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What Headphone AMP?

post #1 of 7
1/21/12 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 

Hi my name is Tyler I am new to Head-Fi and had a question about what amp if any I should buy

I am new to high quality audio and usually wear a pair of old headphones i once used for gaming

 

 

I am a musician and listen to music constantly.

I listen to Jazz and Classical music only and am seeking to increase the clarity, detail, and sound quality of my daily listening.

All of my audio is Applelossless transfered from CDs I listen to these files from my IPOD classic and my HP Laptop.

 

I have purchased two pair of Audio Technica Headphones and will be returning one of the pairs after additional reviewing

the models are

ATH M50s

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/57a64f4a9fdbefd9/index.html

ATH AD-700

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/567089b73c33056f/index.html

 

 

How will a headphone amp affect these products? 

How will a headphone amp change my audio quality?

What will I be gaining or lossing with/without an AMP?

 

I am looking for something portable if I should get an AMP

what is a good Portable affordable AMP that will go with these headphones?

 

Thanks for anything you can educate me with about this stuff

its somewhat overwhelming to try to sit down and take all in

 

 

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post #2 of 7
1/21/12 at 2:19pm

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

 

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Triad-Magnetics/WAU16-1000/?qs=%252btY05tBNkjjbu8QrdPsM8w%3D%3D

 

For price to performance the O2 reference is an excellent amp and kills much more expensive amps in price to performance value. It is a dead neutral, true to source amp with lots of power. Also plays nicely with low impedance IEMS and headphones as well. For its price its amazing. You can either DIY for around $100.00 or pay for a pre assembled model (which I opted for).


Edited by lee730 - 1/21/12 at 2:22pm
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post #3 of 7
1/21/12 at 3:53pm
Thread Starter 

what do i need to buy to DIY?

what would a portable model of similar quality cost?


Edited by toshnock - 1/21/12 at 3:55pm
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post #4 of 7
1/21/12 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by toshnock View Post

what do i need to buy to DIY?

what would a portable model of similar quality cost?



Go to the link I provided. I think they have all the stuff you would need to DIY. But you'd have to contact them for more specifics. I just had them assemble it. Rather not go through the hassle myself.

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post #5 of 7
1/21/12 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HMEF2A

how does that compare to something like this?
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post #6 of 7
1/21/12 at 9:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by toshnock View Post

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HMEF2A

how does that compare to something like this?


No way to know since they publish so few specs. That alone is pretty telling, I think. I have no doubt that the O2 blows it away, how audible that increased performance is or whether you like the neutrality is up to you. The EF2A does have the advantage in that it's a DAC as well. You can get a UCA202 to pair with the O2. The O2 has the advantage in that it's portable, the EF2A is not.

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post #7 of 7
1/22/12 at 9:02am
Thread Starter 

Thanks

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