Headphone Amplifiers

Currently, we have 14 Headphone Amplifiers in our database. Below you can find the list with their main specs and links to their review pages.

A headphone amplifier drives headphones and nothing else - there are no speaker terminals on any of these. That is why the power is quoted in milliwatts into 32 or 300 ohms rather than watts into 8, and why none of them appear in the amp and speaker matcher or the dollars-per-watt rankings: the numbers are not the same measurement. Most have a DAC built in, so a USB cable from a computer or a phone is often the only source they need.

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Model	Output Power	Output Impedance	Built-in DAC	Balanced	Preamp Out
Magni Unity	2,500 mW into 32 ohms	0.1 Ω	Optional	No	Yes
Midgard	4,800 mW into 32 ohms	0.1 Ω	No	In and out	Yes
HDV 820	-	-	Yes	In and out	No
ZEN DAC 3	300 mW into 32 ohms	1 Ω	Yes	No	Yes
MHA200	-	-	No	In and out	No
ZEN CAN 3	2,000 mW into 32 ohms	-	No	No	Yes
DX-3	1,400 mW into 32 ohms	0.3 Ω	Yes	No	Yes
HA-L7A	1,000 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	Output	Yes
DacMagic 200M	300 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	Output	Yes
Pre Box S2 Digital	68 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	No	Yes
NEO iDSD 2	5,551 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	Output	Yes
ZEN Air DAC 2	286 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	No	Yes
iDSD Phantom	2,311 mW into 32 ohms	-	Yes	In and out	Yes
Uniti Atom Headphone Edition	1,500 mW into 16 ohms	-	Yes	Output	Yes

Headphone Amplifiers - frequently asked questions

What is a Headphone Amplifier?

What do they cost?

Currently $119 to $4,495, with a median of $749. Prices are the current asking price we hold, not a sale price, and they change - check the retailer before deciding.

Which features should I check for?

11 of 14 have a built-in DAC, so a computer, TV or CD transport can connect digitally; 1 also stream over the network.

ALL AMPLIFIER TYPES