Thanks for the responses, folks. It seems like a headphone amp will benefit me greatly, but I'm still wondering if I should buy better headphones first. I did a little experiment this morning and plugged my Senns into my Macbook (I'm not a computer audio guy yet) with its output impedance around 30 Ohms, and despite the crappy sound card the sound was worlds better than it was through my NAD. Still not a great impedance match, but it was better.
Though the bass was diminished when plugged into the laptop (I think the impedance mismatch with the NAD emphasizes the mid-bass because of the Senns' high impedance spike around 100Hz), the mids and treble were clearer. Cymbals sounded like metal rather than papery electronic hash, though resolution still wasn't excellent. A brushed snare on Lucinda Williams' "Fruits of My Labor" sounded like vague background clatter (think paperclips being shaken in an empty OJ-concentrate can), while it resolves perfectly through my speakers. Not sure if that's a limitation of the headphones, though I do see that they're capable of better sound than I was getting.
The Portal Panache is new to me and looks like a great product. That might be a good future upgrade for me. For now, it's a little out of my reach. I've read a bit on Head-Fi but haven't joined yet, so I appreciate everyone's input here. Still don't know if I should put the Schiit or headphones on the list first (ideally I'll eventually do both)--but I'm open to further suggestions! Admittedly I'm still not a huge headphone fan, as listening fatigue sets in pretty fast for me even at low volumes, but they're good for keeping peace with the neighbors.
Though the bass was diminished when plugged into the laptop (I think the impedance mismatch with the NAD emphasizes the mid-bass because of the Senns' high impedance spike around 100Hz), the mids and treble were clearer. Cymbals sounded like metal rather than papery electronic hash, though resolution still wasn't excellent. A brushed snare on Lucinda Williams' "Fruits of My Labor" sounded like vague background clatter (think paperclips being shaken in an empty OJ-concentrate can), while it resolves perfectly through my speakers. Not sure if that's a limitation of the headphones, though I do see that they're capable of better sound than I was getting.
The Portal Panache is new to me and looks like a great product. That might be a good future upgrade for me. For now, it's a little out of my reach. I've read a bit on Head-Fi but haven't joined yet, so I appreciate everyone's input here. Still don't know if I should put the Schiit or headphones on the list first (ideally I'll eventually do both)--but I'm open to further suggestions! Admittedly I'm still not a huge headphone fan, as listening fatigue sets in pretty fast for me even at low volumes, but they're good for keeping peace with the neighbors.