Unfortunately, I do not know how the (according to test reports) really good headphones (eg Audeze LCD 2 or Grado GS-1000) to really good headphone amplifiers (eg Violectric, Lake People) sound ...
For me, after a few hours break-in period but this was DAC already a perceived as upgrading of VW Beetle from 1970 to a current Bentley Continental.
Now, after 6 months practice period it is still better.
PS .: I use the way foobar2000 and have (after I had my entire CD collection digitized) adjusted the level with Replay Gain. This makes the listening experience has been further enhanced.