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Another 'should I get an amp?' thread

post #1 of 7
11/19/11 at 5:00am
Thread Starter 
Recently my flatmate broke my earbuds in a series of unlikely accidents so I started looking for new ones. Someone suggested jokers IEM thread on these forums and after a thorough reading I decided on the Brainwavz M1s. These are now my first IEMs and they sound amazing compared to what I've used before. This got me interested in what I've been missing all this time and how I can improve it. Next obvious step was getting a new mp3 player since suddenly my old Philips didn't seem like enough. After going through many 'which mp3 player should I get' threads I decided on the clip+ which seemed to offer most for its cost. And now that its ordered I've been thinking about getting an amp for it. Prices seem to be at $30, then $70 and then $150 and up with nothing inbetween. So as with others I've decided to step in at the entry level. and Fiio e5 and e6 are the ones I've been looking at. So the question is - should I get one? Will I hear a difference? WIll it be worth it for an unexperienced listener with low cost iems and mp3 player?
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post #2 of 7
11/19/11 at 5:15am

I would also make sure that all your MP3s are lossless format.  And a decent amp will certainly reveal more detail to the extent that detail is fed to it.  Which will be greater if you can feed your amp from a line-out rather than a earbud-out.


Edited by Old Pa - 11/19/11 at 5:17am
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post #3 of 7
11/19/11 at 6:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Pa View Post

I would also make sure that all your MP3s are lossless format. 



Uh, what? blink.gif

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post #4 of 7
11/19/11 at 6:43am

There are a variety of lossless MP3 formats.  They provide higher sampling rates and better sound at the expense of lowered song capacity per GB.  I rip my CDs to ITunes and my 4G Touch using Apple's lossless format.

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post #5 of 7
11/19/11 at 7:03am

There's no such thing as a lossless MP3. MP3 is a lossy codec. Don't call lossless files "lossless MP3s", call them lossless files or lossless codecs.

 

And they don't always sound noticeably better, it depends on bitrate, gear, ears, and (mostly) whether or not you know what to listen for.

 

OP, I wouldn't bother with an amp for IEMs. They're easy to drive.

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post #6 of 7
11/19/11 at 7:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Head Injury View Post

There's no such thing as a lossless MP3. MP3 is a lossy codec. Don't call lossless files "lossless MP3s", call them lossless files or lossless codecs.

 

And they don't always sound noticeably better, it depends on bitrate, gear, ears, and (mostly) whether or not you know what to listen for.

 

OP, I wouldn't bother with an amp for IEMs. They're easy to drive.



Forgive me for mis-speaking; I should have said lossless encoding.  And they don't always sound better, especially if the rest of your signal chain is incapable of reproducing their improved sound quality.  IEM's are, of course, designed to be driven without additional amps, but all mine sound better with my Hornet.

 

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post #7 of 7
11/21/11 at 8:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Pa View Post



IEM's are, of course, designed to be driven without additional amps, but all mine sound better with my Hornet.

 



Broad statement, and I'm prepared to bet you 38 million dollars that some IEMs are expressly designed for use with an amplifier, and I'm not just talking big dollar customs. If anything, the trend seems to be spreading - see Joker's epic IEM thread for more details. I dont know why Fang Bian decided my RE262s need to be 150-ohm impedance when many IEMs are 16-ohm, but you'll need to raise that with him.

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