[VooX]

Hey Head-fiers,

As a long-time reader of the forums and long time headphone fan, I registered last summer to do searches and lurk the forums. Some posters here have great ears and can separate hype from actual performance quite well (based on my own experiences with the gear they talk about). After much reading through threads, I need advice from the forums, and decided to finally post (please excuse the length).

I am looking for the best portable headphone amp for professional use.

I am an audio engineer who works on live events and has studio experience. Currently I am in need of a high quality portable amp to power several sets of headphones that I use.

My first major headphone rig was purchased over a decade ago, and is still my main headphone source. I use a Sennheiser HD600 with a Musical Fidelity X-Cans v2.0 tube amp as my reference rig. I also own a pair of Fostex T20RP mkII cans when I need a closed can for studio tracking or soloing inputs/outputs during live events. I hardly use the Fostex headphones as they are flat but not great sounding with limited range and detail. They do the job, and nothing more.

When I am on the road as a monitor engineer for live artists I currently use Westone ES-2 IEMs. Most of the time, I am using the ES-2s coming out of a wireless beltpack which is on the same frequency as the star so I know exactly what they are listening to, or otherwise directly out of the audio console's headphone output. I work on large enough events to have top quality consoles so their headphone amp output is never an issue.

Coming out of my 3G iPhone and second-gen Nano, the ES-2s sound fine as they require minimal drive, but the HD600s suffer with the clearly underpowered headphone amps.

I would like to buy a portable amp to use with both my HD600s and ES-2s on the road. For the HD600s, the amp would come out of my laptop when mixing projects in ProTools on the road; for the ES-2s I would like the amp for possible use coming out of the wireless beltpack into the the IEMs (for myself and the artist) as well as for recreational iPod/laptop use.

My future headphone purchases will likely be either an AKG K702 or a Sennheiser HD800 (I have to audition the HD800 to decide if I want it over the K702) and likely at some point an artist will require me to get Ultimate Ears UE-10/UE-11 IEMs for monitor engineering.

I would like an amp that would be versatile enough to handle the impedance of both the HD600 (or similar) while not overpowering the ES-2 (or similar), and yet have the audio quality to satisfy my very critical ears.

Currently the RSA SR-71A and P-51 interest me, but I am also open to other suggestions and recommendations. My budget will be under $600, which should cover most choices.

I like the compact size of the P-51 but am worried about the internal battery's performance over repeated cycles. During live events we can't chance a bad battery, so everything will be charged nightly as a precaution. On the other hand, the dual 9V battery supply of the SR-71A ensures dual-mono amp performance and the option to replace/charge the batteries daily (nothing taken for chance), however the substantial size increase means the artist will likely resist wearing it on their belt and not want to use it, and it is no longer pocket friendly for when I need an iPod amp on the go.

I am interested in your experiences with both of the amps I listed, as well as other suggestions you might have specific to my needs. I have read comparison threads and other threads on various portable amps and am looking for more feedback.

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions. I look forward to hearing the suggestions of those who are headphone fanatics like myself.

 

[qusp]

since pocketability doesnt seem to be high on the list of requirements (correct me if i'm wrong) and you dont really need a dac. I would recommend the lisa III by phil larroco. IMO there are no other portable/transportable amps that will drive your HD600 (or any headphone for that matter) anywhere near as well as the lisa III. The lisa has power to burn, the sound quality/transparency is second to none and it is also quite rugged in build. It may not be as small as most of the other portable amps, but for professional use I see no real competitors. its very flat accross the frequency range and sounds beautiful as well. IMO the power to resolve detail is unsurpassed in the current market. You just have to look at headphone addict and skylabs comprehensive portable amp ratings and the lisa III has been at the top of both of them since its release, with no real challengers. it maintains that spot despite being at least twice the size of any of its competitors. I use mine with my DIYMOD 5.5G ipod and a VCAP dock of my own making with both fullsize cans (senn HD25) and IEMs westone 3 and shure SE530 with westone UM56 custom tips and it handles both high and low impedance headphones admirably. I also produce music at home just for kicks using my mac, an RME fireface 400 pro firewire audio interface and logic studio; used with this rig the lisa III actually puts the HP out on the interface to shame. I know what flat sounds like and the lisa does it without sounding too dry or boring either. I cant recommend it for your purposes enough; with the IEM's and other very high sensitivity phones it can present just the slightest tiny amount of hiss when there is no music playing and set on high volume; this can be rid by using an impedance adapter (about 75ohms is perfect and you can make it yourself, buy it online or have one of the members here make one for you) this is not present with low sensitivity at all, so your senns will be fine and its really not an issue for most use, but perhaps for your uses it might be beneficial. another benefit is it has RCA inputs instead of a mini jack and the HP out is a 1/4" jack not a mini. all in all its perfect for the studio, roadie, music lover and DJ's alike. plus you can just use it with your ipod or whatever your favorite dap is when you are in between gigs. sorry if this comes out sounding like an add, there are other amps that will do a pretty good job, the RS71A is pretty good, but IMO not flat enough for your use, the pico is also good, but perhaps not powerful enough to do your HD600 justice, the Iqube is flat and transparent enough, but again i'm not sure it has the power. the lisa is really the only portable amp that actually does have enough power to drive them to potential and it has this because it is bigger than most and has a differential output stage (balanced drive). also later on you can buy te LLP (lisa lab power) which is a dedicated lisa III PSU for home use, this basically turns the lisa into a fully fledged home amp with even more power and gives the performance another nudge towards heaven.

oh and the lisa III comes in at exactly $600 shipped

**** I just finished reading the bottom of your post again and seems like the lisa might be too big for the performers, great for you though. hmmmm p51 if size is the second biggest concern

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I don't like to recommend anything I haven't head for myself and I haven't heard the P-51. HD600 are tough to drive, and my Predator sounds great with them but doesn't have enough power sometimes. It is perfect for IEM or many low impedance full-size cans like Ultrasone, Denon and Grado.

The Vividaudiotech V1 has enough power to drive the HD600 easily, but has no gain switch and may not be best for the ES2, and the amp is a little colored sounding which enhances the HD600 but may not be suitable for Pro use.

That leave the Headamp Pico which with the new design battery can run a full 24 hours or more on a charge, and can power HD600 and be great with IEM. It has the best portable DAC I have heard so far, for laptop use.

You're other concern is wanting removable battery so you can have a fresh battery and not worry about whether the amp has lost it's charge. Among amps I have tried with removable battery that have the power to drive HD600 and can get along with ES2, you are left with the Meier 3MOVE (their Headsix isn't powerful enough), the Practical Devices XM5 and the iBasso D3 Python. The Python runs on 5 AA batteries for 110-125 hours, but it is too sensitive to RFI, so forget that. The 3MOVE or XM5 would be excellent choices and can run on a standard 9v alkaline for up to 50-100 hours, and both have a DAC for laptop use. The 3MOVE is a little bigger than the XM5 but with less buttons to accidentally push and it has the most power yet can also drive IEM with high current mode enabled. The XM5 can be ordered with output buffers or AD8397 opamp for more power to drive HD600, and has a re-chargable option which will let it run for 30-40 hours on a charge (confirmed) if you don't want the 9v.

Here is more review information: UPDATED 01/04 REVIEW 12 USB DAC amps - Predator, Pico, 2/3MOVE, D3 D2 Viper/Boa D1, Lyrix, MicroAmp, Vivid V1, Nuforce, XM5 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

 

[15grams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VooX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey Head-fiers, I am looking for the best portable headphone amp for professional use.

There's nothing to recommend. It will be unfair to do so. What you really need to do is to try them out with your very own pair of ears and take your time through the process of finding one. I took 3 weeks to finalize with the SR71A.

 

[qusp]

whats up this guy posted and hasnt been back ???

why bother

 

[Nocturnal310]

he must be waiting for a reply.

i ll also follow this thread because there's a myth that no portable amp can drive HD600 good enough.

How about RSA Predator? Loud enough but good enough?

I ve seen some sound engineer using it on his laptop for Tiesto in the promo video of his album 'In search of Sunrise:Asia'

 

[qusp]

if used as a dac from a laptop the pico will do a nice job too. better than predator IMO. predator = too coloured for production IMO

 

[VooX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't like to recommend anything I haven't head for myself and I haven't heard the P-51. HD600 are tough to drive, and my Predator sounds great with them but doesn't have enough power sometimes. It is perfect for IEM or many low impedance full-size cans like Ultrasone, Denon and Grado. The Vividaudiotech V1 has enough power to drive the HD600 easily, but has no gain switch and may not be best for the ES2, and the amp is a little colored sounding which enhances the HD600 but may not be suitable for Pro use. That leave the Headamp Pico which with the new design battery can run a full 24 hours or more on a charge, and can power HD600 and be great with IEM. It has the best portable DAC I have heard so far, for laptop use. You're other concern is wanting removable battery so you can have a fresh battery and not worry about whether the amp has lost it's charge. Among amps I have tried with removable battery that have the power to drive HD600 and can get along with ES2, you are left with the Meier 3MOVE (their Headsix isn't powerful enough), the Practical Devices XM5 and the iBasso D3 Python. The Python runs on 5 AA batteries for 110-125 hours, but it is too sensitive to RFI, so forget that. The 3MOVE or XM5 would be excellent choices and can run on a standard 9v alkaline for up to 50-100 hours, and both have a DAC for laptop use. The 3MOVE is a little bigger than the XM5 but with less buttons to accidentally push and it has the most power yet can also drive IEM with high current mode enabled. The XM5 can be ordered with output buffers or AD8397 opamp for more power to drive HD600, and has a re-chargable option which will let it run for 30-40 hours on a charge (confirmed) if you don't want the 9v. Here is more review information: UPDATED 01/04 REVIEW 12 USB DAC amps - Predator, Pico, 2/3MOVE, D3 D2 Viper/Boa D1, Lyrix, MicroAmp, Vivid V1, Nuforce, XM5 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif whats up this guy posted and hasnt been back ??? why bother

Thanks to all for the advice so far. I have not been ignoring the forums, just have been quite busy with some projects lately which have taken a lot of my time.

Portability and battery requirements, I should clarify.

I would say the artist's compliance to be the least of my requirements, only artist's with the most sensitive ears will hear the drawbacks of the wireless beltpack amps they use, so most will not require the expense of a dedicated headphone amp. Likewise internal rechargeable batteries will not be a concern if they can handle multiple duty cycles, and can be replaced quickly when they do lose efficiency.

It would be nice if the amp was pocket sized as, honestly, I would also use it for fun out of my iPod & iPhone when commuting/traveling. But not at the expense of not being able to power the HD600 when editing or mixing off my laptop while on the road.

I know I am asking a lot, a portable amp that can power both high and low sensitivity cans, as well being accurate enough for professional use. The battery and overall size are variables I will have to weigh, with sound quality being the most important factor in my decision.

Thanks for your help again. I have a few projects on the go right now, and my lack of a timely response is an indication of my schedule and not my interest in your responses.

I also appreciate those who are talking from experience and encouraging me to try the amps before I buy. This is very good advice that I agree should be included with all equipment recommendations.

I called Ray Samuels Audio in the summer (following reading these forums), I left a voicemail about working with a singer and IEMs as I wanted some recommendations and to audition some amps for use on the road. Unfortunately I never received a call back.

The Lisa III intrigues me, until today I never noticed it had a separate version without the PSU. At $600 it is now within my budget. Thanks for the heads up.

For the Lisa III, how does it handle multiple charge cycles? How long is the actual charge time and expected use listening time with a low sensitivity headphone like the HD600 (website claims 8 hour charge time for 8 hours of listening)? Also, how easy is the battery to replace if it becomes fatigues and no longer holds charge?

I have the same questions regarding the P-51, but as it is a new product and this info is not yet available, I would appreciate comments from users of similar RSA amps driven by internal rechargables. Thanks again, everyone.

 

[Headphile808]

In terms of Portability+SQ, the P-51 Mustang has no equal IMO. 3 Hours to charge will give you 56 hours of use. FWIR, some have stated getting 72 hours on a single charge. Battery-Life is something like 500-Cycles@56 Hrs. a piece = 28,000 Hrs. or about 1168 days. Not bad, won't have to worry about changing battery for over 3 years! I highly recommend this little marvel, if you need more info check out Skylabs review here: Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio - Powered by vBulletin. Ordered one shortly after, and is Worth Every Penny. Have a little over 100 Hrs. of Burn-In on mine, and I am loving every minute of music this little amp has rendered. Truly Amazing. Good Luck.
Aloha

Headphile808

 

[qusp]

Thanks to all for the advice so far. I have not been ignoring the forums, just have been quite busy with some projects lately which have taken a lot of my time.

Portability and battery requirements, I should clarify.

Quote:

I would say the artist's compliance to be the least of my requirements, only artist's with the most sensitive ears will hear the drawbacks of the wireless beltpack amps they use, so most will not require the expense of a dedicated headphone amp. Likewise internal rechargeable batteries will not be a concern if they can handle multiple duty cycles, and can be replaced quickly when they do lose efficiency.

well the lisa uses very high quality batteries that will handle many many cycles, and if you are a lttle intrepid you can just open it up and replace them fairly easily, so you could bring a few extra 9v lith ion batteries with you and extend life passed 8-10hrs.

Quote:

It would be nice if the amp was pocket sized as, honestly, I would also use it for fun out of my iPod & iPhone when commuting/traveling. But not at the expense of not being able to power the HD600 when editing or mixing off my laptop while on the road.

well its not really pocket sized; the amp itself is but the rig would be a bit larger than that including interconnects. would fit nicely in a coat pocket though and definitely in teh side pocket of your bag; thats how I use it; inside a pelican case in my bag.

Quote:

I know I am asking a lot, a portable amp that can power both high and low sensitivity cans, as well being accurate enough for professional use. The battery and overall size are variables I will have to weigh, with sound quality being the most important factor in my decision.

well I still think the lisaIII is by far the best amp for your requirements as you would already have a decent audio interface I would imagine, so no real need for an integrated dac. the sound is unsurpassed IMO and not coloured, passed a tiny bit of magic.

Quote:

Thanks for your help again. I have a few projects on the go right now, and my lack of a timely response is an indication of my schedule and not my interest in your responses.

cool no problem

Quote:

I also appreciate those who are talking from experience and encouraging me to try the amps before I buy. This is very good advice that I agree should be included with all equipment recommendations.

absolutely try before you buy, if you are serious i'm sure this could probably be arranged through triad. I can almost guarantee you wont send it back

Quote:

I called Ray Samuels Audio in the summer (following reading these forums), I left a voicemail about working with a singer and IEMs as I wanted some recommendations and to audition some amps for use on the road. Unfortunately I never received a call back.

no comment

Quote:

The Lisa III intrigues me, until today I never noticed it had a separate version without the PSU. At $600 it is now within my budget. Thanks for the heads up.

yes you can use another PSU, but it does have pretty strict operating ranges. the use of a switching PSU will kill it. so it needs to be a 24v regulated non-switching PSU. there are some good PSU's designed for laptops that will work, ranging from $30USD-$150USD

Quote:

For the Lisa III, how does it handle multiple charge cycles? How long is the actual charge time and expected use listening time with a low sensitivity headphone like the HD600 (website claims 8 hour charge time for 8 hours of listening)? Also, how easy is the battery to replace if it becomes fatigues and no longer holds charge?

no problem on the multiple charge cycles, its roughly the same time to charge as to use the power, so roughly 1:1 but slightly more efficient than that. easy to replace the battery

Quote:

I have the same questions regarding the P-51, but as it is a new product and this info is not yet available, I would appreciate comments from users of similar RSA amps driven by internal rechargables. Thanks again, everyone.

i'll leave that for someone else wit experience to answer.

Lisa III FTW IMO the only portable amp that will power the HD650 with ease. the mustang may be very good, but with battery specs like that it makes you wonder where all the power is coming from; I cant imagine there is a huge amount of current. but sure try them out if you can; its the only way you will know for sure.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'd like to see the size of your pockets to put the LISA in. And, doesn't it only run only one hour for every hour on the charger, which is quite slow?

For use with a laptop I think a DAC is important, as is his requirement for small size and good power, and can work with very sensitive IEM too. I was trying to suggest amps that met all FOUR of his requirements. I still feel the Pico, 3MOVE and even the XM5 (with optional buffers or AD8397 option) can drive the HD600 well enough, while the others are fairly under powered. I stand by my recommendations above.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd like to see the size of your pockets to put the LISA in. And, doesn't it only run only one hour for every hour on the charger, which is quite slow?

umm.. like I said the lisa itself is pocket-sized, but a rig with it isnt. at least not in a jeans pocket anyway. my DIYMOD->VCAP->lisa->HP fits nicely in the inside coat pocket of my winter coat, but during the long summer in OZ my bag has to do. i'd like to see the size of your pockets that DONT fit the lisa in by itself. its not THAT large.

Quote:

For use with a laptop I think a DAC is important, as is his requirement for small size and good power, and can work with very sensitive IEM too. I was trying to suggest amps that met all FOUR of his requirements. I still feel the Pico, 3MOVE and even the XM5 (with optional buffers or AD8397 option) can drive the HD600 well enough, while the others are fairly under powered. I stand by my recommendations above.

Larry I think you are forgetting something here, I also recommended the pico earlier on and I still recommend it if fitting in your pocket is the main thing. He is a pro-musician/engineer. dont you think he already has a DAC (in a firewire interface multichannel) hooked up to his laptop that has the whole mix going through it??; the pico and others while good 2 channel dacs for their size, are not in any way suited to mastering/recording/multichannel monitoring. in his case more than likely he would be running the amp from a line-out from a channel strip on his mixer/interface. I also mentioned the 1:1 charge to him in PM and he has actually been to the triad site before, so he knows what the functionality of the amp is. so maybe for his musicians, which wont all be using them, something smaller is required (definitely actually), but for him monitoring off his laptop he just wants the best sound quality with the other requirements as a bonus. I dont even think the pico (the best option you have suggested IMO) is flat enough for monitoring duties and certainly anything from RSA isnt. Plus if for some reason a gig lasts longer than 8hrs, he can swap out the batteries in the lisa. being an engineer, I think he knows what a dac is and if he wanted one he would have included it in the OP. I may be wrong, but thats the way I understand it.

 

[VooX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd like to see the size of your pockets to put the LISA in. And, doesn't it only run only one hour for every hour on the charger, which is quite slow? For use with a laptop I think a DAC is important, as is his requirement for small size and good power, and can work with very sensitive IEM too. I was trying to suggest amps that met all FOUR of his requirements. I still feel the Pico, 3MOVE and even the XM5 (with optional buffers or AD8397 option) can drive the HD600 well enough, while the others are fairly under powered. I stand by my recommendations above.

I think listing DAC amps in this thread that are portable, is appropriate. Personally, I use an mBox which for my needs is fine, so I am not looking for one with an onboard DAC.

For some uses I would imagine a pro-grade portable amp with DAC would come in handy. Myself, I would like to minimize the electronics in the audio path as much as possible, especially ones that will take an analog signal (via headphone jack) and perform an unneeded AD/DA conversion internally before it comes out the amp. I don't know if that is the case with the amps you recommended, but I want to make sure my amp does not re-quantize an analog input signal.

For my purposes, if I need a DAC, I would use a higher quality converter than the ones found on a portable amp. Briefly, I need my portable headphone amp to be a headphone amp first and foremost. Any other features are a bonus.

 

[qusp]

hehe I thought so; the dac/amps mentioned all have a separate dac and amp section. so there would be no unnecessary AD/DA conversion going on. the ones mentioned are USB dacs; only some DIY and ibasso portable dac/amp solutions also have SPDIF on optical. but since as I thought you dont actually need one because you will be monitoring your mix from the bus on the Mbox. I stand by my previous suggestions

 

[wolfen68]

Since the OP mentioned also wanting to use HD600's...I think the only portables that would even have a chance of providing enough power to properly drive them would be a Lisa III, SR71, or SR71a. Having 18v of voltage swing would be superior to most portables such as the P-51 which has approx. 5v.