How about IEMs.

Quote:   Steve Guttenberg, wrote in his cnet blog review thingy, that Fiio E10 stomps D1. Then he continued that E17 sounds even better than E10.

No. Worst idea ever.   The Q701 are OPEN headphones. They leak sound and don't isolate outside noise. It's absolutely pointless to use them in a public space. Not to mention they are damn huge in physical size and they don't fold. Also the cable is 3 meters long.   Buy IEMs or easy to...

OP wanted something small and portable. Nothing beats IEMs in this.

I suggest you read how headphones work. Impedance and sensitivity pretty much determine how much "power" headphones need. If you buy an amp for headphones that don't need it and notice a difference in sound. It is because the amp is coloring it (like EQ). Also it could be because you are...

How about IEMs.

Don't buy portable amplifier. Instead buy IEMs that don't need amp.

It is a known issue. There is no fix to it, afaik.

AKG K550 has high sensitivity and low impedance. It was designed for portable use. It doesn't need an amp.

Yes would be nice if someone could measure the E17...

The HD650 needs something that can output 2.2V into 300-500ohm to reach 110dBSPL. Fiio E17 can output 3V into 300ohm according to specs listed on their website.

The HD25 II is like one of the easiest to drive headphones out there. So you guys are basically saying that every headphone would benefit from an amp. I highly disagree with that statement.

Sennheiser HD-25 II don't need an amp. Use EQ to change the sound characteristics, not an amp.

The K550 is a portable headphone. It's sealed design to isolate you from outside noise. It's easier to drive than HE-400. The cups turn flat for portability. Also K550 simply looks good on your head. The HE-400 are for home use only. Because they lack the above things (they are open headphones...

High gain is used when you can't get enough volume without it.

Differences were subtle, could have been placebo. Anyways you wont hear those subtle differences in a busy city filled with all kinds of noises.

Also if you take a look at headphone.com graph for the 240 mkii, you can see a impedance bump in the 100Hz region. http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=7&graphID[]=2611&graphID[]=2931 @wir3d, well the 240 sextett and monitor were both 600 ohms so they needed lots of voltage.

Pretty sure the amp is at fault here. If you do the calculations with manufacturers sensitivity and impedance numbers, you will notice that K240 is actually harder to drive than the Q701. So they are not "too sensitive". If you get the Q701 you will also hear the humm noise and probably earlier...

I'm going to assume that you don't own those headphones. In fact I know you don't have them, because if you did, you would know how terrible they are for portable use. - Both of those headphones are OPEN. They leak and let in lots of sound. - They are massive in size. - They have no portability...

Point being that the differences between different amps are so minimal that you can hear pretty much whatever..

For the last time you don't need amp or dac. You said your money is tight right now, so don't waste it on amp/dac that you don't need.

Isn't headnhifi located in Switzerland. So if you were to order from there you would have to pay the ~20% customs tariff. Because it is coming from outside the EU. Should be cheaper to order it from epiphany acoustics. If you live inside EU.

Ehh.. almost complete opposite opinion when compared to other reviews.

I don't own Q701 or the Little dot 1+, so I can't comment on how it will sound. But it does have the power to drive the Q701.

HD25 1 II is super easy to drive and doesn't need an amp. Iphone has good dac so you don't need that either. Buying amp just to EQ your sound is a waste of money.