Quote:
Originally Posted by
violinvirtuoso 
Some people find the amp is helpful (ex. Average_Joe) and use amps like the Headstage Arrow, iBasso T3, and the Pico Slim. Others (ex. Shigzeo) don't feel that an amp produces enough of a SQ boost to be worth the cost and weight. From what I have read, a better DAC affects the SQ much more than a better amp. But you would need to be at home with a computer to use an external DAC.
There are numerous reports of people that didn't think that amp was worth the money/weight and so sold their amp (ex. BennyBoy71).
Note: I do not own the SM3 yet (they are shipping). All the above notes are opinions from other people, that I have read.
I find an amp useful because it allows me to tap into a better signal path from a DAC, such as the modified line out path of my DIY modded iPods or the line out of my Fuze. From my HUD-MX1 the sound via amp was the same as the internal amp, but the RPX-33 does improve the sound over the other amps. For me, it comes down to these things:
1) How much resolution is in the original track from mastering through bitrate. Lower bitrate, better mastered tracks can sound better than poorly mastered FLAC tracks.
2) How much of the available resolution can the DAC resolve.
3) When using a DAP, does the built in amp signal path limit what the DAC is producing? For example, are there low cost, low performance internal capacitors for DC offset of the output amp stage? The line out path of the iPod 5.5g has two sets of low performance caps as well as op amps in the signal path. Bypassing that increases the signal quality (and using quality capacitors) a great deal to my ears.
My ranking would be something like this for portable listening (have not had the T3 long enough for comparison purposes):
- iMod line out (film caps) -> Arrow
- S:flo2 line out -> Arrow
- Fuze line out (film caps) -> Arrow
- S:flo2 HPO
- iPhone line out -> Arrow
- iPhone HPO
- Fuze HPO
- iPod HPO
Another thing to note: if I am casually listening, the Fuze HPO would be fine, for example. The differences are more subtle with the SM3 than with some of the other IEMs I have used as most of the other IEMs were much more amp dependent. I do agree with shigzeo that the SM3 isn't hard to drive, but the benefit of a cleaner signal makes a difference to my ears.
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). If it's a matter of sound quality from the DAP, the amp will only magnify any issues the source component has and will not correct them. I also feel that other than increased overall quality of a home rig v. DAP, the IEM's are transparent to the source and have not in themselves actually improved with additional power.
