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recommendations for newbie

I have dedicated 2 channel system which i am happy about (though may experiment a bit w/ speakers again, that twitch u know..) and have another HT set up. The room with the 2 channel set up also is a study....and I love using itunes/IPOD (i travel a LOT) so have music stored in my PC in Apple lossless. At times at night, there is need to use headphones. So what is the best and simple way to get the PC to headphone listening?

I have read about Headroom's USB DAC headphone amps and also heard great things about the benchmark DAC which has a headphone amp though some say the amp section ain't that great. Anything someone can recommend which is simple, not too large in size so I can simply place it on my desk?
henryhk
kublakhan
718 posts
 
Actually, I think the Benchmark's headphone jack is excellent. You can also get a headphone jack mod done at Empirical audio along with other mods.

Where are you using the headphones? If it's next to your two channel setup why not go from your computer into the Emm dac via a usb converter and then connect a great headphone amp? In other words, why are you choosing another dac with the headphone amp as opposed to the headphone amp only?

I've gone through my headphone phase and found that the Stax amps/cans are my favorite so if you buy something like the Headroom you'll be 'stuck' with using dynamic headphones. Make sure you prefer dynamic cans over electrostats first.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
I agree that the Benchmark Headphone amp can be excellent, although I still prefer listening to headphones through a tube headamp, modded of course.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
jax2
3,031 posts
 
It may be a bit large for your purposes, but the Berning Micro-ZOTL is wonderful head-amp. I used mine for much the same purpose as you describe - I brought mine on an extended road trip and it made for a great companion for my iPod and a pair of Sony MDR-3000 cans. Line-out of iPod via iDock into inputs of Berning. WAV files - not a bad way to pass the time in a hotel room when you're alone. As I mentioned, only downside is size.

Marco
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