[Antony6555]

Quote:

It won't be silly at all once someone crams a Realiser into a portable amp.  Soundstage is the only area where IEMs are handicapped against full size 'phones and a good DSP can replicate a speaker's soundstage.  Then you'll be able to hold a good chunk of any set of speakers in the palm of your hand.
 
Who needs to worry about replicating a desktop headphone rig when you can work on replicating a speaker rig and listening room?  That gets rid of 1 and 3 while 2 is irrelevant because its always true about everything.  Someone will always complain about anything.

Do you think portable amps are silly?

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Yeah but aren't all the portable amps still silly? I mean most iems do not need portable amps, as a pro-science person I assume you'll agree?
 

They can be silly.  It depends on a lot of things.
 
First off, I think its likely that something like a Realiser will be crammed into a separate box form the DAP first because UI, DSP, and portable hardware design competency don't overlap with much frequency.  Second, as far as I'm concerned all DAPs on the market I currently know of suck.  You have to pick your poison.  My D2+'s poison is a bass roll-off with low-Z 'phones and an amp fixes that.  Plenty of other DAPs have similar problems (eg high output impedance) with their HP out but someone may like them for other reasons.  Third, is other options that an amp can provide like the adjustable crossfeed on my XM6.  Fourth, in the Euro zone, regulations on output power for phones and DAPs are apparently (I've only heard this, not tested it or looked up the numbers) so tight that a few IEMs and many portable 'phones don't get sufficient volume from the HP out alone.  Fifth is redundancy.  My XM6 is already my office amp/DAC so why not use it on the go?
 
If none of those apply to you and you're using IEMs or efficient portables then using a portable amp may well be silly.  I probably missed a few edge cases.  Three of those apply to me.  My SE530s sure don't need the close to a full watt my XM6 can put out but since it fixes the bass roll off on my D2+, gives me crossfeed, and I'd have bought it to use at work anyway I might as well just use it all the time.  I also tend to get headaches if I don't use crossfeed so to me it would be worth it just for that feature alone.
 
Of course even after outlining all that, it still doesn't apply to most people who buy portable amps, or at least most of the ones that are vocal about it.

 

[caracara08]

i was thinking of getting an ampf or my jh16 and j3 but i wonder if its worth the money... low ohm, high sensitivity. =\

 

[estreeter]

I remain stunned by the number of Head-Fiers who continue to believe that the primary purpose of an amplifier is to provide increased volume. I think Boomana puts it very succinctly in his guide for newbies - sadly, few of us seem willing to read it.
 
Sure, they’ll make your headphones louder, but loudness does not equal sound quality, which is the real purpose of amplification. A properly driven headphone sounds amazing at very low volumes
 
I've bolded that last sentence because that is exactly what many of us are looking for in an amp (and its why I finally spent money on a decent LOD) - we are actually crazy enough to believe that we can improve on the sound quality emitted via the headphone out on our current source. I know - wheel me off to the nuthouse where I can get the help I so desperately need.

 

[estreeter]

My apologies to Boomana and all those who were offended by my ealier reference to 'his' gender.

 

[CEE TEE]

estreeter- I think the poster above is referring to the possible need of an amp for volume increase because the EU restricts the maximum volume of some players for hearing health.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

I remain stunned by the number of Head-Fiers who continue to believe that the primary purpose of an amplifier is to provide increased volume. I think Boomana puts it very succinctly in his guide for newbies - sadly, few of us seem willing to read it.
 
Sure, they’ll make your headphones louder, but loudness does not equal sound quality, which is the real purpose of amplification. A properly driven headphone sounds amazing at very low volumes
 
I've bolded that last sentence because that is exactly what many of us are looking for in an amp (and its why I finally spent money on a decent LOD) - we are actually crazy enough to believe that we can improve on the sound quality emitted via the headphone out on our current source. I know - wheel me off to the nuthouse where I can get the help I so desperately need.

That's pretty much the definition of an amplifier.  It provides gain, otherwise it isn't actually an amplifier...
 
Practically though, the purpose of an amp is to make your transducers sound good and there's nothing wrong with replacing or bypassing one amp in order to use a better one.  Of course, now we get bogged down by the question of what constitutes "better"....

 

[estreeter]

Hmm - 7 months on, and time to resurrect this old girl, methinks. As we get more and more kiddies in the 'Portable Amps' section looking to drive everything from 16-ohm IEMs to the HE-6 (tell him he's dreaming ... !), its good to play Devils Advocate once again.
 
Watching Jude's video review of the HP-P1, it struck me just how silly that CLAS stack must look to newcomers - I guess it all comes down to whether we are talking 'bedside table' portable or genuinely 'music on the move' - in that case, I'm with the OP all the way - a pair of IEMs into a DAP and leave the amps at home.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Hmm - 7 months on, and time to resurrect this old girl, methinks. As we get more and more kiddies in the 'Portable Amps' section looking to drive everything from 16-ohm IEMs to the HE-6 (tell him he's dreaming ... !), its good to play Devils Advocate once again.
 
Watching Jude's video review of the HP-P1, it struck me just how silly that CLAS stack must look to newcomers - I guess it all comes down to whether we are talking 'bedside table' portable or genuinely 'music on the move' - in that case, I'm with the OP all the way - a pair of IEMs into a DAP and leave the amps at home.

You might want to check out the new O2 amp in the DIY section.  It will drive everything you mentioned.  Measures incredibly well and costs very little.  Runs on batteries or AC.
 
If you can't DIY, there are builders who will do it for you.

 

[estreeter]

All power to nwavguy if he has actually pulled this off - I think he was banned from HF a few months back, but he certainly isn't short of an opinion. $150 to have someone build it for you sounds very tempting - will read the full review tonite.

 

[Anaxilus]

I don't believe it is an ideal solution for the HE6 from what I read.  His premise of the drive everything portable amp has narrowed somewhat.  One reason for the existence of the desktop version.

 

[Willakan]

All I have seen on the matter suggests that whilst the most inefficient orthodynamics are at the edge of its driving capabilities, when not listening at very high volumes/using ReplayGain or similar even the HE-6 is feasible - more efficient orthos like the LCD2s shouldn't present any problem at all with their higher sensitivities.
 
 

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

I don't believe it is an ideal solution for the HE6 from what I read.  His premise of the drive everything portable amp has narrowed somewhat.  One reason for the existence of the desktop version.

yeah, probably not ideal for HE6, but it should drive it.  Are you getting one?
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

yeah, probably not ideal for HE6, but it should drive it.  Are you getting one?
 

Yup.
 
Drive it as in produce noise.  Sure.  ;P  I've heard the HE6 from the Lyr, WA5, Audio GD stuff.  There is question as to whether they were at their best on that gear.  I didn't like it on any of those very much.  The O2 is doubtful to meet or exceed those conditions if i had to guess.
 

 

[LFF]

Quote:

Yup.
 
Drive it as in produce noise.  Sure.  ;P  I've heard the HE6 from the Lyr, WA5, Audio GD stuff.  There is question as to whether they were at their best on that gear.  I didn't like it on any of those very much.  The O2 is doubtful to meet or exceed those conditions if i had to guess.
 

I also doubt the O2 can power some HE-6's adequately. I am sure it would do great with some HE-500's but not with the power hungry HE-6.