Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Headphone Amps › Why use amps at all?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Why use amps at all? - Page 2

post #16 of 30
7/1/09 at 1:57pm
i've noticed there's a bigger diff on my dynamic atrios compared to my armature freqs when I stopped using my portable amp... the atrio bass became slightly muddy and undefined. not so observable on my freqs
Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #17 of 30
7/1/09 at 9:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imademymark View Post
the govibe's model you're looking for is the magnum, it has a knob so you can increase the bass quantity to the level you want.

i wouldnt say being a bass head means that you shouldnt bother getting the best and most expensive amps (or for that matter earphones). for the longest time the most expensive iem was the ue11 (although not anymore methinks) and it was in many respects a basshead's dream. in addition, the lisa III is generally regarded as the best and is the most expensive portable amp, and it has a bass knob too!
Maybe I sound like criticizing him being a bass head, which is not my intention. What I am trying to say is that there is just a limited amount of bass that an amp can bring compared to unamped especially to easy to drive phones like the SE530. Even the best home amps will not bring you much more bass. It will bring you a more refined, controlled bass, nuances in the lower end are less harder to hear and extensions are fully sustained. At the end it is more about the quality than the quantity.

Since he said he can never get enough bass while listening to hip/hop dance/techno, I feel that a change of headphones or an amp with bass control is more adequate rather than buying an expensive first amp and feel disappointed by the lack of bass. Reviews of amps here can be misleading, newbies have to understand that most amps will not bring a big amount of bass that wasn't there in the first place and that a change of amps is no where as radical as a change of headphones.
Reply
post #18 of 30
7/3/09 at 7:21am
well IMO even the easiest to drive HP gain control and finesse when properly amped; many disagree with this sentiment. SE530 are quite efficient, but more current = better control and bass frequencies require the most current of all. all the same, as has been said, improving your source/headphones will provide more gain in SQ. if both these things are covered already then an amp is a worthwhile investment IMO. also a quiet amp will provide a much cleaner signal to the headphones, most cheap digitally controlled pots like the ones inside daps can be a bit noisy and lacking. also adds to the battery life of the dap I have found.

and yeah the Lisa III has awesome bass!!!; would make a fantastic bassheads amp; just turn the knob to the right and off you go with cranium shaking bass with transducers that are capable of reproducing it of course
Reply
post #19 of 30
7/3/09 at 8:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post
and yeah the Lisa III has awesome bass!!!; would make a fantastic bassheads amp; just turn the knob to the right and off you go with cranium shaking bass with transducers that are capable of reproducing it of course
WHY OH WHY did you have to go and say that?!

*checks bank account*

*sobs hysterically*
Reply
post #20 of 30
7/3/09 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
An amp doesn't amplify the sound waves. It provides current and voltage to the driver.

A headphone driver has a voicecoil attached to a cone. (I'll just go into dynamic drivers here.) The voicecoil is a coil of thin copper wire. There's also a magnet behind the voicecoil. When you pass the signal through the voicecoil, you have to have sufficient power for the voicecoil to move the cone back and forth against the magnet.

If you don't have enough power, the cone's movement is weak or sloppy. Think about trying to go up a big hill on a bicycle compared to going up the hill on a car. The more power you have, the faster you can get to the top.

It's the same way with amplifiers. If you have an easy headphone to drive, then you can just use an iPod to push it back and forth. If you have something difficult to drive, like an AKG K-1000, then you need a lot more power.
Naturally we're talking of a few mW of power required for most if not all headphones (unless you consider the K1000 an headphone), and not just for IEMs...


Sure if you try to drive with your iPod's internal amplifier a pair of hi-fi loudspeakers, that's a different matter
Reply
post #21 of 30
7/3/09 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeless View Post
Naturally we're talking of a few mW of power required for most if not all headphones (unless you consider the K1000 an headphone), and not just for IEMs...


Sure if you try to drive with your iPod's internal amplifier a pair of hi-fi loudspeakers, that's a different matter
I think it's important not to assume that just because you have enough mw's you have enough power. More mw = more power to accurately reproduce bass, shifts in dynamics, transients, etc even if you're generally only using a little bit of power. I agree that amping is not necessary for IEMs, but even if you're able to make you high impedance hp's sound loud out of your sound card/laptop/whatever you'll still gain a significant amount of SQ from a proper amp.
Reply
post #22 of 30
7/4/09 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AtomikPi View Post
I think it's important not to assume that just because you have enough mw's you have enough power. More mw = more power to accurately reproduce bass, shifts in dynamics, transients, etc even if you're generally only using a little bit of power. I agree that amping is not necessary for IEMs, but even if you're able to make you high impedance hp's sound loud out of your sound card/laptop/whatever you'll still gain a significant amount of SQ from a proper amp.
I'm not questioning that. I only tried to say that it's often an overstated matter and more often than not one can do without an amp, if he/she chooses a good portable source and an adequate pair of headphones, with the right impedance and efficiency.

That said, some "very exclusive" portable headphones are designed with the idea that the user will have an equally exclusive amp...


So... like with like



For me, at least until I become a professional traveller , using portable amps when I'm out in the wild city world would only be a masochistic hassle.
Reply
post #23 of 30
7/15/09 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
So what's he solution for me guys? I got the shure 530 cause i thought they were the undisputed champion, but maybe i didnt think to check the bass factor.

So anyway are you saying i should look for my answer in Over-The-Top Headphones, or get other earphones?

I recently became aware of the UE super-fi 5 EB which supposedly reproduce lots of bass.

The biggest issue here, is that i'm not an Audio Tecnician and i dont even have the luxury to try before i buy since there's no availability of such models, so the only thing i can do is take a shot and buy one and see how it handles.

If i could somehow test myself all the different combinations of Heads/IEM +DAC/Amps and knew for sure what's best i would save money for long time and buy what i want. But since that cant happen i cant just be throwing money i havent got!

Do you now see my dilemma?
Reply
post #24 of 30
8/24/09 at 6:01pm
I was thinking of purchasing a iBasso T4 to partner with my 2G iPod Touch and Sennheiser IE8 and UE Triple Fi Pro IEM's. Previously I was using a Fiio E5 with a iBasso CB03 LOI. Has anyone has any experience with this combo.
Reply
post #25 of 30
8/25/09 at 1:49pm
I use an amp because it can "flavor" the music a bit. I like tube sound.

Just my 2 cents (which is all I have after all the equipment I have bought).
Reply
post #26 of 30
8/28/09 at 9:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
An amp doesn't amplify the sound waves. It provides current and voltage to the driver.

A headphone driver has a voicecoil attached to a cone. (I'll just go into dynamic drivers here.) The voicecoil is a coil of thin copper wire. There's also a magnet behind the voicecoil. When you pass the signal through the voicecoil, you have to have sufficient power for the voicecoil to move the cone back and forth against the magnet.

If you don't have enough power, the cone's movement is weak or sloppy. Think about trying to go up a big hill on a bicycle compared to going up the hill on a car. The more power you have, the faster you can get to the top.

It's the same way with amplifiers. If you have an easy headphone to drive, then you can just use an iPod to push it back and forth. If you have something difficult to drive, like an AKG K-1000, then you need a lot more power.


Good explanation, I would like to add some thing. i think amp is the heart in the rigs. It decides when and which frequency need to supply the power( current). So to my understanding, the amp is very important segment in the set ups. ( low end amp can't supply the balanced power to the drivers)
Reply
post #27 of 30
8/28/09 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeless View Post
Naturally we're talking of a few mW of power required for most if not all headphones (unless you consider the K1000 an headphone), and not just for IEMs...


Sure if you try to drive with your iPod's internal amplifier a pair of hi-fi loudspeakers, that's a different matter
You might be surprised - I've been able to get the iPod and several portables to clip at modest levels. There are other considerations, too. I'm partial to the sound of single-ended triodes. Getting that to run correctly requires a few pieces of iron and a good source of power.
Reply
post #28 of 30
8/28/09 at 12:57pm
To unleash the full potential of my IEMs and add some bass. And also to add some volume as I often listen to CDs from the 80es which are much quieter than nowadays' CDs.
Reply
post #29 of 30
8/28/09 at 4:25pm
I use SE530's with and without an amp. If it is convenient to use an amp, I do so. It eliminates the hiss I get from all my sources, and provides a cleaner, tighter presentation. If an amp is inconvenient, I just go straight out of the iPhone or iPod, and deal with a bit of hiss. I like the amplified sound better, but it is not required for me. For reference, I use a Pico DAC / Amp, have used a Tomahawk.
Reply
post #30 of 30
8/28/09 at 9:55pm
I think some of them make things too complexed.

Yes, SE530 is a hi end IEMs with more potential to explore. you can direct hook it to any DAPs for it's higher sensitive phone. But as you description the bass is a bit lite. For bass need more power to boost. but the integrated amp in the normal DAP is weak to power it.

I would like to recommend you a simple solution: Try AMP3 pro2. it is a decent AMP/DAP hybrid. It is the only portable amp applying Class A circuit design that mean it can supply much more dynamic and transient power for you SE530.

For more infomation, please refer to this page:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/am...8/index65.html
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Portable Headphone Amps

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Headphone Amps › Why use amps at all?