is it my ears or?

The source might be limited in its quality, and in turn the amps are simply reflecting that. Then again, sometimes it difficult to hear the difference between modern electronics. 

Also depends on how you "auditioned" them.

To be honest, it's very very hard to just ABX different amps and then expect to hear any really obvious differences. Unless you're very experienced, the best way to go about it is to spend some time with one amp (for me, this is about a week of listening), getting used to its sound, and then switching to another amp. If you let your ears get used to the sound of one first, you're more likely to notices differences in comparison to another amp.

Congrats! You just stumbled with the truth!

There's nothing wrong with your ears nor with your current setup/dac/source, ... To be told that it might be other piece of equipment is just trying to find another excuse.

The problem lies within this forums, and all the hype surrounding all the equipment, it is not because of your headphones. 

I had the same impression when I got my first headphone amp. 

I'd recommend you take a different approach to this "hobby" and you read from both sides, not just the subjective side of the forums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazerboyz 

hi, i just auditioned a couple of china made amps, namely little dot mk 3, darkvoice 3322 and darkvoice 336.

my setup was netbook alac files -> audinst mx1 -> amp -> hd650 blue dragon recabled.

 

SOMEHOW, with the amp, or just through my audinst headphones out, the sound either had VERY VERY VERY MINIMAL improvments, or none.

 

am i doing anything wrong, or is the audinst really that awesome, or is it im just not good enough to capture the difference.

where does the problem lie, the headphones?

My first headphone amp was a Bada PH1, my integrated amp at the time was a NAD C350 (& Audiolab 8000p); with my Grado SR325 i could scarcely tell the difference between the NADs headphone and the Bada...which is funny considering the Bada was a tube amp!  There was certainly no quality increase.

I guess there's only so many ways to amplify a signal to drive headphones or something :P

probably  not your ears. If the audinst mx1 was driving your HD650 properly, then adding an neutral amp in between should in theory do nothing. You only need an amp if your source cannot drive the load properly. Try turning the volume up without the amp. Are you getting good volume out of the audinst mx1 or does it sound progressively bad as you turn the volume up? I do use amps and I have heard first hand the benefits of having one, especially with portable sources that do not have beefy outputs. I am not familiar with the amps you listed, but a possibility exists that they are not driving the HD650's properly.

If you've got a decent integrated amp (they normally just run the signal though some resistors and perhaps caps? to bring it down) then it's a smart idea to just use the headphone out

edit: oh you have a dac/amp combo too ^_^

I do have a headphone amp in the shape of an Aune which is also my DAC, but in part only cos my yamaha ax396 finally died after years of service/abuse (a chip died), and that my cambridge a500 has no headphone out...3 birds, one stone/metal box from china 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bullseye 

Congrats! You just stumbled with the truth!

 

There's nothing wrong with your ears nor with your current setup/dac/source, ... To be told that it might be other piece of equipment is just trying to find another excuse.

 

The problem lies within this forums, and all the hype surrounding all the equipment, it is not because of your headphones. 

 

I had the same impression when I got my first headphone amp. 

 

I'd recommend you take a different approach to this "hobby" and you read from both sides, not just the subjective side of the forums.

 

 

This should be a sticky.