Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

Hi guys. It's my first time posting here because I am a complete noob at these things. I currently own a Sennheiser HD 280pro and they are lovely. But recently I have been looking at Grados SR80i and i read somewhere that to get the most out of these headphones, i would need a headphone amp. I honestly don't know where to even start. Do you guys have any suggestions?

E11, the 280pro's benefit from an amp to bring out it's low frequencies if i remember correctly. Any heapdhones you get after that would benefit. There are the PA2V2 and Cmoy's but i would just say E11. The PA2V2 and cmoy's are clear amps but aren't bassy. Your headphones and tastes are probably the option of being a bit bassy at times. Keep in mind. As these are audiopile amps. They ARE ALL more bassy, tight, flat and more delicious than anything you have ever heard. IT's just that since they are all like this. we need to further seperate them down. So here we go, the E11 is not only more bassy, it has the option of staying clear too and has many options. Another thing would be availbility. I have a problem witht he PA2V2 distro. To get the pa2v2, you have to either bid directly off ebay, or call Gary up and order it directly. There have been no porblems whatsoever with this so it's fine, but i just don't like it. The Cmoy is also hand built but im sure you can buy tat one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

Thanks for the reply! The suggestions are great! Although I must add somethings to my search criteria: I'm not exactly looking for just amps that are good for bass. I listen mostly to underground jazz hiphop and instrumentals so songs like...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PEGDGxZdzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AULG4MoYxQk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibbm1XDqv7Q

 

so whatever amps are good for these kind of songs. Would your suggestion still be the same? Stick to the E11?

 

At this point any amp would really work. Do you like the music to have great mids and highs but also that little thump that doesn't overpower? If so, the E11 should still do. But reallly any amp would work. Next up is synergy... at this price point. synergy is not a big thing at all and not something you would notice. Are you looking for new headphones soon. like Beyer's or expensive ones? If so, then the E11 just because it has the power to drive......it has the power to basically drive. Even DT 990 250 Ohm Beyer's are known to be driven with melting volume on the E11. hmm im kinda thinking the PA2V2 or Cmoy now though. for that clean sounding music :/ up to you. i would recommend an LOD again of course. that was beautiful wheni heard the music you were listeing too...wow. you want an LOD. woulnd't want to mess up any of that goergous sound. do you have it in lossless cd ripped? if so, even better.

Now it's really up to you. The PA2V2 or the Cmoy might be better for this now. But they dont drive as hard as the E11 if you want to upgrade

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

Thanks for the great suggestions. I'm actually completely new and I have almost no idea what a "LOD" or what "drive" is. Do you mind explaining the basics of headphone amps? And i read something online that said you should bypass ipod's internal amp with something i forgot. I am kind of confused @_@. Thank you!! Oh, btw i am planning on getting the Grados SR80i

Don't worry :) I do this a lot :) If you see my name that much. lol

An LOD is an Line Out Dock. These generally mean a thing (usually a cable of sorts) that allows you to bypass a specific chip in a device. It is mainly used for ipod LOD's. Which means it is a cable that looks like this. (There are sony walkman LOD's too, not popular though) LOD generally means the cable you see below and is being used with an ipod. usually when headfiers talk of the ability to bypass a chip (amp usually) with a cable or port, they just say Line out. 

and it's purpose is to bypass the ipod's internal amplifier, it's circuits and heapdhone jack. Let me go back a bit first and explain. It is the amp, circuits, and heapdhone jack that are causing the majroity of the noticeable sound you are hearing. Most head fier's don't like it and it is known to be low quality. The LOD thus plugs into your ipod thorugh the botto of ur pod and thus it will bypass parts of your ipod that sound bad leaving you straight digitaly decoded to analogy data straight fromt the DAC. And as you might now know. since it bypased the amp and everything. you need something external that does the same thing? Yes it does. that's where these amps come in. the 3.5mm male end u see in the pic above plugs into a amp or dac or both's input side and that's it. you ipod feeds the music into the amp throught he LOD.

Drive:Headphones have different impendances and sensitivites. Driving a heapdhone is the ability of your device or setup to run or give enough juice so that your music is loud enough, is full and etends. basically has enough power to run the headphones. The word drive is usualy used like this.

"the (amp) can drive these headphones very well"

"This (amp) can't drive it well) "

"ehh the ipod can jus bareley drive it"

so it's basically..if the setup or amp has enough power to be able to run a certain headphone. 

Headphone amps change sound through it's curcuitry, the amplifier itself inside it, design. EVERYTHING that's wy even thing with same specs sound drastically differnt many times! the DAC ad amp can change the way music sounds through it's componenets and how it's designed and what not. Amp's are not just used to drive and DAC;s are not just need to decode digital files. they are also used to be able to change the way music sounds(influence it a bit) and provide higher quality play back like 24bit/192KHz 

Any other questions :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

Wow everything makes sense now! Thanks so much! I was thinking about the Cmoy and the other one but unfortunately, those are quite painful to obtain. I might just go with the E11s. If only there were amps that sounds nice and clear that were easier to buy!

if you read one of my initial posts. I said the Cmoy and PA2V2 were hard to get. not hard but quite annoying. Any questions? Sound science? How thta works? What would be best? .. if not, then yes, the E11 and L3 or L9 then. Do you have an ipod? if so i recoommend the L9 and E11. the L9 's L shape makes it more compact for use with the E11 when with an ipod. total for this is about $75. I dont' know if the E11 comes with these bands, but you would need these bands that help make it easier to attach with ipod

oh and Before i forget;

"Welcome to Head-Fi! Sorry about Your Wallet!"

To be honest, do you guys think the LODs actually affect the sound at all? Like if i were to use the L9 from Fiio instead of the more expensive ones using TWag cables. Are the more expensive LODs really worth the money?

Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matter 

To be honest, do you guys think the LODs actually affect the sound at all? Like if i were to use the L9 from Fiio instead of the more expensive ones using TWag cables. Are the more expensive LODs really worth the money?

 

Thank you.

Yes. it may not be night and day, but it increases clarity, loses the hiss and distortion and other stuff you get form the ipod's amp and circuits. U mainly don't notice. until YOU stop using it. when i did..wow. i ran back and plugged my L9 in right away. Yes more expensive ones are beter. but for newbies. not recommended
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

I also had another question. What LOD are there for NON-ipod? i am planning on getting a clip zip, but is there a LOD for that? Thanks!

....rarely any. Sony walkman's have one. but that one is very much unpopular and unknown(unpopular doesn't mean it's not good, its just means not many have/use it)
 

I'm partial to Ray Samuels Audio amps.  I've got a Tomahawk and an SR-71B and love them both.  There are plenty of reviews for Ray Samuels products on this site...I would definitely put them on your short list. 

Hello!

I have no experience with grado headphones but I do have some experience with low tier portable amps.

first of all what is your budget?

As far as portable amps go, I don't recommend fiio. I currently own a Cmoy made by head-fi member Fred_fred2004 and haven't heard the E11 but I did try for a couple of weeks the E5 and E7 and I thought they both sounded much worse when compared to my CMoy. This was more than 6 months ago so I can't really give you specifics of the comparison but I do remember that the CMoy was a no brainer back then.

Fred_fred2004 sells several variations of the CMoy amp on ebay, you could contact him through PM or look at his amps there.

great guy to deal with, BTW.

The LOD is extremely important!

My D2000 are extremely sibilant and I can't bear to listen to them more than 30minutes when driven out of my iphone without a LOD.

I don't think there are LODs for the sansa clip, I do remember seeing a LOD somewhere for the sansa Fuze but I doubt it'll work with the clip.

My current setups are: 

Laptop > gamma1 full++ DAC > CMoy amp > LA-2000 Lite

iPhone > fiio L9/L30 LODs > CMoy amp > LA-2000 Lite

Hope this helps!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightskye 

Now i have two questions.

 

Which Cmoy model exactly would be best? My budget is roughly under 100.

 

My next question is kind of long. I know the Ipod cannot play flac files. and converting them would result in a quality loss. but as of now i have a itouch. Here's the thing. I could either buy a LOD for the ipod. or buy a sansa clip zip that can play flac, but without LOD. which would sound best? Thanks.

 

Thanks!!!

I believe you can find DIY LODs for sansa players in ebay iirc.