Do I need an amp with a 6.3mm amp?

[Knight Solaire]

So within a few months, I'm going to get a pair of either Sennheiser HD 558 or 598 headphones, and a friend who has the 598 said I'll definitely want an amp (I'll be using them for music, streaming, and gaming). The headphones come with a 6.3mm jack, and a 6.3-3.5. I looked around, and pretty much every thread I found said that the difference between 3.5 and 6.3 was 2.8mm, BUT using an adapter could possibly lower your quality. So my question is- do I need an amp with a 6.3mm jack on it, and where in hell can I find one? I searched high and low but whenever I looked for 6.3mm amps all I got were adapters and threads about adapters. Do they even exist?

I was looking at the Schiit Fulla if I don't need a 6.3mm amp, and my budget is about 100 USD (for amp) give or take *a bit*.

 

[WyomingKnott]

I use a slightly more expensive DAC/amp with 3.5mm sockets and an adapter for the larger headphone jacks, and I have noticed no effect on quality. Of course, I got my adapters from Sennheiser, so I can be reasonably sure that they were well made.

Will you need an amp? It depends, mostly on your ears. Some people can hear a difference, some can't. As long as your sound card / PC can drive headphones of that impedance, you can try without the amp and see if it sounds good enough. My experience has been to use an amp from most sources. On the other hand, my sound card is an Xonar Essence STX, with a built-in headphone amp.

 

[Knight Solaire]

I use a slightly more expensive DAC/amp with 3.5mm sockets and an adapter for the larger headphone jacks, and I have noticed no effect on quality. Of course, I got my adapters from Sennheiser, so I can be reasonably sure that they were well made.

Will you need an amp? It depends, mostly on your ears. Some people can hear a difference, some can't. As long as your sound card / PC can drive headphones of that impedance, you can try without the amp and see if it sounds good enough. My experience has been to use an amp from most sources. On the other hand, my sound card is an Xonar Essence STX, with a built-in headphone amp.

Well, I'd be getting an amp because I don't have a dedicated sound card, and while I probably wouldn't care about the extra sounds I'd be getting for streaming, for music and gaming I think I'd probably want that boost. Also, there'll probably be a gap of about a week or two weeks between ordering the headphones and (maybe) ordering an amp. Also also, I might be looking at replacing my GPU soon (because mine might be dead), so my budget also depends on that. If I don't have to, my budget would probably be a little higher.

 

[ssddx]

hd558 or hd598 doesnt really need an amplifier as they arent hard to drive. they do certainly benefit from having a good soundcard or amplifier as they will sound a bit better but its not required. expect just a bit more bass out of them.

3.5mm(1/8") and 6.3mm (1/4") jacks are the same basically just different sizes. yes, in any connection there is a chance for loss of quality however in most cases its a non issue provided you dont have a loose connection. i wouldnt worry about this too much and you can use an adapter.

the schiit magni has a 1/4 jack i believe. its a quality unit though really is more than you need. even fiio amps or soundcards like the z or dx would be fine and power those headphones fine.

 

[Knight Solaire]

hd558 or hd598 doesnt really need an amplifier as they arent hard to drive. they do certainly benefit from having a good soundcard or amplifier as they will sound a bit better but its not required. expect just a bit more bass out of them.

3.5mm(1/8") and 6.3mm (1/4") jacks are the same basically just different sizes. yes, in any connection there is a chance for loss of quality however in most cases its a non issue provided you dont have a loose connection. i wouldnt worry about this too much and you can use an adapter.

the schiit magni has a 1/4 jack i believe. its a quality unit though really is more than you need. even fiio amps or soundcards like the z or dx would be fine and power those headphones fine.

So far, given the answers, it looks like I should be able to just use the adapter and a dac/amp and not have to worry about loss of sound quality. Does that sound about right?

 

[ssddx]

generally that is the case outside of just plain poor quality products.