20 Best Headphone Amp Under 100 (2023 Updated)

This is a great AMP/DAC that is super compact. You can use it normally on your desk or carry it around to use with you Android/Apple device. Works wonders for a laptop or tablet, which have trouble running 50Ω-150Ω impedance headphones.

Bass boost feature is also done in good taste, it doesn’t crush the mids or highs. It just gives a sizable bump to the bass without compromising the other frequencies. You will a good set of cans to pair with these however.

I’d recommend the Sennheiser HD599 (For Open-Back goodness) , Hifiman HE400SE (For Planar Magnetic Bass) or a Beyerdynamic – DT770 PRO (For isolated Closed-Back). These are all in 10k-15k inr range and pair well with the K3.

Using the K3 DAC (my first ever) with DIY built Overnight sensation speakers. The amp I am using is Sanwu TPA 3118 clone with Nichicon capacitor mod. I am unable to hear even a tiny difference in quality while playing 320 kbps files in foobar.

I am using Magicbook 15 for playing the files. Might be that my Speaker & Amp combo aren’t much resolving or the realtek DAC inside my notebook is just too good! Doesn’t seem like an upgrade at all for my system but i will be checking it in combination with other system if it improves any quality w.

r. t onboard audio. Wondering if DACs are indeed snake oil !.

I have a higher-end motherboard with good audio (ALC1220), so I did not expect much improvement in audio over it but I was pleasantly surprised. Pros: – Good improvement over a motherboard audio – Works fine with Dolby atmos headphones (I know some DAC’s don’t) – Non fatiguing, kind of warm sound signature.

Cons: – Low amp power output: I am using a relatively easier to drive HD599 and HE400i and I am on high gain with volume maxed out. – Limited input options: Only has USB c in, would rather have an optical in and coax in, the optical out doesn’t make sense to me.

This is an early impression of the above combo. The Sundara is indeed a different class of headphone. For those who are yet to experience it you should save up and get one for sure! However, out of the box the Sundara needs a good amp dac to drive it to its true potential.

This is where the iFi hip dac 2 comes in. The hip dac 2 makes the sound stage a little wider, it’s sound signature is warm, when played with power match function it help the Sundara perform better.

Overall it will take your listening sessions to a trance like experience. One suggestion- Also invest in a good balanced audio cable set. I am yet to get one. Looking for a deal from Headphonezone! 🙂 Go for the iFi Hip Dac 2 if you have a premium entry level audiophile headset, you won’t regret it!.

Read too many reviews and suggestions that DAC is must for headphones. This one is actually very good. It greatly improves the sound of headphones , senn 650 sound lean from Samsung s20 plus. Vocal was sleepy , Lata sounded subdued but when I attached this hip dac suddenly the song ‘achcha tho hum chalte hai ‘ come to its original colour.

Sound especially the Vocal is fuller and body. Also the sound is a bit clean and clear with a little more shine, more pleasing to ears. It gives more joy and polish to the song and music. No hiss or any colouration.

It makes the music better for sure. Very nice build with metal and small solid form. Easy to operate and connect. Highly recommended.

Hip Dac 2 A beautiful & superb little Dac Amp from IFI producing a lovely wide sound stage with clear vocals and detailed instrumentals. Although the bass was not over powerful even with the bass button selected, I could still disern it’s presence in the background.

It had no problem driving my Shure 1840’s, my B&W P7’s, my Grado SR80X’s, and both my sets of IEM’s my Linsoul Plannar P1’s, and Shure 535’s. I also have to praise Richard from Audiologica who was friendly and informative with great communication skills when there was a small stock issue when I ordered the Hip Dac 2 online.

He was very up front about it and was great in contacting me on when it was due back in stock and also when it was posted out to me, so once again, thank you Richard.

The ifi hip-dac is an excellent little piece of equipment for the price. It features a solid brushed metal body with a metal volume knob that are shaped to resemble a drinking flask. Maybe the connotation is that you can dial up how drunk you want to get on the sound, but I digress.

Its fairly lightweight and since it is designed for portability, its easy to carry around with you for that purpose. Its a little more difficult to slide in your pocket for a walk since you can easily bump the volume knob that way, so its better off sitting on a desk.

You can purchase scotch restickable dots or Velcro patches to place on the back side of your device case and the DAC so you can attach them to keep them from moving about. It has usb-c charging, a usb male port for connectivity, and a balanced and unbalanced jack for whatever equipment you might have that requires it.

The are several lights, one to denote the file type that is being played (differentiating between MQA, DSD, 44 etc. ) and one that signals battery life. It also features a x-bass button for an extra boost in the low end and a power match button that matches impedance for a pair of headphones (although too powerful for an IEM).

The sound is, simply put, incredible for the size and price of this device. I highly suggest you take a track you know well and compare with it on and off, and youll see that this DAC has a lot of capability.

The sound is much fuller and rich, highlighting intricacies of a recording and breathing new life into spaces where your headphones might lack a little oomph. Its more than just added gain – trebles are much sharper, mid range has more pronounced body and the low end receives much more recognition without getting carried away.

I certainly prefer it with the X-bass on. This isnt like a typical bass booster that turns the volume up on the low end and invades the rest of the track. It gives bass much more definition without overdoing it in any instrument or voice.

You can hear more of the body of an acoustic guitar or a violin, which gives the recording more characteristics than might normally hear it as. Of course, this depends on your equipment. If youre going to pay for the DAC, its best to enjoy it with nicer headphones or IEMs.

Thats where youll hear what this DAC brings to the table. As an on the go for the plane or at your desk, this works really well. The battery life is a few hours shy of whats advertised, but this will depend a bit on what headphones your driving and what your usage looks like, but it charges fast enough.

I highly recommend itto anyone looking to add another element to your secondary hi-fi setup. This certainly punched above its weight class and is a solid performer at this price level.

Having purchased the hip-dac I had to wait a few weeks for appropriate headphones, COVID made it difficult to sample a few audio-file types so went with HD560 but would have loved the opportunity to make a comparison with more expensive Richer Sound sourced ones.

Initial reaction to listening via Spotify (hi res) was okay but not quite quite what I’d hoped for. A subscription from Tidal hi-res together with MQA software is one route to hear any real difference.

I’m reluctant as that locks me in to an expensive subscription based service over and above one I already have. I think I’d rather pay for particular album favourites downloads but further research suggests MQA is just one format against many with pro’s and cons, there is another format called DSD as well as FLAC!!! VHS versus Betamax all over again I hear some saying? So you pays your money and takes your choice.

CD sourced music via iTunes/Music app using Apple Lossless format on my iMac I can hear a real difference so you could say the DAC is doing its job. I’m glad I didn’t spend too much money on the hip-dac and headphone combination as it’s just another gateway into another route that can be just as confusing when it comes to file format and device compatibility.

So my advice is go for it if you already have a Tidal account hi-res and use the MQA software. I’ll wait to see what the Spotify offering will be will be later this year. I wish you many hours of music enjoyment, the DAC is better than the ones installed in my iPad/iMac, it is good but.

:-).

A quick caveat: I’m relatively new to the world of high fidelity audio. I was introduced by a friend who let me try his JDS amp and Fiio DAC. I thought there was enough there to explore a little more, so I jumped in and bought this DAC/Amp for my set of AKG K702 headphones.

The performance with the iFi Hip DAC as opposed to being driven by my Macbook was night and day. Playing around with DSD files gave me some listening experiences that I’ve simply never heard anything like before.

While this combo doesn’t measure too well on the likes of ASR, it just sounds fantastic. It is a brilliant entry point and I’m glad that I purchased it. Now the bad. As simply a piece of tech, it’s finicky and irritating to operate and setup.

For some strange reason, you can only connect the thing using a USB A connection, which for a Macbook user means dongle time. Also, the bit-rate LEDs are not a great way to convey that information — especially for red-green colourblind person.

Finally, the battery is not great. It runs out within a few hours, and it isn’t powered by the USB it is plugged into. You can plug it in while using it, but that means another power supply, which defeats the purpose of a portable DAC.

All-in-all, I would recommend this for the price. Given the chance, I would still buy it again over the FiiO and Topping options.

Wanted a usb c to 3. 5 dongle for new smartphone. This had good reviews though costs more than a dongle. However after using it for few days, definitely feel it is worth purchasing. Ended up using my Audio-technica m50x more than ever because of this dac.

Don’t know if i received defected piece. It’s not working on my Samsung Galaxy S20+ and getting hot when connecting to phone. Not working on Laptop as well. Returning it. Disappointed product by FiiO.

Attractive build, super small, appreciate integrated USB cable. Would be nice to have some more color codes for different sampling rates.

Like many people who purchased this Mojo 2, I also had the original Mojo. To me, these two devices provide vastly different sound characteristics. The original Mojo was so amazing back when it launched as it provided a very clean sound, extremely silent noise floor, excellent sound separation with extremely fast attack (transients), providing dramatic improvement to smart phones with a big improvement in power to drive higher quality headphones.

Despite all of these improvements, the original Mojo had a very laid back sound. The Mojo 2, though, is far from laid back. It has even faster attack (at least, subjectively) but more importantly, the overall sound has a lot more energy, impact, with none of the laid back feeling that the original Mojo had.

Sound profile-wise, it’s much closer in “feel” to the Hugo2 than the original Mojo. The menu system is also excellent. The holographic sound works very well, pretty much identical to the H2. The eq, is very nice too.

The sound effect is a little different from other eq features. But it works very well, and the sound remains very clean. Raising the eq also stays very clean, never introducing distortion, at least in my usage.

For some music, I lower treble, for some I lower bass. On rare occasions, I raise bass. All in all, I’ve been very happy with the addition of lossless eq in the Mojo 2. The Poly works well with it, but the convenience of having a screen and physical control buttons has made me switch from using the Poly to using the Duoo X10Tii (a device that is strictly a transport, similar to a poly, and therefore has no dac, no amp hardware or functions internally).

I’ve enjoyed using the Mojo 2 with Focal Utopia, Stellia, Beyedynamic T1, Senn HD800, Campfire Audio Cascade, and Nighthawk. My absolutely favorite pairing is the KSE1200, which really shines with the Mojo 2 for classical and jazz music.

This combination is, truly spectacular in my opinion, and as a transportable device, for acoustical instrument focused music, it seems pretty a combination that is hard to beat. For portability, the IEM I’m using most often surprised me, as it’s the extremely inexpensive CCA NRA, a $25 iem.

The Mojo 2 is able to bring out the transient capability of the CCA NRA very well, especially for violin, light cymbal, and other higher frequency acoustic instruments. This IEM doesn’t do bass well, but for jazz and classical, it’s ideal, making it a surprisingly good combo with the Mojo 2.

Having said all that, the Mojo 2’s sound is so distinctly different form the Mojo 1’s more laid back presentation, that I think that a significant number of folks who purchase the Mojo 2 won’t be selling the Mojo 1.

It still has its place as a more relaxed sound signature with excellent sound separation/layering. While a lot of folks complain about the existence of USB-Micro, that doesn’t really bother me (well, the USB micro for power is a little slow, but c’est la vie).

I really love that coax has been upgraded and can now handle 768kHz, and the optical still remains. I’m using optical now, but have used coax before with the Mojo 2 and the Cayin N5ii (USB-C to coax) as well as the Hiby R6 (coax to coax) and they both work just fine.

What does bother me still, is the battery. The battery life has supposedly been improved and that’s great. Even better is the battery management being more like the Hugo2, with battery conservation while the Mojo 2 is plugged in.

But it’s still a LiPo battery. LiPo really sucks for longevity. Even if you never use a LiPo battery, its lifespan is pretty short compared to other battery technologies. It stores a lot of power in a small space, but who cares if the battery capacity drops to 60% in two years.

I would have much preferred some change to the battery tech used in the Mojo 2. I’ve replaced the battery in the original Mojo twice so far, and this third battery has already dropped to about 80% capacity, so will have to consider buying yet another from the CableCompany some time in the next year or so.

But, whatever. If I have to replace the Mojo 2 battery in a couple of years, so be it. All in all, the Mojo 2 provides a stunning sound in a very small package. Given how many of the characteristics that made the original Mojo so amazing no longer stand out in light of the slew of amazing DAPs and portable DACs that have emerged over the last 6 years from great manufacturers like iBasso, Cayin, Fiio, Hiby, Sony, iFi, and others, the uniquely transient focused, impactful sound of the new Mojo 2 is a refreshing and very welcome update.

I would recommend the Mojo 2 to anyone seeking better sound on the road.

I received the Mojo 2 yesterday after about 3 weeks on backorder. I thought that it would be like most other products—an improvement albeit a small one. During my wait I had some reservations and thought I may even cancel my order because my budget for such gear has become less now with one son in grad school and another close to college age.

I was going to try it out and if it did not justify the cost, I was going to send it back. After listening to the Mojo 2 out of the box with my 7Hz Timeless (IEMs) and Focal Clear MG, I was intrigued.

With the stock settings (flat), the sound signal was transparent and brought out the strengths of my ear/headphones. Then I played with the digital tone controls and my jaw dropped. I have a Schitt Loki, which I use with my desktop rig, and it helps out with getting the FR to where I like it but since it is analog, it does change the signal going to the HP amp, compressing frequencies or adding additional noise depending on whether I decrease or increase certain frequency ranges.

The Mojo 2, however, applies it’s attenuation or amplification of a frequency range digitally and losslessly. No part of the sound signal, detail or timber is lost. This feature is unlike any sound shaping I have ever heard and much better to my ears than iFI’s 3D and Bass Boost.

It even turned other earphones and headphones that I have stopped listening to sound completely different and in a good way. I wondered if this improvement would translate to my speakers. I hooked the Mojo 2 to my main rig and compared the stock settings with my current DAC, the Teac UD501 with my favorite Burr Brown chip.

The Teac had a warmer presentation while the Chord had some warmth, but was definitely more incisive to the micro details. I recently bought the Elac Unify Reference UBR52 speakers that I was comparing to my beloved Revel Performa F52s.

The Revels are 15+ years old and still sound so good that I have never wanted to replace them, even with the new speaker advancements. The Elacs are terrific budget speakers but in comparison with F52s have anemic bass and less detail and sparkle.

When I set up the sound shaping on the Mojo 2, the sound from the Elacs, driven by the Cinepro 6. 4, an even older SS amp (now out of production) with 400 wpc, approached the Revels in every aspect of sound reproduction that is important to me – foundational bass, correct tone and timber, details-details-details, transparency and natural sound that took away the speakers.

For the price of the Mojo 2, I was able to improve the sound of a well-engineered budget speaker to approach a speaker that would cost between $10-$15k today. The value of this piece of gear is off the charts.

If Chord can produce a product like this at this price point, imagine what the Hugo TT 2 or Dave can do. Not only am I NOT sending the Mojo2 back, I’m going to start saving for the Hugo TT2. So much for higher education.

Was looking for new DAC to replace my Arcam irDAC2. bought this for feature set and for sound quality. Doubles as headphone DAC/Amp and main system DAC for me. I stream from my Arcam CDS27 or Wiim Mini in main system using Audirvana Studio.

Sound from both through this Mojo 2 is excellent – lots of detail, separation and bass – noticably better than my irDAC2 with same setup. I like the equalisation modes – very customisable. and useful for my different headphones.

Also to increase / decrease bass or shoutiness from speakers in main system – This is an Arcam A39 Amp bi-wired (QED XT40i) to Dali Opticon 6 speakers. I had to buy new toslink & digital co-ax connectors and a new audio cable connector for the amp but easily available from Chord (£100 each though.

) Bear this in mind if using in a main system as the cheap cables I had originally did muddy the sound quality. The flexibility and primarily the improved sound quality outweighed this additional cost.

I would have gone for Audiolab MDAC+ or Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 200 if I hadn’t bought the Chord – both more expensive (even with new interconnects) and less flexible for me, albeit more connections – Also can’t speak about sound quality as not tried these after hearing the Mojo 2.

However, I now also have a fantastic sounding and compact desktop headphone setup for working in my office as well as superb DAC thats appropriate for my main stereo system too. Whats not to like?.

With my sensitive IEMs and no media connected, turning this amplifier on creates a steady background hiss. This sound remains at the same level regardless of volume, so is additive with the noise floor of the recording, obscuring detail and making for unpleasant listening.

It is loud enough to be heard with less sensitive headphones at higher volumes if the track you’re playing is quiet and has a non-zero noise floor. The user interface is fiddly, and testing settings or setting EQ is painful because of the number of button clicks it takes to get to the dialogs.

Also, the menu resets itself quite quickly. The USB ports don’t quite line up with the holes in the case. This means it is hard to insert a USB cable. The Dirac Sensaround II feature is not impressive.

It definitely degrades the sound quality, making classical tracks sound muddy and dull. I had high hopes for it. Finally, the back of the case is leather-like and slightly convex so it will not lay flat, instead spins easily when sitting on my desk.

I’ve begun an exchange process because I can hardly believe that this device was designed to behave this poorly. If the replacement unit is better, I’ll update this review, and if Monoprice treats me well during the exchange, I may even say some nice things.

It is OK with IEM’s but sensational with most big, over the ear cans I have. Particularly with the Monoprice’s own M1060. No, I’m not paid for this, I guess this is what they used when developing this DAC.

It is super fast, starts and stops without overhang as the music flows, silent background, not the velvety dark type, just nothing type, like pure air between the notes. The best part is the space and the details.

I haven’t turned the Dirac on yet, no need for it. Tonality is nice and neutral with huge dynamic drive at high volumes without loosing its grip of the music. It is the kind of equipment the glues you to your system because you want to hear every music over again for the way it recreates the recordings from zeros and ones.

Beats the Mojo hands down, the entertainment value is right there with some real big boy home DAC’s. I’ve tried it with the LCD X, T1, H6XX, and the 701 too. Yes, the form factor is not the fanciest I have seen, but I could not care less because the way it performs.

Again, just OK with IEM’s, however, it drove the Isine 20 nicely. If the faux leather on the the back was genuine toad skin I would still keep it! It is that good. And not just for the price.

Overall great value. In terms of power and quality it’s been an upgrade over my Oppo HA-2 SE and Dirac Sensaround does an amazing job on source material that lends itself well to it. However, there’s issues that prevents me from giving this product 5 stars:1.

Analog in will force an analog-digital-conversion to run the signal through the internal DAC. Unfortunately, that ADC is abysmally bad, managing to reduce sound quality even coming from a mediocre phone built-in DAC.

As such, the analog input is completely unusable for me. 2. There’s at least one firmware glitch I could find: Using it via USB on my phone, it’ll go to DSD128 (probably because of a player app trying to start that had this material set before) and it will show a level of -61dB (which can’t be set manually, as after -60dB comes MUTE).

That’s irritating, but when I then play something from another app, with a different output format, it starts to blast at 0dB. Annoying at best, dangerous with efficient headphones!.

I’m using it to stream music through Tidal, connected via the recommended iPhone camera adapter to a set of powered Audioengine speakers. You can definitely tell the difference, it sounds fantastic, even to a non-audiophile.

I hear the difference most prominently in percussion and string basses, for example. I found the product description on the AE website to be rather incomplete, and it took way more time than it should have to figure out what playback devices would produce the best quality sound and in what configuration.

What I finally figured out is that, because I wanted to stream to my speakers that my desktop only connects to in another room via an Airport Express, it would be better to stream directly from an iPhone to the D1 DAC.

Otherwise you lose the benefit of Tidal’s 24-bit Master Quality tracks getting fully decoded by the D1. But to connect your iPhone to the D1, you have to have the more expensive iPhone camera adapter that has the male Lightning cable that plugs into the phone on one end, and BOTH the USB port and female Lightning port on the other.

(You’ll have to have plug power into the female Lightning port, otherwise the iPhone gives you a message that the D1 requires too much power. ) In all it’s a great little compact device, even if it’s a tad confusing at first.

The attached photos show a couple of different configurations, including one where an Airport Express is connected to the D1 with a fiber optic cable. (That one produces a little lower sound quality but is still excellent.

).

This DAC does make a difference. The sound is more clear, clean, and present. I have this hooked up to the AudioEngine 2+ speakers, which have their volume control on the back. With this DAC, it’s great to have the volume knob on the front.

However, I lose onscreen feedback, and cannot use the keyboard. The volume knob has no marks on it, either. One reviewer said that he used a Sharpie to place a mark on it. For now, I don’t want to mark it at all, so I’m learning how essentially fly blind.

This is not ideal. When I first began using it, I could hardly hear it at all. One reviewer made a good suggestion that I have followed. Turn the volume knob of the speaker almost all the way up, and turn the DAC volume all the way down.

This way, just a little movement of the DAC knob gives you better control, and you don’t have to move it very far. Of course, it’s also nice to have the headphone jack on the front. So nice not having to hunt in the back of my iMac.

It’s also nice that the speakers automatically turn off when you plug in your headphones. The body of the DAC is very lightweight. You will probably find that it swims around if you have it on a smooth surface.

Quirks aside, it definitely works, and it has greatly enhanced my listening experience.

I’m heartbroken, because I’m sending it back. It sounds really good when it’s making music. Probably the best sound you can get for the money. But I found it unacceptably. hinky, in general operation at best.

I had the problem with disconnects, and also had pops and clicks in the background while playing music. I moved it to a USB-3 type A port on a thunderbolt 3 hub attached directly to the mac with nothing else connected to it.

That cleared up the pops and clicks mostly, tho I could still detect them sometimes in high sample rate tracks thru Tidal. Notably, that also seems to have cleared up the problem with disconnects, too.

But a new problem came up. About every 4th or 5th time I clicked on a track to play what came out of the speakers was very loud static. Didn’t seem to matter if a track was playing already. At first I thought it was a problem with Tidal, but then it happened in Roon in non-exclusive mode, and also happened once when my iPhone rang thru my computer too.

I looked at everything on the AudioEngineUSA site for info on this without finding anything. There is no human support option on their site either. So back it goes.

The build and sound quality of the amp is excellent. Compared to my Bryston BHA-1, it has an equally balanced sound but a wider soundstage. The low output power works great for easy to drive headphones (Mdr-Z1R & AQ Nightowl in my case) as they don’t work great with the BHA-1.

However, I believe power matters less now since high-end headphones are getting easier to drive. Some of the special features of this amp, such as upscaling, phase linearizer and Walkman input are more gimmicky.

So far I haven’t noticed a significant sound quality change from those features. The Walkman input works for my situation as I find it easier to manage my music with the Walkman interface than Windows.

The amp is also smaller than it appears which is good if you have less desk space. The width and length is just slightly bigger than a letter size paper. In conclusion: This is an excellent dac/amp for the person who wants a one device solution and do not have hard to drive headphones.

The value of the special features varies by person. The reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is this device is built for a 1-stop solution. There is a line output but it’s not balanced. Further, due to the weight of the device and design of top plate, it’s not meant to be stacked.

Thus, if you are looking to create your own combos, I suggest looking at other devices.

Amp/Dac combination paired with HD800s is phenomenal. Detail retrieval is surgical, imaging is mind blowing and the soundstage is very spacious (using balanced cable). The signature is neutral enough for a variety of music to be enjoyable, but some (American) rock is a little bright and less musical than a Hifiman/Woo pairing.

Dac only fed to a Woo tube amp is a hare’s breath away from ultimate rig. Comparing with Hugo2, it’s equally detailed but without the shrills of female vocals on the Hugo, sounds cleaner, more realistic and musical the Hugo, but tge Hugo have better speed and attack.

Overall very good value for money as the Dac alone outshines other dacs twice its price, and with the Amp as well make for very compelling buying, I just wish it had a balanced pre-out as well, that would make it end game.

Amp only, is rather ordinary, and actually make most music sound like streaming music rather than hires.

I purchased this from another vendor before I got to know Moon but feel I should leave a review for this DAC and give it the justice it deserves. I was working my way up the DAC ladder for years but was always longing.

I just felt that there was higher to go and wasn’t quite satisfied even with other $1K+ DACs. With this DAC I am no longer reaching. I don’t feel the need. It sounds fantastic and I am so thankful that Sony has put forth the effort in creating such a great product.

The sound is lush warm full and detailed. I can’t imagine better. I will listen for 8 hours straight and have to force myself to stop. Unfortunately I just can’t give you a comparison review against other uber-high end DACs because I have never heard them.

That will change early next year as I expect to attend AXPONA. Maybe I will hear something that will blow my mind but for now this DAC is absolutely all I need.

Cool little device. Does what it says does. I love the threaded adapter on the clip so you can mount it to a boom mic stand. That way you can telescope in right where you need. Also, it is small enough and light enough to where you can clip it to your belt or waste band.

Wish it came with a little case for safe transport keeping. Love it, thanks PreSonus!.

I have two of these connected to a soundboard Auxiliary output so I can split and send audio to separate equipment and control volume on each. It works well for this. I do using it occasionally for headphones when more volume is needed.

Sound output is good but not top notch quality. But it is more than good enough for most people. Sound is clear and accurate. To my ear it reproduces well and does not introduce any detectable noise.

Unit is well built also. It has only 1/4 inch input and output jacks and the stereo/mono switch comes in handy when using with the sound board. Great value.

This is no doubt the best of the “under $50” multiple headphone output amplifiers. That’s not why I bought one, but it is awesome for headphones. I have several sets of “cans”, and this works great with all of mine, including my 40-year old Sansui’s, to my fairly new Ultrasones.

I’s just not why I bought it. This is really the only way to couple more than one amplified device to a 32-inch or similar TV that has only ONE external audio output, and that’s a 3. 5 mm headphone jack with variable output.

Note that I mentioned “variable” output. If you want to run an external sound bar or a nice set of amplified computer speakers, you will find that the output from the headphone jack lags far behind that of the built-in speakers.

I tried a variety of setups, including a couple 5. 1 and 7. 1-channel systems with subwoofers, and in all cases, the external speakers could barely be heard. Now, if I set the external headphone jack to “fixed” instead of “variable”, the signal at the jack becomes 1-volt Peak-to-peak, and the external speakers will blow you out.

But now you get to monkey with TWO remotes. That’s where this little amp comes in handy. You can plug this into the headphone jack, set the output volume to variable, and with this amp set to about half volume, your external speaker system will rock, with volume to spare.

Plus you can add a larger Home theater amp, and even a pair of headphones back where you sit, without crosstalk or ground-loop problems. A Y-cable will not work for such an application. This amp solves the problem.

And the noise level is super: over 95 dB below signal. Forget the others. Buy THIS one.

I’ve been using this for my church sound system for several years. , first to boost my sound board signal when the board mains have to be turned down. Recently I transitioned it to a signal amp for a PC-based audio recording and laptop live feed for a streaming video service on Facebook due to the recent shelter-in-place orders.

I needed to pass the ground from the incoming feed, thru the headphone amp box, and out to the outgoing shielded wires due to numerous wireless and wi-fi transmitters in the immediate area that radiate the equipment with noise.

It has not added any noise to the feeds and protected the audio signals. The only thing I had to do was add a filter at and near the end laptop computer to eliminate the ground loop from the video feed that passed thru the computer.

If you need to use this amp similarly, I recommend using the RCA inputs first then the 1/4″ as a backup to make good ground connections pass thru the unit. Don’t use a 1/8″ to 1/4″ adapter on the input side and expect the ground to be reliable like I had to do at first when getting this all to work.

This is my first headphone amplifier and I wish I had bought one sooner in my life. I bought the A1 to boost the volume from my LG thinQ phone to my 1more triple drivers. The LG wasnt powering the ear buds to an enjoyable volume.

When I got the A1 and hooked them up I was instantly amazed at how loud my ear buds got and not to mention the improved clarity. These can get so loud they will make your ears ring for days so be carefull.

As I mentioned the Fiio A1 is my first headphone amp. I’m sure there are much better sounding ones out there. But for the price and size this little guy sounds incredible. Definitely a step up from how ive been listing to music for years.

Highly recommended especially for on the go. PS:The A1 may not work as well with all over the ear headphones. I have a pair panasonic 40mm headphones and they just don’t get a decent volume with them.

They actually sound better with out it. But I didn’t get the A1 for those. I have 5 different earbud headphones and the A1 improves the volume and clarity for all of them. Just make sure to do some homework and see if these are a good fit for your gear.

I bought this for my hard-of-hearing mother-in-law for watching the TV with headphones and leaving the TV’s speakers off (otherwise she’d have to blast the TV). I connected the TV’s audio out RCA connectors to a crossover to 1/4 stereo jack, then to this device, and then to the headphones.

This allowed her to amplify the TV audio out so she could hear it. It works fine and is very clear. The three buttons (on/off, volume up, volume down) are a little small and hard to see and press, but it’s OK once you know where they are and you can use a pencil eraser top to press them.

The on/off indicator light is a dim blue, red or green indicating charging and power state (which my mother-in-law couldn’t see or figure out), and is sort of confusing. The unit has two female jacks (for 1/4 input and output), and it also comes with two short 1/4 male to 1/4 male patch cables.

I wish I knew that before I bought it, because I needlessly bought a patch cable as well. It runs on battery power for several hours and comes with a mini-USB cord for charging, but it doesn’t come with a 115v charging block.

I am not an audiophile but love hearing good quality music and have fount headphones are a great way to enjoy the sound. I have a pair for Sennheiser 40mm headphones and found a lot of devices would just get the sound to a good audible level.

If I wanted to mow the lawn or rock out I need an amp to drive them a little harder. This does the trick. IT does not make them crazy loud and I am pretty sure this won’t blow the speakers in my headphones but it does the trick.

Did not notice an distortion or hum. Battery life seems to be good so far. I took it for a day long bike ride and it lasted all day. I did not have it maxed out though all day. It also has 3 built in EQ settings that are helpful for enhancing the music.

Mine came with 2 cords, 2 belt clips and an extra plastic clip that I am not sure what it is used for. I am very happy with my purchase.

I am quite pleased with this headphone amp. I have been using it with a bass and am very impressed with the even frequency response and very pure-sounding tone. I am also using Shure in-ear headphones, and the combo just sounds right together.

The clip on the unit fits onto guitar straps so it is convenient to plug in with a pedal patch cable and clip on near the bottom strap button. Having said that, I do have a few gripes with the unit that were enough to take away one star.

For one – mine shipped with the volume knob turned all the way up. Without clear marking of what is max and min volume, this could be damaging to someone’s hearing out of the box. While it doesn’t get very loud, it’s still inconsiderate to the musician.

The other thing is the static when the headphones are being plugged in. Again, with the default volume at max, this isn’t a good thing to have happen. I certainly hope nobody puts their headphones on before plugging into this.

I would much rather see a different volume knob on this unit that clicks off when it is turned all the way down, especially because I’d prefer to leave my headphones plugged into this when I’m done with it (have to unplug them to save the battery).

Overall it’s worth the price and the simplicity is great for musicians. Just be smart when it comes to your ears and you’ll enjoy this product.

I considered all the Vox options for headphone amps. Read the reviews and noticed a trend in ‘plastic construction’ and ‘noisy’. At first I wanted something with built in effects and that drove me to Vox.

After reading the reviews for the ElectroHarmonix headphone amp and noticed many of those reviews included people who had already purchased the Vox units and had similar complaints of noise and cheap plastic construction.

I choose this product for simplicity and metal, durable construction. Electro Harmonix was barely anymore money and certainly built better. Sound quality is high and gives true picture of what your playing sounds like.

If you need effects, just put this at the end of your effects pedals and you have it. clips nicely on your guitar strap, etc. Simple single knob for controls.

Even more portable portable with a mini cable hooked to my lap steel guitar. The volume output is so much better and clearer than the VOX clean headphone amp. EHX has no gain, just nice, clear and transparent clean sounds to help me focus on technique with my guitar.

Fast shipping from Chicago Music Exchange. I highly recommend for practice in a small apartment.

This is my second one. I have one at work the other on my nightstand. This DAC/amp has more than enough power to bring volumes to ear shattering levels on Sennheiser HD650 and Hifiman HE400i at low gain.

The DAC brings a little boost to the treble and kind of pushes the low bass into the background. If you have bass heavy headphones this will give you some more clarity in the vocals. I’ve tried this with a few of my cans.

Philips X2/shp9500, Hifiman HE-350/400i, Beyerdynamic DT990/770, AKG 553, Sennheiser HD650. The only one I thought sounded worse was the 400i as the cans are already lacking in bass and this DAC/amp pushes it even further into the background.

Build is solid. Metal all around. Rubber feet to protect your wood and glass surfaces. Nice textured volume knob. 1/4″ jack for headphones is always appreciated. Like many have mentioned the nuclear blue LED will blind you even in a well lit room.

If it sits to your left it may not be a problem as the knob will block direct line of sight to the LED. If it’s on the right you’ll want to cover it with some tape. This totally beats the headphone jack on the iMac I use at work.

Plug and play. It will completely take over volume controls meaning volume can only be adjusted from the amp or whatever program you’re using. The keyboard volume controls will be disabled. I’m a video editor so I do some minor audio mastering as well.

I wouldn’t suggest this amp if neutral sound is what you need. However I do hear the nuances in voices and music that I would’ve missed if I was just plugged into the headphone jack. Pros: Solid construction Clean and clear sounding Stays cool even after being left on for 24 hours Cons: Blue LED shines as bright as the sun.

3 stars = GOOD. The cons are a little hard to forgive if you pay full price though. At $100, there are better out there. This would be a value at $65. Also, when compared with my Late 2013 Mac Book Pro Retina onboard DAC, the sound quality did not really change with easy to drive headphones.

For example, M50x saw no improvement between the Mac Book Pro and this DAC/AMP. On the other hand Beyerdynamic 770 Pro’s, Fidelio X2’s, saw improved sound with the additional power. PROS: ——– -Sound Quality is very good for the price point.

-Quite (I had no hum/buzz, etc. Dark background) -1/4″ -Switched High/Low Gain -Pre & Line Out* CONS: ——– -BLUE LED is BLINDINGLY BRIGHT. BLUE LED’s DO NOT BELONG ON AUDIO GEAR. The human eye struggles with this spectrum! -Rear RCA Ports are too recessed for quality cables.

You CAN NOT used Monoprices higher end cables!!! WTF. You need cheap RCA cable ends. -or need to drill out the back of the case. -Not (optionally) “Bus powered” for straight DAC/line use. You must use the power brick.

(I get the added power is needed for AUX or High Gain, but. ) -Combined Power/Volume Nob: Turning the volume down too LOW will sometimes KILL it, disconnect it and error out your computer. All told. GOOD.

A Version 2. 0 of this should: -Eliminate BLUE LED (do we even need ANY????) -Separate Power Switch -Bus Power DAC only/low gain mode -RCA Jacks/access that accept high end cables -24/192.

This is a versatile little product. Well built and doesn’t feel cheap. I haven’t had the volume knob problems others report, and the bright led is a non-issue for me. I’ve used it with Audio-Technica m50x and Sennheiser HD555 cans.

It’s a better match with the former, taming what can be a boomy bass. The 50x phones sound fast and precise with the amp and dac and a Lenovo Yoga 3 usb out. With the Senn’s, it’s kind of bass shy, and the treble can be harsh.

Still much better than the laptop without the amp/dac, but not nearly as good as the headphone jack of my Denon stereo receiver, thought it doesn’t have the hum the receiver has at moderate at higher volumes.

Pros: can work as preamp or a lineout (to a receiver or soundbar for example), solid construction for the money, dead silent background on the headphones I used with it. Cons: wall wart power supply is too bulky for some situations, like a nearly full power strip.

An optical input would be nice. Somewhat harsh treble so probably not a good match for headphones that are already bright.

Bought this for my PS4. Delivered as expected, plugged right into my console with USB (dont use the cable that comes with it, use an amazonbasics one or something. ). Then plugged my headset in the dac using splitter cable.

Made headset sound amazing. A bit louder and quality is improved. Great quality. And value.

I tried all sampling rates and it worked very well. If you don’t want pay too much money then this is the one for you !! Do not pay too much for USB-DAC Because most of the people don’t hear the difference !! This unit has indicators for input, sampling rates and power on.

Bought this to remove line-level noise from my new computer. Easy setup and sounds great.

The amplifier plays amazingly well, and has thiccc (yes, with three C’s), lush tube sounds all over. The mids are round and vibrant, while the highs sparkle to the playful and unexpectingly rich bass.

Classic rock and jazz sounds fantastic on this, and so does modern music. Try it with female vocals for a goosebump inducing experience. The bass can get a bit fuzzy for the harder electronic music, however that is to be expected from a tube amplifier.

If you want analytical precision and precise bass, this might not be your number one choice, but for a colourful and bright listening experience, it’s golden! Delivery was super quick. I ordered on a Sunday and had it shipped to me, in Norway, by Wednesday afternoon.

First of all a well deserved praise to Shenzhenaudio and DHL: ordered on Monday morning, I received it in UK 2 days later and withoust Customs charges to pay. Wow! You got it really right. The amplifier is as expected a bit warmer than tge Little Dot MrkIII I also have with stock tubes, which do not seem bad at all to me.

After 10 hrs of play there is a light humming sound which I can only hear in between songs. Tge more you listen female vocals, the more this is recommended. As expected it also drives some of my low impendence headphones but the frequency response is not the one intended by the designers.

I’d say buy it if you are planning to use it with headphones with impedence of 250 ohm and above.

Simply incredible. I’ve mine paired with a AK4490 DAC and AKM K712 Pro headphones. The most detailed, natural and immediate sound I’ve ever heard. More revealing than my home sound system with real drive and impact where called for and laid back and nuanced where required.

Plenty of detail and texture to the sound. Compares favorable to my darTZeel NHB108 + Aurum Cantus F620 speakers at home I’m running an Amperex 6AS7 and a Melz 6H8C hold plate tube in mine and low the sound it provides.

I replaced the easy to pull off volume knob with a solid aliminum knob. No other changes needed.

This is one of the best headphone amplifiers I have owned over many years and almost certainly the most ‘neutral’ amp. It’s surprising and compact, partly because it has a separate power adaptor. The latter seems to be better than most adaptors of its type, though its design is awkward and can block out an adjoining socket on a mains extension strip.

I once owned an excellent Sugden Headmaster headphone amp but suspect the Rupert Neve under review would prove its equal and a much lower cost. Recommended without qualification, if you have good headphones and appreicate music as it was recorded in the studio or concert hall.

Don’t listen to the 1 star review. Shout out to Zeos Z Reviews. This DAC/AMP is great for the money.

***This is a great device with multiple applications. *** Nutshell: (2) inputs – one XLR, one 1/4 stereo monitor input – individual volume controls. Primary (XLR) input has an XLR thru, only the primary input content is sent out.

(2) headphone outs on front: 1/4″ and 1/8″ – both stereo with a mono switch (although we haven’t tested mono switch function yet). What we use it for: Church worship musician’s personal monitor – acoustic guitarist w/no amp running DI box straight to mixing board and couldn’t hear herself.

We now have her running guitar to DI – DI to MA400 / MA400 XLR thru to another DI – this DI to board. she plugs small earbuds into headphone out for her acoustic personal monitor. Works fantastic. We are probably upgrading to digital board soon and will be able to run her own custom mix of other instruments into the MA400 1/4 stereo monitor input as well.

* I can’t speak to the longevity or durability of the MA400 (only been running it about 1 month now) but so far working well and it’s clean to the board (has a ground lift built in, haven’t had to use it).

Enjoy.

Impressed with this device. Sturdy build quality and this was exactly what I needed. The product I received is the updated version which is black with their current logo, the image provided on the website shows the old silver version with the old Behringer logo.

I bought four MA400’s to use in our recording/rehearsal studio. I use a TASCAM 16-channel interface and run Cubase on my studio computer. For our current project, we are recording up to eight instruments simultaneously: drums, congas, horns, bass and guitars.

Several band members, like the bassist and guitarist, needed to hear themselves above the normal group headphone mix. The MA400 allows them to turn themselves up in their own mix (More Me!), without affecting their feed to the main recorder, or the overall headphone mix.

Very Nice! The MA400 does not do anything to the main incoming XLR-level signal, just pass it through. I did not detect any coloration of the signal during recording or while listening to the playback.

Having both 1/8″ and 1/4″ headphone outputs is very handy. It helps eliminate the need for adapter plugs. All connections are located on the side and don’t obscure the controls or tip the unit over when connected.

There is no 1/4″ guitar/instrument input, but I worked around that with a direct box. My only wish-list item: It would be great if the MA400 also ran on phantom power. I have to run AC power cords to the location of each unit.

Not a big deal, just more cable clutter. Overall, the MA400 headphone amp is an incredible buy and rock solid performer. Great accessory for the studio. Buy several!.

Only two gripes one can be resolved but need a bit experience. #1. Voulme dial- at very low volumes(like when using IEMs or sensitive headphones) the signal was very very unbalanced. If you increase the volume, it subsides and sounds clean.

#2. Loud click when power on or off the amp, can be tweaked by opened the amp and adjusting the two potentiometers. (need a bit experience) Other than these two everything is great. Tested with SMSL M500, IFI Zen V1 with external power supply, Allo Boss (source Usbridge with Shanti LPS).

Heaphones HD650, HD599.

This tube amp is a hybrid – transistors for High Frequencies, Tube for Low/Mids. When I first powered it on, treble sounded very harsh and grating. After running it in for tens of hours, treble still had some harshness that didn’t completely go away.

Would not recommend for use as a tube buffer on a hi-fi stereo setup, except perhaps a beginner hi-fi setup. Hit and miss here. Schiit Modi 3+ connected to this headphone amp dramatically improved low end headphone response and musicality.

Interconnect cables between DAC and xDuoo also changed the sound – net result is it’s capable of good headphone sound if paired with the right interconnects. Also tried with a basic Boat 3. 5mm earphone set and the increase in sound quality and resolution was nothing short of dramatic.

i’m really impressed with Xduoo MT-602 headphone amp. Lovely warm sound that doesn’t sacrifice too much detail. No problems driving everything I have thrown at it. I’ve not tried IEMs with it however, so not sure how well they would work without a gain switch.

For the price, I think it’s an absolute bargain. Arrived quickly in the UK and very well packaged for the journey. Pros: – Warm, smooth, yet clean and detailed sound. – Enough power to drive most headphones it’s likely to be paired with.

– Very well made unit. Looks and feel more expensive than it is. – Has extra aux 3. 5mm input on the front (not tried yet – using RCAs around the back) – 6. 5mm and 3. 5mm outputs. I don’t know why they include a 3.

5mm to 6. 5mm adapter in the package, but thank you! – Very satisfying on/off toggle switch! Cons: – No gain switch. – I’m not keen on the red volume knob, but I think I’m in the minority on that!.

I bought this amp with a specific purpose. It had to amplify drum beats from a tablet sufficiently to provide enough input power to a bass amp for the volume to provide me with the beat I needed while playing guitar and singing.

It achieved this on about half the volume setting available. Job done. The item is a robust little package that I expect will last years. Given its success for my purpose, you could expect it to perform well in its designed function of headphone amplification.

I only need one of its four channels, but all of them work equally well one at a time. I have not tested them acting at the same time.

Good quality sounds good. powerful and cheap. I bought it to power my 600 ohm Sennheiser HD540 headphones. It works well. Two minor problems. It lacks a power on/off switch so have to unplug – messy.

also 6. 3mm headphone socket does not connect the middle bit so no right channel. But if I connect through a 1->2 adapter it is fine. All four sockets the same and are fixed plastic so no chance to correct.

I have bought a new lead and this corrects the problem but who is at fault Sennheiser (never failed to connect on anything before) or Behringer. Who cares minor problems this mini amp works great. Now I can connect my headphones and sub-woofer at the same time.

Perfect little amp! Sturdy yet lightweight. The sound that comes out is insane! Very handy that it provides power to my headphones. Allows multiple people to listen to me butcher a song. Behringer is quality.

You can’t go wrong.