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Buying first portable amp!

post #1 of 8
11/7/09 at 11:08am
Thread Starter 
I've decided to go for a cheapo portable amp just to get the feel of what an amp can do and if I like/dislike carrying it around with a mp3 player..

I'm looking at the Little Dot Micro +, a cheap, slim cmoy that comes with rechargeable batteries and charger and a CSG cmoy amp.

I understand that whats important in these amps are the chip and they have the following ones (in order as listed above): Maxim Max9724, BB OPA2227 and the last one there has a BB OPA2134 dual op-amp.

I have no idea what the difference between these chips are, and which one that ''sounds best'' so I'm hoping for a pinpointer from the great guru's of the audioworld!

If my taste in music is relevant to what amp I should get, I mostly listen to metal, punk (ska), jazz and classical music.
The headphones/IEM's the amp will be used with are written in my signature.

Ofcourse if there is a better ~70$ incl shipping amp out there, please let me know.

Thanks a lot for reading!
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post #2 of 8
11/7/09 at 11:43am
FWIW If you are talking about the 16 Ohm V-moda Vibe below paired with the Cowon D2 in sig, I would think the D2's amp is more than enough. From what I’ve read the amp’d vs not amp’d difference on the V-moda Vibe is marginal, I’d save my money.
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post #3 of 8
11/7/09 at 11:45am
LDM+ is really the worst portable amp in the batch, so skip it. I like the build quality of the super slim one, rechargeable is a plus in my book. Plus the opamp is socketed which means opamp rolling is possible. Personally I like OPA2227 over OPA2134, not as warm but better detail.
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post #4 of 8
11/7/09 at 12:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for a very decisive answer ClieOS, I was afraid the OPA2227 was 'outdated' and that the slim one was the worst choice.
By opamp rolling I assume you mean taking the 2227 chip out and soldering on a better one? Something I definitely will do later on if possible!

Walkgod; I'm hoping to acquire a better set of headphones sooner or later, hopefully I'll notice some difference when plugging in the DT 770.

Thanks again!
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post #5 of 8
11/7/09 at 1:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BassThor View Post
... By opamp rolling I assume you mean taking the 2227 chip out and soldering on a better one? Something I definitely will do later on if possible! ...
No soldering involved the opamp is user replaceable, just pop the opamp out of the dip8 socket and plug in another for what headfiers call "opamp rolling," similar to building legos

The socket looks like:


The opamp looks like:
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post #6 of 8
11/7/09 at 3:24pm
Well, I think the one from CSG definitely worths another look as well. It is more or less like a max'ed out cmoy. I wonder if they will take request for adding a socket.

So if budget is a concern and you have plan for upgrade, go for the slim one. For a more long term investment, you can consider getting the one from CSG, then as a future upgrade path, try to desolder the opamp and put in a socket instead.
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post #7 of 8
11/7/09 at 4:48pm
Jon Seaber's BB 2.02 is definitely worth a look, too, whether you like the Altoids tin or not...

jdslabs.com
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post #8 of 8
11/10/09 at 2:31am
I agree with the idea that rechargeable is a huge plus! I bought a total airhead, for $90 and although it was cheap, it is a battery monster, especially because I always forget to turn it off when not in use, I go through AAA's like crazy now, even considering buying a duracel recharging battery set.
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