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amp for Sennheiser HD280pro?

post #1 of 14
3/16/05 at 9:52pm
Thread Starter 
hi, im new here and going to ask a silly question

im planning to buy the Sennheiser HD280pro, as it has a good review and under $100. im just wondering if i can use it directly on PC (with creative 24bit sound card)? or do i need an amplifier for it? can i use it on portable audio device like iPol?

thanks for help
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post #2 of 14
3/16/05 at 10:05pm
Don't bother with an amp. They don't need it and they don't benefit from it.
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post #3 of 14
3/16/05 at 10:18pm
there's lots of threads on this, just do a search for "280 amp". but the generally consensus is that buying an amp just for the 280s isn't really worth it.
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post #4 of 14
3/16/05 at 10:40pm

No Amp

I don't think the 280s really need an amp. They sound really good without one. From a really weak portable they might benifit. I use mine with a Cmoy because 1) The headphone jack on my portable is to recessed to take the big plug on the 280 2) The volume control on my player is a bit vague. I'd rather just set it and use the nice little knob on my cmoy. Back to back from my SB Audigy with cmoy and without, volume balanced, I couldn't really hear a difference using mp3s or cds.
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post #5 of 14
3/16/05 at 10:49pm
Agreed. The 280 Pro's sound fine without an amp from all but the worst of sources.
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post #6 of 14
3/16/05 at 10:49pm
I agree. I think they definitely sound better with a cmoy, but that's only because I'm using the AV710's hi-res line out (which everyone knows...benefit from amplification). I'm using my cmoy with my zen xtra and the only thing i notice is that the low bass quality is slightly better.
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post #7 of 14
3/22/05 at 11:59am
My 280s seem to sound better even out of a boom box than my iriver - more bass and clearer.

Could it be that an amp would help with a 20 MW (I think that is the designation - it is 20 whereas an ipod is 30) output of the IRiver? - with a weak source like the IRiver an amp would help???

Or am I just imagining it?

Just asking out of ignorance and surprize at my $20 boomboxes prowess!
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post #8 of 14
3/22/05 at 12:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by infiniti029
there's lots of threads on this, just do a search for "280 amp". but the generally consensus is that buying an amp just for the 280s isn't really worth it.
I don't know if that's necessarily true, my experience has been that the 280's do benefit from an amp just as much as any other headphone but I think it will benefit more from a decent source. Also economics come into play, will the 280's benefit from a $50 Cmoy? Probably not much but they did sing when I used them in a system consisting of a Cambridge Azur 640C and Singlepower PPX3. So with all that said I think the thread starter would most benefit by upgrading his soundcard to at least something a bit better.

Edit: The exception would be if the 280's were being underpowered as in the previous post, in that situation I would expect a Cmoy to make more of a difference but I know when I had the 280's here at work I tried them a few times with a Meta42 and while there was a noticable increase in quality it wasn't dramatic and I didn't feel it was worth the hassle of lugging the amp into work every day.
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post #9 of 14
3/22/05 at 12:53pm
My experience tells me that HD280 benefits very little from the amp. Unless you are trying to use HD280 with a very weak portable device (say old Sony personal MiniDisk player or some cheap mp3 players), you won't benefit much from amps.

IMHO, you will be benefit even more by replacing your source with a better one. I owned various Soundblaster cards and they were often the weakest link.
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post #10 of 14
3/22/05 at 2:03pm
Here's something regarding "preamping" the 280s to improve soundstage and bass:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...le#post1260998

Hamsterball_Z - "...The Sennheiser HD280 also gets recommendations for gaming but it doesn't have much of a soundstage on its own. But, if you're looking for something USB, pair them with a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro for truly amazing sound. This little gizmo adds a nice soundstage and some much needed bass to the 280s. I've been using this combo on my laptop for mobile gaming and I couldn't be happier..."

Turtle Beach Virtual Surround Sound USB Audio Adapter, Model "Audio Advantage Micro" - $24

- might be worth trying, i've heard about it on another forum too
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post #11 of 14
3/22/05 at 2:20pm
"The exception would be if the 280's were being underpowered as in the previous post, in that situation I would expect a Cmoy to make more of a difference but I know when I had the 280's here at work I tried them a few times with a Meta42 and while there was a noticable increase in quality it wasn't dramatic and I didn't feel it was worth the hassle of lugging the amp into work every day."

Underpowered = 5mW? Whereas the Ipod (30mW) and the IRiver (20mW) have enough power?

IRiver 320 headphone output:
----------
Left 20mW / Right 20mW (16ohms)
Right 12mW / Right 12mW (32ohms)
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post #12 of 14
3/22/05 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by donaldekelly
"The exception would be if the 280's were being underpowered as in the previous post, in that situation I would expect a Cmoy to make more of a difference but I know when I had the 280's here at work I tried them a few times with a Meta42 and while there was a noticable increase in quality it wasn't dramatic and I didn't feel it was worth the hassle of lugging the amp into work every day."

Underpowered = 5mW? Whereas the Ipod (30mW) and the IRiver (20mW) have enough power?

IRiver 320 headphone output:
----------
Left 20mW / Right 20mW (16ohms)
Right 12mW / Right 12mW (32ohms)
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking? I don't tend to pay much attention to specs, if it sounds anemic then it's probably not a beefy enough amp. Oh and by beefy I'm not just referring to wattage, lower impedance headphones generally tend to like current as well.
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post #13 of 14
3/22/05 at 4:57pm
I thought - according to this thread - that most people thought the hd280s do NOT need an amp, and that any amping would not result in worthwhile sound quality increase.

But then my AIWA CSD EX111 cd boombox sounds clearly better than my IRiver - so I am wondering it MP3 players need an amp for the 280s.

The aiwa boombox is rated at about 4-5 watts - for the speakers, so maybe less for the headphone jack but it is probably higher than the 20mW the IRiver is.

So - an amp IS needed for mp3 players like the IRiver (20mW) and maybe the Ipod (30mW) to sound better. A clear improvement!?!?

I am not sure what "sounds anemic" is since I am not sure what the headphones can do - and am wondering if I was just playing a different piece of music that got the good response from my boom box.... I will keep experimenting. I am Just guessing and hoping someone has more info.
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post #14 of 14
3/22/05 at 5:03pm
I suppose my next question should be what should I eat for dinner - I might get a bunch of varied responses from that, too.

I guess there is improvement with a portable but not worth buying an amp for - from the above discussion.

And after searching again, I realize this "amp for a low impedance headphone" question has been answered ad nauseum elsewhere in the threads. If I had only searched again and reread the threads I could have gottne the info (and the nausea) with out dragging this thread out and off topic.

I have a good question but a bad memory - sorry.
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