A device called the WOW Thing, made by SRS Labs, is marketed to people as a way to make their small computer speakers sound better. It also has a 1/8" headphone jack. This thing does everything you'd want for headphones- amplifies the signal, enhances the apparant perception of bass, and widens the soundstage to an amazing degree. All the controls are adjustable, too.
Please, no naysayers who haven't tried this thing. If you have an open mind, you may have just saved yourself mucho $$$ by not buying a more expensive dedicated headphone amp that can't do everything this little bugger can.
I know I sound like a salesman, but I'm not- I just think it's so cool to have discovered this great use for a device that is mainly intended for enhancing the sound of small speakers...and after all, that's exactly what headphones are- small speakers. The only drawback is that it's not battery-powered, it comes with an AC adapter. Well, nothing is pefect.
Here's the link: http://www.srs-store.com/store/mall/Product.aspx?Id=10
If anybody else has tried this unit, please chime in with your comments. It's good policy to be skeptical about wild claims like this, so I'd feel so much better if somebody else can back me up with this.

Congrats on your discovery....enjoy the music.

i haven't heard this but it seems like it is a device intended to eq the sound to "sweeten-up" tinny compressed mp3 files, and poor soundcard performance. i used to test the srs-wow plug-in for wmp, and it is little more than a fancy "loudness" control with a poor software cross-feed. i think most people here come at the problem by investing in good sources and headphones, instead of trying to "fix" the sound at the amp point because of poor equipment.

still, i haven't tried it, so don't consider this a dis'.

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Have to back redshifter here. Let's put it into perspective. Do you really think that this magical $20 device can compete with dedicated headphone amps costing hundreds, even thousands of dollars?

Quote from IGN:

"SRS says that you could use this small box, or the technology in general, with any stereo source. I would keep it on cheapo desktop speakers, where it is needed the most. If you have high-end computer speakers you might want to skip it simply because your system will already sound good. In that case the WOW would just make it sound different - and unnatural - but not really better.

Also, this thing is an audiophile's nightmare. It is all sound coloration. Nothing sounds natural, or certainly not how the artist intended it to sound. It sounds... WOW."

The description sounds very much like an EQ or signal booster of some sort. Reminds me of the 'bass boost' phenomenon or the 'loudness' button you'd find on PCDP's or car stereos. In some instances, I do actually find myself using such enhancements. I am also a proponent of EQ, when it is properly administered.

soundzgood:If this device enhances your enjoyment of the music, then by all means, enjoy it! However, it is probably not in the same class as a dedicated headphone amplifier... but moreso in the class of a signal enhancer/modifier or equalizer.

Interesting that this helpful post is his first and only one on this site.

Mark

I stand fast on my belief that this $20 thing *does* compete with super-expensive amplifiers. It's not magic. And it certainly isn't a software plug-in. It's an electronic device that incorporates amplification along with a circuit for psycho-acoustic bass enhancement and an SRS circuit for restoring spaciousness that gets lost in the recording process. The fact that these controls are all adjustable is just icing on the cake.
The fact that it only costs $20 is due, I think, to these factors: 1) The original price was higher when it first came out, and they didn't sell as many as they hoped for, and 2) The parts are inexpensively mass produced...that doesn't mean they're junk.
As far as what an artist intended, it really doesn't matter. We all listen to different equipment with different ears in different rooms. I really don't think that James Taylor, for example, will mind too much if I listen to his latest CD through a box that enhances my listening experience.

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Well, in his defense, he also did just register. I think soundzgood is legit... just look at his profile though... TWO SUBWOOFERS? I'd say soundzgood is a bit of a bass fan, in which case bumping up the signal can have a really noticeable and 'wow-ing' effect

it's not "restoring" spaciousness that got lost in the compression - it's merely "filling it up" with other stuff. But if you enjoy it, good for you! That's what matters the most - whether you can enjoy the music or not.

For what it's worth, the M-Audio Sonica has the SRS WOW and SRS TruBass circuits too, and to my ears they're nothing special. WOW is meant for speakers, not headphones, and it does enhance the apparent width of the soundstage, but it also changes the tonal balance of the sound. I keep them both turned off.

response to Mark:
I understand where you're coming from, and I don't blame you one bit. But I'm just trying to spread the joy I found using something that I think a lot of people here would really love.
By all means, don't buy one...but try to find someone else who has one and see what they have to say about it.

response to Wodgy:
headphones ARE speakers, and EVERYTHING changes the tonal balance of the sound, including the individual shape of your ears, the exact placement of the headphones on your ears, your own unique audiogram, etc.
If you don't like how those circuits sound on the M-Audio Sonica, cool, turn them off. They happen to be fully adjustable with knobs on the WOW Thing box, however, and you can turn them off yet still have some gain control to drive a headphone better than it could be driven by a portble CD player. My point is that for 20 bucks you can have a headphone amp, kinda unheard of I thought. By the way, using an expensive amp also alters the tonal balance of the sound. Whether or not any kind of change is good is up to each individual.

Slicsounds, part II

I have a WowThing I bought a couple years ago. It's a "sound enhancer" as opposed to an EQ. I believe it's useful for lousy headphones and speakers which need an extra kick to sound a bit more acceptable. It's not for good quality headphones, though. I haven't used it in a long time, but I did try it with my V6 and I didn't like the way it sounded. I can't compare it to a headphone amp though since i don't have one and my headphones are driven fine from without an amp.