[brendon]

Ok, my appologies if this has been answered before but in my defense I have tried the search option and came up with zilch.

What I wanted to understand is that why people get portable amps to drive IEMs.

I mean instead of spending $350 for a RSA amp to pair with a $150 earphone, why not get two $250 earphones or one $500 earphone instead ?

I can understand using an amp with say a JH-13 pro or some other custom earphone but why spend on an amp for earphones costing less than $200 ?

Cause using an amp is a lot of trouble when on the move as it is an added weight and its difficult to carry around without getting strange looks from most folks !

 

[Uncle Erik]

There are a lot of us who agree with you.

I don't want to go portable with my full-sized headphones, I only use them at home. I prefer a desktop amp for my full-sized cans, so there's no reason to buy a portable.

On the go, I find my IEMs just fine straight out of an iPod, so there's no need to buy a portable amp.

 

[brendon]

Thanks for your input on the subject Uncle Erik.

Anybody from the 'pro portable amp' category ?

 

[heishiro]

why not buy Sony X or S9? than ipod + lod + amp.

 

[grokit]

For portability?

 

[neel360]

There are certain IEMs that need an amp, a la the Etymotic ER-4S.

That said, portable amps aren't just for those on the go — some of us have space constraints for other reasons, read: college students. When desk space is precious and higher-end portable amps are giving you nearly a desktop experience out of a small package, it isn't a very hard decision to make.

 

[AVU]

the triple.fi's pro 10's are a $350 IEM that many of us got for $100-$150 during the recent sale. They respond very well to amplication, and getting a $120 T3 will make them sound a lot better. The T3 is so incredibly thin and small, that velcro'd to the back of your ipod, it's like it isn't there. And this is still fantastically less money than getting a JH-13.

Now I recently upgraded to an RSA Shadow, which is a tiny bit bigger, but still portable, and that is because at some point I'd like to upgrade to the JH-16 as well

 

[mesasone]

Because it's portable? With a portable amp you can easy move to another room, take it to work, on the road, etc. Also portable amps, especially some of those designed specifically for IEMs, are not necessarily heavy or difficult to carry around. In fact, many of them are down right tiny.

The question about why not spend more on headphones is pretty silly. I think in that regard, you generally face diminishing returns as you climb up the product ladder anyway, and while an amp may or may not provide the same cost-benefit ratio that spending more on one pair headphones will, the amp can provide that benefit to multiple pairs of headphones. Or not. I suppose it depends on the "synergy" of a pairing.

But really my question is, why do people worry so much about what other people spend their money on? Isn't this just a variation of the same question many that are into hi-fi stereos ask about headphones?

 

[neel360]

Also, a funny query for a proud owner of a FiiO E3.

 

[trentino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heishiro /img/forum/go_quote.gif why not buy Sony X or S9? than ipod + lod + amp.

Well,for me it's because I feel that S9 sounds downright bad compared to Ipod Classic/LOD/amp/nice iems.

 

[stang]

I have Walkman X an3rdgen iPod touch 3rd gen 32gb. I use them with Westone UM3X and use to own a P-51 mustang from RSA and a pure copper LOD. I found next to no difference with it, certainly not worth the $400aud I paid for the LOD and amp. It was pretty useless with the Walkman but addes hat extra warmth and bass that the iPod was lacking. Still, was extremely annoying to keep in my pocket. The amp was 3x as thick as the iPod and half the length, making it extremely difficult to hold and put back into my pocket. The extra boost in sound quality simply did not out weigh the added bulk, so I sold the amp and LOD

With the money gained, bought myself a nice MAD Ear+ HD for my desktop rig, hehe.

 

[brendon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesasone /img/forum/go_quote.gif But really my question is, why do people worry so much about what other people spend their money on? Isn't this just a variation of the same question many that are into hi-fi stereos ask about headphones?

FYI I have just bought a Ibasso P3+ and previous to this I have been using a Meier Corda Porta III for almost a year now. So its very much related to what I spend on as well.

And while you are correct on the law of diminishing returns, you could then a single IEM that could give you similar sound to your amped earphone for a lot cheaper.

I bought an amp because I use a 150 ohm RE1 (which I love btw). However my friend has informed me (who also likes my RE1) that his RE252 sounds similar/better to my RE1 and he uses it unamped. So it got me thinking. I paid $139 for the earphones (7 - 8 months back) and $229 for the amp (which I also use with my HD650). So I spent a total of $359 for the pair. For that amount of money I could have easily got the similar sounding RE252 that doesn't require an amp and I could have saved some $$$. Or I could have got a top tier earphone like the Westone 3 or Sennheiser IE8 and maybe got something that sounds better than my combo ?

To reiterate I do love my RE1 + Amp combo and I use the amp with the earphones 95% of the time. However I cant help but think I would be equally as happy if I had bought a better earphone and listened to it unamped.

My only objective is to figure out what prompted other people to use amps or if they even considered not using a certain IEM just because it needed an amp to sound its best.

I have no inclination to sell off my above combo and I will continue to use it till either one conks off or I happen to lose one of them.

 

[estreeter]

I'm far more interested in 'transportable' than 'portable', but there is no question that you pay for the smaller form factor. One of the few exceptions is the T3 - cheap as chips - so I bought one. Similar to Stang's experience, I think its good with the iPod but redundant with the X series. Still cant understand the absolute obsession here with having the smallest possible amp - much better off getting a DAP with a decent internal amp than messing around with portables : conversely, the form factor makes much more sense for a work rig than something like the Heed Canamp or WA6.

 

[RedSky0]

People have different demands and different definitions of portable.

To one person it's something that fits into your bag or even only your pocket. That would be my perspective and clearly for that use most of the portable amps are out of the question.

For others it might be a device they can take to their workplace or more practically take on business trips if they travel a lot.

For buying expensive amps to power relatively cheap IEMs I agree. It can make sense if you instead avoid buying the portable amp and simply use a desktop amp for your power hungry IEM at home while using it underpowered on the go. That may be a good idea if you're primarily a home music listener and want both great value and something portable. After all most of the cheaper IEMs that require amps are also often the ones that give the best performance value when hooked up to a good amp.

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trentino /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well,for me it's because I feel that S9 sounds downright bad compared to Ipod Classic/LOD/amp/nice iems.

well not if you amp the s9 im sure...... u probably mean its too quiet?