[snedanator]

Is is ok to put a portable amp between the Astro Mixamp and headphone?  Was curious because as the Mixamp outputs dolby surround i wasnt sure if adding a portable amp in would output it back to just stereo to the headphone, or would it output an amplified dolby suround to the headphone as this is what im hoping to do?  The reason im asking is i think my Beyerdynamic DT880 250ohm headphones seem a little underpowered when using just the Astro mixamp.  Just trying to get the best out of the headphones>

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Adding an amp wont change the sound.
When you say portable amp, I wonder which one, as the mixamp itself has some power, 70 mw at 32ohm

 

[snedanator]

With me bein ampless at the moment, i was probably looking at an ibasso or headstage arrow or similar.   As long as it still outputs dolby after the amp im happy..

Maybe it was a stupid question in the first place, i dont  know

 

[mcnoiserdc]

what are the headphones you want to use? I don't think those amps will be a significant improvement, unless you have them and you want to try them

 

[snedanator]

Its the headphones listed above. To get the most out of them would you suggest a desk top amp maybe??

 

[tlniec]

Thinking about this myself recently (now that I'm on the fence over whether to keep my easy-to-drive HD595s or move up to HD600/650s). 
 
I happened to see a thread at the Astro forums about this.  Their answer was that it's no problem to hook up a headphone amp to the Mixamp.  You'd just want to hook the Mixamp's out to the headphone amp's in, then the amp's out to your headphones (obviously).  The Mixamp will still do the Dolby headphone DSP and voice chat/game sound mixing as usual.  You'll just then be running that processed/mixed analog signal through another power amplification stage with your headphone amp.
 
I do think you'd want to be VERY careful about what volume level you set on your Mixamp if you do this, though, so you don't overload the headphone amp's input stage.

 

[snedanator]

Thats great news, cheers for the info. I just thought the Beyers could do with a boost to get the most out of them... Time for a bit of amp hunting now....

 

[mcnoiserdc]

THose amps you listed won't improve anything over mixamp IMO
 
Quote:

Thats great news, cheers for the info. I just thought the Beyers could do with a boost to get the most out of them... Time for a bit of amp hunting now....

 

[snedanator]

What amps would u recommend?

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Powerful amps. Meaning more power. Easy solution could be the Fiio E9, cheap and powerful