thanks for the fast replies, this forum is stellar!  Looks like i'll save the money and not amp up. What's your opinion on my theory of battery life in the player being saved by using an amp?  I think it would, but I'm just now getting into the whole audiophile thing so my knowledge-base is...

Here's the deal, I have some S4's on the way, and they'll be used mostly with my old video ipod, and with my samsung impression via audio adapter. Mostly with the samsung due to hard drive issues on the ipod.  The audio out on the samsung isn't absolutely terrible; but it's a freakin phone so...