Will I notice the benefit of a dedicated headphone amp, instead of using the RME Babyface hp out?

Jonathanthomas83

I love my RME Babyface, more so since I managed to troubleshoot some issues. I've always persisted that the headphone out on it is one of the best I've tried. I love it. That said, it's my primary way of listening, these days, and will continue with the arrival of a mini JT83 in the coming months...so should I invest in something like a dedicated studio grade headphone amplifier like a Neve or Little Labs, or other, to make that experience even better or will I not hear the benefits?

For reference, I have Sennheiser HD650's which are amazing cans - but not as great as my wife's cans, of course.

Wazmeister

Id say yes...

The headphone out on my Apogee Element 24 literally shocked me when i used it first time (with Apple Music).

Id imagine the Apogee Groove would be amazing.

https://apogeedigital.com/products/groove

Stuckfast

The original Babyface is somewhat notorious for having an underpowered headphone amp -- so it doesn't sound bad but struggles to drive some headphones loud enough. You could certainly fix that by adding a mains-powered headphone amp. If it's already loud enough for you I doubt you'd notice a massive difference in sound quality.