Sennheiser HD 660s: I get PLENTY of volume out of my iPhone 12 mini... why do people still say I need an amp/dac? Crinacle says the lightning adapter is "fine".

Submitted by Dust-by-Monday t3_yisxcb in headphones

I see so many people that amps improve soundstage and detail and all this mumbo jumbo, but I just don't believe it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3moaaOpYZM

Crinacle says not to waste my money.

Yes, I understand that if I wanted to listen at insane volumes, I'd need an amp, but I'm seriously fine with 65-75% volume out of my iPhone.

Also, my Mac Pro 5,1 gets even louder than the iPhone. On the Mac, 40% is about the same loudness as the iPhone at 75%, so do I REALLY need an amp, or do people just want to justify the money they spent.

Also, I have no issues with the bass response. It's punchy, clean and tight in my opinion. Even better than my HD 560s.

In closing, if I'm getting my desired volume out of my iPhone, then buying an amp/dac and listening at the same volume won't really do anything but waste money.

PS: I'm very okay with how these sound out of my iPhone/Mac, but there's a piece of me that has this FOMO, so that's why I'm making this post.... which probably won't help because everyone will just echo the same advice (you need a dac/amp stack to drive those 150Ohm headphones!)

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SupOrSalad t1_iukbzkr wrote

If you're happy, then there's no problem.

Different amp combos can slightly alter the sound and frequency response, but it's not necessarily a case of "this is better than that". Its more just what you prefer.

The main case crin was trying to make was, don't buy an amp expecting them to transform your headphones. Some claim that if Headphones sound bad to you, you just need to spend more on an amp and they'll sound good. This is a trap that is easy to fall into and if you're on a budget, it's totally fine to spend your money elsewhere and save where you can

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