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Looking for entry level Headphone amp.

post #1 of 7
2/13/12 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 

Hi there, I own a pair of ATH-m50's that I love and use for listening to music and competitive gaming. I'm looking for a decent headphone amp to drive these so that I can get a solid boost in the lower hz sounds to help me hear things like footsteps and the like. I also listen to a fair amount of techno/trance and the occasional alt rock that i would love to have enhanced by getting an amp.

 

So, I'd prefer if a decent one could be found here http://www.long-mcquade.com/products, as I dont really want to order online, I'd consider that a last resort. I'm comfortable spending up to about 170$ and portability isnt much of a concern, but would always be a plus.

 

Hope someone here can send me in the right direction, from what i've read in most posts everyone here is quite helpful. :) Thanks.

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post #2 of 7
2/14/12 at 7:51am

TTVJ Audio has the Corda XXS (Headsix) on sale for $120. For that price, or even for $170 you're unlikely to do better IMO.

 

Second item down:

 

https://www.ttvjaudio.com/store/comersus_listItems.asp?currentPage=2&hotDeal=&orderBy=&strSearch=&idSupplier=&lastChance=&user1=&user2=&user3=&idCategory=82

 

Skylab also did a review of the XXS in this thread:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/214588/review-portable-amp-roundup-56-portable-amps-reviewed-and-compared-final-update-12-20-10-added-rsa-sr-71b

 

Hope this helps!

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post #3 of 7
2/14/12 at 2:40pm

What sources are you plugging the headphones into?

If you using a windows PC, just get the Asus Xonar DG sound card..

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post #4 of 7
2/14/12 at 5:36pm

how bout digging out a tube amp, warm lusty mid with volume bass

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post #5 of 7
2/14/12 at 5:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by withadancenumbe View Post

Hi there, I own a pair of ATH-m50's that I love and use for listening to music and competitive gaming. I'm looking for a decent headphone amp to drive these so that I can get a solid boost in the lower hz sounds to help me hear things like footsteps and the like. I also listen to a fair amount of techno/trance and the occasional alt rock that i would love to have enhanced by getting an amp.

 



I think you might be approaching this from the wrong angle. Footsteps aren't really in the lower Hz; and in any case, if you want to hear them better for competitive gaming, you need less bass, not more.

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post #6 of 7
2/14/12 at 6:51pm

Maybe the OP wants to hear some dinosaur footsteps?  biggrin.gif

 

Some comments:

1.  $170 is definitely above entry level, particularly in a realm with such diminishing returns and compared to the cost of the headphones, and compared to actual products on the market

2.  You don't really get a boost in bass from amplifiers unless maybe you're talking about better control (less distortion) or an amplifier with a bass boost mode or intentionally skewed FR; and you could do EQ in software

3.  If you want to hear footsteps or hear the direction they're coming from, you probably want different headphones and/or some type of virtual surround processing such as Dolby Headphone; an ATH-AD700 and Xonar DG would cost under budget, for example

4.  ATH-M50 is a pretty easy load for pretty much any amplifier, be they some dedicated external unit or integrated; this is not saying that they wouldn't benefit at all from being driven by a better amplifier, but that most ones wouldn't struggle with such a load

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post #7 of 7
2/14/12 at 6:58pm

^ Haha, so true mate, so true. Especially agree with what you said about software EQ and the M50. 

EQ's a free, potential fix for PC gaming/music.

M50 is never recommended for gaming, so maybe different headphones would help more.

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