Macbook Pro VS HD6XX
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Is the Macbook Pro "high impedance" headphone jack enough for the 6XX?
HD6XX - massdrop.7eer....
Apple M1 Pro 16" - amzn.to/3WYUqjb
Used for comparisons
Schiit Hel - www.schiit.com...
Moonriver 2 - apos.audio/pro...
Topping DX5 - apos.audio/pro...
A90 - apos.audio/pro...
TOP 3 FAVORITE BUDGET HEADPHONES
🥇 HD560S - amzn.to/3NwLeNM
🥈 SHP 9600 - amzn.to/3NEsoEo
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Favorite headphones
🥇 DIANA TC - abyss-headphon....
🥈Arya - apos.audio/pro....
🥉 DT1990Pro - amzn.to/3MzsBrg
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🥈 Sony Z7 - amzn.to/3O0C2Bd
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🥇 Topping A90 - apos.audio/pro....
🥈 THX 789 / 887 - amzn.to/3QdJ0Vq
🥉 DX3 Pro - amzn.to/3O1wF4H
IEMS
🥇 Sennheiser IE300 - amzn.to/3Q8svd3
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#HD6XX #APPLE #DROP
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watching this with my dollar store earphones : interesting
ignorance is bliss, don't step into the trap
Dollar store? You richie rich, some of use only listen to subtitles
@@cyra3906 you can’t “listen” to a subtitle 🤣😒
reading this with my delta airlines complementary earbuds: interesting
Wait... complimentary airline earbuds? Must be vintage gear!
MacBook Pro sounded really good to me with both HD6XX and LCD-X, I thought I was being crazy. Glad to see it's confirmed :) Quick note; the MacBooks that comes with built-in amps are: MacBook Pro M2, M1 Pro and M1 Max models; and MacBook Air M2.
It's definitely bright like what was mentioned in the video though
The lowest end MacBook pro m2 also has it according to the site
MacBook AIR M1 too
No, Air model starts from M2 version@@Taut92
Really you needed someone else to tell you what your own ears already did you moron.
I’ve also been very impressed by the Mac. I got some rather sensitive IEMs, and I cannot listen to them on my DX7 due to the noise floor (which is actually more of a whine). But the M1 Pro handles them without any issue. I used to have a DAC/Amp combo for work, but now that I work on the Mac, it got my audio needs covered.
Keep up the good work, Josh!
It's like this video was made just for me, I'm looking at finally buying the HD6XX and I was wondering about power options. Thank you!
You can absolutely power the 6XX with the apple dongle. I've been doing it for over a year.
No, it’s like this video was made just for me! I literally own the Schitt Hel DAC/Amp, the HD6XX and the MacBook Pro M1 16. However, I pair the Schitt Hel and HD6XX with my gaming desktop and I have never tried pairing with my MacBook. I will definitely do it now that I know it’s more than adequate!
@@javierelozano 🤡
@@VaporEG You've yet to unlock the 6XX's full potential. If you're going to use the apple dongle you shouldn't use 300-ohm headphones.
Finally, a video worth watching after that limited MacBook Pro M1 review Josh did around a year ago.
Thank you Josh for doing this. I was long awaiting for someone to do this test this conclusively. Wondering if the results will be similar for Hifiman Arya and LCD X 2021.
I bought into the hype and spent $300 on some amp/DAC by Topping. I have Macbook Pro M1 Max and HD 6XX. Literally can find no difference in sound quality. I used to listen at 30% volume, so volume was never an issue. I was too lazy to return the amp/DAC; also, I like rotating the volume knob.
Your videos are so aesthetically pleasing
I’m impressed with how well my PS5 controller drives my HD6XX. Great content. Thanks.
That’s funny dude
I have to agree with you as well, sounds great with games on ps5
I noticed that as well. Although I noticed it sounded very bright and screechy, but I assumed that might have been in game sound tuning rather than the DAC
Thanks for the timely video! I was eyeing the 6xx but only have an apple dongle. Looks like I'll hold off for now
I'm surprised by the outcome of the review due to two reasons:
1. I did a comparison on my Hifiman Sundara between MacBook Pro 2019 16' and MacBook Pro M1 Pro 2022 14' and I could not spot many differences. This was one of the decisive factors to upgrade the laptop. In the end, I haven't upgraded it as discrepancies are minimal, in my opinion.
2. Usually I'm running the headphones on SH-6 and SU-6 and non of the laptops were even close to the output I could get from the DAC/amplifiers combo. The sound is reacher, more powerful, and wider.
If anyone did such a comparison and could share their thoughts, would be much appreciated.
Thank you very much, Joshua, for your review. I love your work!
Great discussion Josh, thanks for doing these comprehensive comparisons!
It's weird how Apple chose to call it "high impedance" as it's definitely a low impedance output. It can, however, deliver high voltage to drive high impedance headphones.
What is not weird is a large corporation with many years of experience in audio products designing an amplifier with low output impedance, low noise floor, low distortion and relatively high power.
This is silly the Apple dongle gets the 6XX to easily listenable volumes. I can push them to 80-85 DB without even hitting full volume. Maybe his definition of “moderate” is different than mine.
Man, I've had this laptop since it came out and I haven't even tried the headphone jack. I just outright ignored it. I'm definitely going to give it a shot now.
Could you now do a video where you try say 6 different headphones on the same MacBook to see where it runs out of gas? 6XX, Sundara, other HifiMan, Audeze, Abyss, etc.
Questionable video. 1st there's no mentioning of volume maching. 2nd I have HD580 and m1 air that drives headphones to 80db at 3/4 of the volume - that's way too loud, hearing damage is possible. so already can't relate. 3rd omhs mean nothing without sensativity taken into consideration - hd6xx, 600, 580 are not that really hard to drive, because they are 105 db/mw. harder to drive hifimans would be a better pick
My M1 Max MacBook Pro is running my k712 very will, but adding a external DAC like a Fiio K7 will still gave you a better music experience. I say music is because MacBook Pro does have enough power to push power hungry headphones.
This was useful. I was surprised by your findings and appreciate your honesty (as does Apple, I'm sure 😉). Do you know, or can you give a reasonably confidant ballpark estimate of, the output power from the new MB headphone jack when it's in high impedence mode?
Never thought of using my M1 14” MacBook Pro directly with my 6XX
If you want to make sure something isn't a placebo effect, it isn't enough to know you might have a placebo effect. You should try blind listening tests to compare! Pretty good way to eliminate possible bias
Love the M1 Pro internal dac for my HD59X. Perfect!
I’ve been eying the HD6XX but I don’t feel the urge to buy them too.. Should I? It’s not all that much money for what they deliver now at the sale, but is the difference worth having both?
Wow, I never thought of powering the 6xx with my M1 MacBook Pro, but it does sound great! With Apple Music, go to the equalizer, set to manual and bring the preamp setting up +6db and it gets even better.
Love this topic!
I think most low cost "amps" are not actually more powerful but it has a higher gain output which the sound quality suffers.
have the mbp 16 max and just got my 6xx from black friday sales. listening this on the setup. it's great
I use IE 300 with MacBook air m2; it sounds fantastic. It sounds Ok with iPhone, but with air, it is like using an external amp. Thanks for the review.
Great video as always Josh! I’ve noticed you’ve kept the DT 1990’s on your fav headphone list for over a year now.
They’re about $470 on Amazon rn. Would you choose the DT 1990’s over the Hifiman XS?
I listen to metalcore/hard rock mostly.
unpopular opinion: I find the 1990 to be dead in everything. Only the sound stage was really good but in Half Life 2 EP2 when leaving the cave, Alyx's talking scared me. It was like she was breathing down my neck. With EQ maybe better but I rather stick to my Sony MDR M1ST with Yaxi M1ST pads.
@@SKY11211213 thanks for the info. I’ve heard a similar experience with the 1990s.
2021 MacBook Pro and IE600 is the best listening experience I've ever had. Definitely prefer the built in DAC with those IEM's to a FIIO BTR3K or apple dongle
Great video! LCD-X is also great on Macbook Pro M1.
@Joshua Valour Great review!! and bit surprised that the A90 is still your reference amp considering that you (and other reviewers) said A90D is the better of the two.
I think it is, but the a90 i have had issues with the SE output. I prefer it for balanced, but until I get it fixed, it’s risky for unbalanced cables. (My unit specifically, most don’t have that issue)
@@JoshuaValour Aha, I forgot about the single ended issue of the A90D 🙂, I think there is a firmware fix for it, but it's still hit or miss as it looks to be a hardware issue, someone in ASR forum said Topping is offering to ship and repair at their cost.
A90 (with the toggle switches in the front) have no issues.
Joshua, how are you? Watching all of your videos to understand more about this new world that I've found here. Can we expect an review about the Macbook Pro Space Black DAC as well?
the iMac 5k sounds excellent too. I have compared mine with a DX3pro+ and seem to like the sound coming from the iMac more than the dx3pro+
You just made a pretty good referendum against wasting a lot of money on expensive Dac/Amps
Great video! I have another idea to find out... find the best headphone that can run from Apple's dongle! Maybe 58x or DT770 32?
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Things like the moon river seems like poor value for basically any use case when the Qudelix 5K exists, is cheaper, and has full PEQ + AutoEQ built in and a ton of other features and is portable. It doesn’t get nearly enough coverage in these kind of videos.
Me: casually listening to the vid while doing something
Joshua: next up is the shit hell
Me: 🤨
I got some today for $179. Excited.
Hi Josh, quick question, why u never review any DAP?
I want to hear ur opinion on Sony's latest Walkmans: WM1ZM2 and WM1AM2. 😁
So you're telling me I haven't been using my iPhone with Apple dongle and 6XX for over a year? What are you talking about?
I'd be interested to see how a crazy headphone does with the MacBook and where it shows it up?
Hi Joshua, what do you think about the performance of the 16-in 2023 M3 Max MacBook Pro using the Sennheiser HD 660S2?. I'm a Producer and currently I'm evaluating on which new mixing headphones I could buy, only using my Macbook without the need of extra gear. Thank you for your help!
no measurements?
Can you get a microphone arm? The noise from the table annoys me so much
The iPad(Pro) USB-C to headphone adapter should get more power, have you tried that?
Interesting. I use a Hidizs dongle dac with my M1 MBP and M1 iPad Pro. Good consistent performance from both devices. Will have to try the MBP h/p socket with my HD650.
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Really thinking about copping these
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Hi Josh! You need a hi pass filter on your mic. Good review!
shoulda used the hifiman he4xx which gets affected a lot more with different dacs and amps than the sennheisers which usually keep the same sound throughout.
Can you test more headphones on the Macbook Pro? I am curious to see how DT770 250 ohm and DT990 250 ohm fare, but I would love to see a range of headphones tested as well!
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a comparison like this would be interesting but with a normal budget friendly latop to see how much better a dac is compared to an average joe computer which most of people use
i blame you for where im at. I started at an hd6xx years ago and now im sitting at an ab1266
i even made the joke that id probably get my first car before ataining them and no it was the other way around lol
I am using my HD 6xx with LG g8x (quad dac enabled) smartphone, it really sounds very good and detailed please make a video
Wearing my HD660s right now. Love these things. Sennys are tanks. Just picked up some Arya stealth and those blow my mind every time I put them on my head. Sadly I can’t run those off my phone.
I have to pick up a new apple dongle every month it feels like. I’m not even hard on them but the connection always fks up.
My next headphones will prob be the Arya Stealths (coming from a Focal Clear OG), how are they for gaming, edm, and rap?
@@ightimmaheadout290 honestly they aren’t very good for modern warfare 2 but on mw2019 they are perfect and it’s wallhack status. For other games they are great. It’s really weird. The Anandas (non stealth) are insane at every game. Perfect imaging. For music the aryas actually sound so fkn good. Deep bass and perfect mids and the soundstage is just mind blowing.
@@ightimmaheadout290 I haven’t found any genres I don’t like on the aryas. Everything sounds incredible. But when I’m gaming I’ll usually put on my Anandas for call of duty because the imaging is perfect.
@@potion95 Thanks man! Really appreciate it, definitely got me even more hyped and solidified my purchase. Can't wait to be amazed by that soundstage everyone's talking about
Excellent video, i am rooky on headphones, do you think the 6XX would worth be used with a Mac trough an Apollo Twin interface ?
Surprised you didn’t include any tube amps or R2R DACs or other variations on the “clean” Topping sound
Next up: the Sennheiser HD 424 vs the Macbook Pro. 2k Ὼ of greatness right there.
MacBook Pro VS LG Quad-dac phones ?
I'm using a Apogee Groove from Mac Book Pro. Would a topping DAC / AMP be an upgrade? would going up to a full RME DAC / Amp? If I upgrade my recording interface to the new RME Fireface III USB 3.0 be all the headphone amp / DAC and ADC quality one could get? Always wonder how a high end interface headphone amps and DAC would compare to audiophile stuff. Seems like a lot of people out there in the pro audio world would love to see a comparison.
This product measures way better than $3K dac/amp. Apple works with world's best audio engineers and can scale sources to immense degrees that you can get it in a MacBook Air (M2) at $1099.
Hi! Is it easier to drive 150 Ω (hd660s) than 300 Ω (hd 6xx, hd 600 & hd 650) headphones with 2021 MacBook Pro?
With dragonfly dark/red/blue ? Thanks
I found it was even good on my 2019 i9 16" mac
Just to be clear guys, I own Asus VivoBook laptop, which was around 700 euros and I can drive Sennheiser HD 6XX without a problem. I can even drive my 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT990 moderately loud. This means that most modern and decent laptops can drive these cans just fine. Makes me wonder why I also spent 800 euros for my Topping D70s + Topping A90 combo 😆😆 Nah...a good headphone amp always gives music a nice touch...
Hello @JoshuaValour, can you turn off "Reduce Loud Audio" in iPhone and redo this test? When I turned it off, headphone is already loud enough with 50% volume; pretty sure there's enough power going.
Wondering if you filmed this before or after Mick Gordon’s statement lol
Now add system wide 10 band eq on the Mac with soundsource for Mac. Having it right now. And enjoy it a lot. Listening on my dt 770 pro's, giving it a bit more base below 150 Hz. And a bit less treble in2 k, 4k and 8k area. And I like it a lot.
Question: you mentioned MacBook gives a bit more high. What frequency could that be? Maybe I can remove it.
The biggest problem is the fact that the input is on the left-hand side.
what plug is needed to connect the Topping to the Mac?
Note: I’m a headphone without DSP to correct it, you will virtually always lose some bass and treble at lower volumes due to a unique characteristic of human hearing
Thanks. What about a valve amp, like Little Dot MK2?
Would the M1 MacBook Pro drive properly a Hifiman HE400SE stealth Magnets ?? Thanks !
How much better is the pro's amp than the air? I have a m1 MacBook air and want to know how well it does so I know what headphones to get but I can't find anything about it
How did you connect from MacBook to DX5? USB-C to USB-B cable?
Did I spy a Focal Bathys in the back? Perhaps a preview for your next vid🤓
What do you think about the Tone 2 Pro? I have it and I’m not sure how much of a difference it makes with iems compared to directly connect it to the MacBook Pro (the last intel model).
I would be interested in seeing if the USBC Apple Dongle connected to the Macbook Pro sounded different than the internal headphone jack.
I wanted to try, but didn’t have the apple usbc one on hand. 😢
Topping a30 pro is the best amp ever for the 6xx. Prove me wrong!
Acabo de probar mis dt 880 pro en una mac air m1. Esta mac hace sonar los auriculares fuerte, pero hay descontrol y distorsión. Supongo que en esta gama de mac no están los amplificadores de calidad
Are these still midnight blue or are they black now?
What about the hd58x?
Does it blend?
0:55 lmao i love the High-rez Sticker on the Macbook
How does everyone find the reliability of Topping? I really want to buy either a DX7 Pro+ for an D90SE, but concerned about poor reliability. It’ll be a Dac for mostly hifi rather than headphones
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try Musical Fidelity LX2-HPA Headphone Amplifier, Chord Mojo 2, Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M, or Feliks Audio Echo 2 (if you have 300ohm headphones).
Topping gear has been VERY reliable for me, but don't jump on the latest, wait a while (just in case. ;-) Or buy "tried and true" models to put your mind at ease.
Soooo what this tells us is the topping stack isn’t that great 😆
No, it can deliver more power... just that, for something on the level of 6xx, it's just not worth it...
@@TheDeathmail 😆👌
What’s not worth it? The topping stack or using the amp out of a MacBook for something like a 650? Or both? I’d agree both aren’t worth it. 650 deserves better.
Is the bass deep and punchy? I need/want deep bass. I have HiFiman HE400se are these an upgrade?
any recommended headphones around 300$ to run on my Mac Pro m1. I listen EDM
hopefully my fiio k5 pr ess has enought power for the 6xx.. i ll found out soon
I recently got myself HD660s. Haven't tried off my macbook pro yet, I did try the iphone dongle dac first, and direct plugin to the PC, and with both, it sounded grainy? Like all the notes were there, but there seemed to be a grainy texture to everything. I got the JDS Atom+ amp, graininess gone, and it seemed more detailed. I haven't figured out yet if it was the amp, or if my ears simply needed a week to adjust to higher resolution music.
Also I'm probably going to upload a review on them in a month or so, once I figure out what's actually happening. Also, once I'm done experimenting with these, because it just opened up a whole world I had no idea about.
You really need to work on your outro goodbye's. They're too quick and cold. Perhaps try something like a Jim Carrey Goodbye like from "Dumb & Dumber" outro thats more dramatic and meaningful.
Are the HD 6xx and the HD 660s different enough to make it worth it owning both?
No, they are acoustically identical
I can't hear any difference plugging my Arya's to MBP 14 or Magni/Modi stack. Although headroom is lacking with both of them compared to my HD 660S's
Hi! Are your Aria's Stealth model?
@@coardtech no mine is the original Arya, but that comment is irrelevant because I wasn’t toggling the hi gain switch on my magni.
With the switch on there is a huge difference in the overall gain
@@RafaelGrigorian same thing i had when i used to have dca aeon. Magni heresy stack was driving them really nice. Currently thinkinh of buying aria and magnius modius
My 6xx hurts me with the apple dongle… am I just sensitive? Or is my dongle on roids?
because they're not being driven well by the apple dongle. My guess is that the higher frequencies are being emphasized.
Because the apple dongle is shit? It doesn't make sense to plug hundreds of dollars' worth of headphones into less than a tenner's worth of compact, cost-down electronics. Garbage in, garbage out. Headphones are completely passive, dumb devices, the apple dongle you've got them plugged into is what's actually "making" the sound. You could plug HE-90s into it and they wouldn't fix anything, because they can't.
Do you know if the macbook Air M1 has enough power to drive the 6XX?
Why pay so much money for Apple products when you can just buy a legitimate high fidelity stereo system?
@@kiavaxxaskew asking mainly for friends who already own the apple product , I myself do not use MacBook and I have a Fulla DAC.
How about LG Quad ESS Sabre Dac V series/G series phones vs HD6xx
Worked well for me with LG v30
@@big1matt Yeah I have test it as well, even planar magnetic headphone like the sundaras is fine.
@@LokeKQ yup, is great for me with the Anandas as well lol. Just recently upgraded to a dedicated dac, and very very happy, but v30 held its own.
@@big1matt should I get hd600 or sundara provided that I have the v50 only.
@@LokeKQ I never tried either, but I would recommend sundara more as I have been liking planars more lately and hear so much praise on the sundaras, that would be my recommendation.
You can't think yourself out of placebo.
You need to do what zero audio reviewers do. Blind testing.
Why don't you do blind testing?
I am looking for HD6XX Balanced XLR cables in belgium/ europe. anyone has a good store?
I would check some balanced cables on Amazon, not sure of a dedicated store. I bought new fantasia cables for my hifiman Anandas, and they are great
6xx go for like $220. Never saw them for $300
damn i never pair my hd600 to my MacBook pro
I m daily drive my HD600 with a normal Windows laptop. Yeah, even Airpods pro 2 has more details in sound.
How do you know if you need a a headphone amp besides volume? i need to run an audio interface for low latency monitoring but im worried im missing out on sound quality despite it being loud enough