Choosing a Headphone Amplifier

Reviewed September 2026. Most people don't need a headphone amplifier. Some people need one and don't know it. A few are running expensive headphones off a laptop output and wondering why they're not getting the performance they paid for.

Here's how to figure out which situation you're in.

Do you actually need one?

Two numbers on the spec sheet answer this, and a rule of thumb does not. Impedance tells you what kind of hungry a headphone is, and sensitivity tells you how hungry. Convert sensitivity to loudness at one volt, which is roughly what a phone or a dongle puts out, and the headroom left over is your answer. We run that arithmetic in full, on the manufacturers' own figures, in Do You Need an Amp for These?.

Practical examples:

• Sony MDR7506 (63Ω). Runs fine from a phone. No amp needed.
• ATH-M50x (38Ω). Runs fine from a phone. No amp needed.
• Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro. Sold in 32, 80 and 250 ohm versions, and the version on the box decides this, not the model name. Check which one you have first.
• Sennheiser HD 650 (300Ω). Plays from a phone at a moderate level with the slider near the top. A recent Mac, or any desktop amp, drives it fully.
• Sennheiser HD 600 (300Ω). Rated 97 decibels from one volt on Sennheiser's own sheet, the quietest of the three, and the same answer applies.
• Sennheiser HD 800 S (300Ω). Same again. Voltage is what a 300 ohm design wants, and a battery-powered source is short of it.

For the full explanation, read What Headphone Impedance Means and When to Care.

Under $200, the starting amp

Schiit Magni Unity: enough output voltage and current for nearly any headphone, a low noise floor, and one knob. Nothing to set wrong. Our pick under $200.

Schiit makes it in California, stands behind it, and doesn't overcomplicate it. For a first dedicated amp, this is the right call.

If you already have a DAC, the Rupert Neve RNHP

Rupert Neve RNHP, a single-purpose headphone amplifier from the most respected name in analog circuit design. No DAC, no features, one great volume knob. It won't drive the most power-hungry planar magnetic headphones to concert levels, and everything short of that is inside its range. This pick rests on Rupert Neve's record and on what studios buy, not on our own hours with one.

The one to stretch for, the Grace Design m900

Grace Design m900, conversion and headphone amplification in one box, from a company that has been building studio electronics in Colorado since 1994, and monitor controllers that mastering rooms have run on for two decades. It has the output to drive anything on this page. The one if you'd rather have one box than two.

Also worth your time at other prices: the JDS Labs Atom, the iFi Zen CAN and the Topping L70. Buy the Magni Unity first, run it for a year, and let your listening tell you whether you have outgrown it.

Combining DAC and amp

If you're connecting from a computer or digital source, you'll also need a DAC before the headphone amp. Some units combine both. The Grace m900 does, as does the FiiO K7BT at a few hundred dollars. See Choosing a DAC for the full picture.