Sennheiser’s versatile HDV 820 headphone amp/DAC
August 23, 2025 Comments Off on Sennheiser’s versatile HDV 820 headphone amp/DAC
The Sennheiser ticks plenty of boxes in terms of connectivity. Unusually, there’s a traditional 6.3mm jack integrated into the three-pin XLR socket on the front of the unit.
You also get a four-pin XLR and a pair of 4.4mm Pentaconn jacks on the front, both of which allow a balanced connection to suitable headphones.
Another string to the HDV 820’s bow is that it can also act as a preamp thanks to the presence of both single-ended and balanced analogue inputs and outputs, plus a separate gain adjustment to fine-tune the output for your power amp or active speakers.
The DAC functionality comes via a trio of USB, coax and optical digital inputs, with resolution limits of DSD256 and 32-bit/384kHz for PCM music files.
Add solid build quality and a great user experience to the mix, and you have a versatile amp with plenty going for it, not least a £600 discount over at Scan.
Audiophilepure 
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