[Taggerung]

Are there any amps around the same size/form factor as the E12/C5 that is considered a direct upgrade over them?

 

[vapman]

Not that I know of or I would have got it instead of the C5, maybe the Oppo? I think that has a bass boost too, but not sure if it can make full size cans slam too.

 

[QWERTYY]

Hey guys! I'm new to this thread and I'd just like to ask how effective the bass boost switch on the Headstage Arrow 5TX is with the ASG 2.5. Any info will help a lot. 

 

[audiohol]

Please consider this as a suggestion. Wanna test how good the bass on your iem is? Why not have a list of benchmark songs and measure them against factors such as quality/depth, Impact, decay and quantity of bass that the iem is correctly able to reproduce? Yes I know just any hip hop or trance song would be good but there are certain hidden gems of bass in some songs which are only captured by the truly remarkable iems. For example :
 
My personal favourite is 
 Chevelle - Emotional drought. Yes its rock but it has this sneaky use of bass between the 7  to 10 seconds mark that ascends to huge proportions, delivers a slam and decays beautifully all within that 3 second period. Not all iems ive listened to are able to catch this (except IE80, shure 846) especially without using Viper4android. Please use a better quality than the one that Ive linked to test this and I would love to hear your thoughts.
 
It would be great if OP could include this list along with the best iems as 500 page commemoration of what this wonderul thread has become? Please do list your favourite benchmark songs too!

 

[teecee5]

Question for the pros here:
Would you say, that "in general" inears under ~100$ are better without an amp and above you rather need an amp?
In general. I know there are gems like the xb90ex that is cheap but rather gets great with an amp, but in general.
I mean, "most" inears under 100$ are rather targeted for "normal human beeing" and probably build to work on smartphones, as for more expensive inears are targeted for more audiophiles who mostly have amps, you know?
 
@audiohol/img/forum/go_quote.gif
I think the idea is great, to have 1-2-3 tracks to compare it with, or have a scale from 0-10 to head explode bass level

 

[kwk1]

Question for the pros here:

Would you say, that "in general" inears under ~100$ are better without an amp and above you rather need an amp?


In general. I know there are gems like the xb90ex that is cheap but rather gets great with an amp, but in general.


I mean, "most" inears under 100$ are rather targeted for "normal human beeing" and probably build to work on smartphones, as for more expensive inears are targeted for more audiophiles who mostly have amps, you know?


 


 


 


@audiohol/img/forum/go_quote.gif


I think the idea is great, to have 1-2-3 tracks to compare it with, or have a scale from 0-10 to head explode bass level

 


No expert here, but I think the impedance and sensitivity both play a part in what can be run with or without an amp.
Impedance of < 25 ohms can be driven quite easily with a smartphone while > 25 ohms would be more suited to amplification.
The higher the sensitivity, the more efficient which means less power is needed to drive them as well.

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

No expert here, but I think the impedance and sensitivity both play a part in what can be run with or without an amp.
Impedance of < 25 ohms can be driven quite easily with a smartphone while > 25 ohms would be more suited to amplification.
The higher the sensitivity, the more efficient which means less power is needed to drive them as well.

 When it comes to throttling the bass the impedance has less of a role then one would imagine. xb90 (16) ASG 2.5 (41) and ex1k (32) are 3 I know well and te xb90 is the hardest to push to it's max and it has the lowest impedance. I have not been seeing any pattern in my experience that lines up with that spec. I imagine at low listening or normal levels that would be more noticeable and reflected in graphs but when amping and throwing a bunch of juice it seems to crush that spec and scatter it's ashes to the bass winds.

 

[Raketen]

I wouldn't rely on price too much (see vapman's $70, 400 ohm earbuds 

, or all the $200-400 iem with handset mic/remotes) impedance & sensitivity are maybe more reliable guidlines, my experience is similar to what Hawaii mentions, not necessarily indicative of how a headphone sounds or matches/scales across sources, or reacts to EQ.
 

 

[vapman]

Well said, to be honest I've had many headphones which had impedances of 32 ohms or less but couldn't be driven without an amp. On the other hand I have certain 300~ ohm headphones I can drive with my phone/laptop without any problem
 
v

v
 
(my 400 ohm earbuds kick butt!)

 

[Sohaib Naeem]

I've narrowed my choices down to the ASG 2.5 or the IE 80's.
 
I will probably never buy an amp so what would be the better option?
 
As someone mention earlier to get the 2.5's and end the search - I don't want to buy them and feel that they are under powered.
 
IE 80's I can get easily, 2.5's not so much.

 

[Duncan]

I'll go with a wild card option....

Get a pair of Sony MH1, grab the fit kit from them, find the largest one that provides a seal, then grab yourself a pair of LG Quadbeat 3, put the Sony tips on the LGs, and away you go...

Killer sound for approx $50, can't go wrong.

 

[Sohaib Naeem]

Hmmm, will look into that.
 
Ultimately I want something that slams just off an ipod and sounds good doing so.
 
Temptation is there to buy another pair of EPH 100's to replace my dying pair....but I want something different after having my last ones for nigh on 7 years.

 

[vapman]

I'd honestly really rather use a MH1 if I had to pick between that and the IE80. The 2.5 we can't say for sure because some people here love using their 2.5 directly out of their phone/laptop/iPod and some people insist on amping the 2.5. What I can tell you for sure, is that if you get the ASG 2.5 for that price, you can very easily resell it should you not like it. The rest you'd take a decent hit if you were to sell them used but ASG 2.5 tends to hold its value more as they're getting harder to find.
 
I think the unamped ASG 2.5 is not bad but I think it benefits a lot from the amp, so I dunno. Hard to say. I think it won't sound as power starved as the 1plus but you might find it lacking.

 

[Raketen]

  I've narrowed my choices down to the ASG 2.5 or the IE 80's.
 
I will probably never buy an amp so what would be the better option?

They're both good enough without an amp I think you are safe buying based on overall signature preferences.

 

[Sohaib Naeem]

Oh that ship sailed literally soon as I posted!
 
I need to hunt for a set again.