot deliver large dynamic swings.  An orchestral tutti through headphones sounds nice and detailed, but small and constricted.  And where is the soundstage?  When I listen to live music and to my stereo, a nice big "physical" reality exists before me.  With headphones, a little blob of sound, however detailed, exists only in my head.  Okay, so there are drawbacks, but I knew that already, and I can, and must, live with them. 

I do have a few quibbles about the piece of Schiit.  First, the power switch is a tiny metal switch of a throwback type, and it's mounted on the rear.  I would have preferred a plastic rocker switch on the rear, or a push-button on the front.  (Build quality is otherwise impeccable for such a cheap product.)  Second, the transformer does emit a slight mechanical hum.  This would only be an issue for those who want to sit less than a foot away from the unit and not listen to music.  Third, there is a slight buzz apparent when the volume control is turned up past the 1:30 position and no music is being played.  This equates to deafening volume if music is playing, so I can't say it's a problem.  (I listen with the volume set between 9:30 and 10:30.)  Oh, and it's not a problem, and the product manual and web-site make it very clear, but this unit runs very warm.  It is Class A, so that's expected, and it doesn't get really hot.  The only possible downside is that the volume control knob also gets warm, though it's not too hot to touch. 

I like this little unit quite a bit; it will make listening to headphones much easier.  Now I just need to get some better headphones to fully exploit this little amp. 

Oh, and for those who concern themselves with such things, Schiit is American made.  That's a nice touch, but hardly a big selling point for me.

[Coopmv]

Looks like a nice American-made headphone amp.  Just about all my vintage preamps have excellent built-in headphone amps.  My observation is most receivers or preamps made in  recent years have lousy tuners and headphone amps are mostly eliminated or you are stuck with some cheap ones - a consequence of the increasingly worthless dollar.

[Scarpia]

Looks like a nice American-made headphone amp.  Just about all my vintage preamps have excellent built-in headphone amps.  My observation is most receivers or preamps made in  recent years have lousy tuners and headphone amps are mostly eliminated or you are stuck with some cheap ones - a consequence of the increasingly worthless dollar.

You have a very strange idea of cause and effect. 

I have the previous version of the Headroom headphone amp.  My old-school NAD pre-amp has a very nice headphone output, but I like the Headroom for the cross-feed.  It mixes a little of the left channel into the right with a time delay, and visa versa.  This gives a more natural image if the recording has strong stereo separation.  (Your brain expects any sound incident of the left ear will be heard in the other ear, delayed and at diminished volume).  I plug the unit into the output that would normally go to the power amplifier, because I like to be able to use the tone controls when listening to headphones.

I've been looking for something to use on the computer and have tentatively decided to go with this one, the NuForce Icon uDAC-2. 

It doesn't have cross-feed, but I can do cross-feed in software with foobar.  It does have a handy variety of features, such as headphone, line and SPDIF output, so in the future I can use to send sound to an amp or receiver, if the need arises.

[The new erato]

Holy chraap.

[Holden]

To my way of thinking you've gone about this back to front. Surely a better set of cans would be the first option you'd go for before considering an amp - especially considering the quality of the rest of your HiFi gear. Are those amps emphasising that the phones you own just don't do it for you? Is it also possible that the Schiit amp is masking the deficiencies of your Senns and Beyers and that the other more expensive amps were ruthlessly revealing?

[Brian]

I'm still enough of a sonic newbie that I use my headphones without any amp, but I did want to say that it's very good to hear America is still the world's leading producer of Schiit.

[Gurn Blanston]

As long as you are driving Schitt with them, Todd, shouldn't you be looking at the amp from Uranus?



PS - I don't do headphones, sorry I haven't anything positive to add.

[Todd]

To my way of thinking you've gone about this back to front. Surely a better set of cans would be the first option you'd go for before considering an amp - especially considering the quality of the rest of your HiFi gear.

My hifi doesn't have the ability to drive headphones, except for the NAD, which has a poor sounding headphone jack, so a headphone amp was required in order for me to listen in my main system (which is in a dedicated room to boot).  I have three sets of headphones, all of which sound significantly better through the Schiit than the NAD, so I must conclude that the NAD headphone jack is not very good.  Hell, even the Creek headphone amp trounces then NAD headphone jack. 

Now that I have a good headphone amp, I will buy a better set of headphones.  Most likely I'll go for Beyerdynamic DT 880s and/or Sennheiser HD 650s.  I was able to compare the Beyerdynamic Tesla to the DT 770, and while the Tesla sounds better, it does not sound $1000 better, so I think I'll limit myself to more sanely priced cans.  The lesser headphones will be relegated to duty with my portable CD player.

Incidentally, it is my speakers and main system that can be ruthlessly revealing, which I prefer to muddled, and it is only with the Schiit and Beyerdynamics that I get a sound as equally (or more so) revealing through headphones.

[Daverz]

I have a Creek OBH 11.  Nice and smooth sounding, but I think the Musical Fidelity V-Can sounds better, and the Creek developed some kind of connection problem with the headphone jack.  The problem with both is that you are too often in the low range of the volume control with some cans.  And the V-Can has no power button at all!

I had a Benchmark DAC home for a week or so, and that has a killer headphone output, along with adjustable gain.  (I didn't really care for it in the big rig, though).  These pop up often on Audiogon.

I also have an integrated amp, the Bryston B-60, which has a fine headphone output.  A bit too bulky for the night table, though.

The cans I've been using most recently are the Senn. HD-650s.

[Scarpia]

My hifi doen't have the ability to drive headphones, except for the NAD, which has a poor sounding headphone jack, so a headphone amp was required in order for me to listen in my main system (which is in a dedicated room to boot).  I have three sets of headphones, all of which sound significantly better through the Schiit than the NAD, so I must conclude that the NAD headphone jack is not very good.  Hell, even the Creek headphone amp trounces then NAD headphone jack. 

Now that I have a good headphone amp, I will buy a better set of headphones.  Most likely I'll go for Beyerdynamic DT 880s and/or Sennheiser HD 650s.  I was able to compare the Beyerdynamic Tesla to the DT 770, and while the Tesla sounds better, it does not sound $1000 better, so I think I'll limit myself to more sanely priced cans.  The lesser headphones will be relegated to duty with my portable CD player.

Incidentally, it is my speakers and main system that can be ruthlessly revealing, which I prefer to muddled, and it is only with the Schiit and Beyerdynamics that I get a sound as equally (or more so) revealing through headphones.

I'm not a fan of Sennheiser.   AKG-701's are probably the most "revealing" set I have, although I generally prefer my Beyer and Denon sets for more satisfying warmth of sound.

[Holden]

Now that I have a good headphone amp, I will buy a better set of headphones.  Most likely I'll go for Beyerdynamic DT 880s and/or Sennheiser HD 650s.  I was able to compare the Beyerdynamic Tesla to the DT 770, and while the Tesla sounds better, it does not sound $1000 better, so I think I'll limit myself to more sanely priced cans.  The lesser headphones will be relegated to duty with my portable CD player.

Incidentally, it is my speakers and main system that can be ruthlessly revealing, which I prefer to muddled, and it is only with the Schiit and Beyerdynamics that I get a sound as equally (or more so) revealing through headphones.

Having read your many posts over the years I suspect that when you do come to upgrade to a new sets of phones you'll go about it in your usual thorough manner. With that in mind can I suggest a couple of other options for you to consider.

AKG 701
AKG 702
Alessandro MS2
Alessandro MS Pro
Denon AHD2000

[Todd]

Alessandro MS2
Alessandro MS Pro

Hmm, I don't recall seeing the name Allesandro before.  I'll have to look around to see if there are any in town.  I've already sampled some nice AKGs (though not the 700 series) and some pricey Denons.  The Denons were very nice, and man were they comfortable. 

The headphone specialty shop I visit is great: I can audition any of the headphones they have on display with a custom built multi-amp set up where all of the amps are the same and they are fed by identical sources with identical music, and thankfully some of the music is worth listening to.  I can also bring in my music and my amp if I want.  Last visit I listened to a half dozen set of cans.  Next visit should be another half dozen.

[Scarpia]

Having read your many posts over the years I suspect that when you do come to upgrade to a new sets of phones you'll go about it in your usual thorough manner. With that in mind can I suggest a couple of other options for you to consider.

AKG 701
AKG 702
Alessandro MS2
Alessandro MS Pro
Denon AHD2000

I've bolded two I have, mostly I listen to the Denons these days.  The AKG 701's strike me as very "analytical," the Denons are smoother.  But which sounds better depends on the source material, to some extent.