0

With the DAC2HD is an AMP necessary to listen music on headphones of not?

François T

December 03, 2020 19:28

None

Follow

Hello everybody,

Sorry for this newbie question but I was wondering if an AMP hat is necessary when you want to listen music on your headphones.

I currently plan to connect on the DAC2HD stereo output a 2xRCA male with a 1xJack 3.5 female in order to be able to listen music directly on my headphones (Focal Clear Pro). They are relatively low impedance but I was wondering if the output would be enough or if it was necessary to buy an Amp hat as well.

By the way, do you think that the RCA->Jack cable (gold plated, about 20cm of lenght) would significantly degrade the sound quality or not?

Thank you for your help and have a great evening.

François

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

4 comments

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 04, 2020 07:31

  While the output can drive a low-impedance load, you might not be able to get the full volume and you also won't get the lowest distortions. An external headphone amplifier for the DAC2HD is highly recommended.

  The DAC2 Pro comes with an onboard headphone amplifier.

• 0
  
  François T December 04, 2020 07:58

  Thank you very much for your answer, would you happen to know by any change how many decibels it could produce with a 55 Ohms impedance headphones?

  This being said it seems that the DAC 2 Pro seems to be the way to go to regarding my setup needs.

  Have a great day.

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team December 04, 2020 09:25

  For your use case, the  DAC2 Pro is definitely the better choice.

• 0
  
  François T December 04, 2020 10:41

  Thank you for your expertise, I will follow your advise then.