[Nkam]

The only thing I messed up on is I got the DAC3 B and not the HGC .
I should have got the HGC for the headphone amp.

How is the headphone amp on the HGC compared to other high end headphone amps?

I tried the RME headphone amp and didn’t quite like it. But then again I didn’t like the RME DAC as much either.

Thanks

 

[tesarpa]

In my opinion, it does it's job. I have DX version, no analog input, so I can't compare the amp alone. I can use it only together with DAC, as all in one solution. But when I had Benchmark HPA4 on loan, I tried analog output of DAC3 to it, comparing on headphones. Through HPA4 it sounded little cleaner, maybe more dry, more authoritative. DAC4 was little warmer, but still pretty neutral. Major difference is in power. HPA4 can drive anything, including Susvara. DAC3 has some limitation in power, so it's not suitable for hungry cans. Last but not least, volume control in HPA4 is superb, that is maybe the cause of quality difference.