[FlavioWolff]

Hello guys
I am pretty sure about purchasing the Grado SR225 instead of 325i, because of the price difference and the sonic characteristics of both.. SR225 attracted me more.
As of it's $100 price difference, my budget allows me to purchase a HeadRoom Total AirHead portable amp (I would prefer shopping from headroom, that is why I chose the airhead instead of other $100 amps). Is it worth it? I'll use it directly from my soundcard (X-Fi XtremeMusic), but I will also use with my 5.5 iPod sometimes!
How would be the combo, in your guys opinions?

 

[FlavioWolff]

bump

 

[moogoob]

I just got a Bithead (Airhead's more tech-savvy brother) and am going to post my impressions in the Headroom sponsor forums when I get home tonight and start really listening to my SR80s and HD280s through them.

From what I hear they use the same amp chip as the Airhead, and the SR80s have nearly identical sensitivity to the 225s (and identical 32-ohm impedance) so should be comparable with your situation.

I can't wait to hear how they sound.

Oh, and you'll love your Grados even without an amp, just so you know that in your setup the phones and soundcard are what you need to pay attention to, with the amp being almost tertiary. I got the bithead because my laptop's soundcard sucks.

 

[Exediron]

Well, as I understand it, the BitHead has a built-in DAC, and the AirHead doesn't. That said however, I have listened to SR225s from a Total Airhead, and I didn't notice too much difference.

However, that was from a MacBook pro. From the iPod you'll probably notice more difference.

 

[FlavioWolff]

Actually, the SR225 will be used mainly from my X-Fi, iPod is reserved for portable use, which means my EX90.

Guys, I'm also accepting any headphone suggestions to pair with my x-fi and airhead, my budget allows me to spend around $300 on the cans. That would include HD600, DT880, SR325i, and others.
Thank you!

 

[kontai69]

The AirHead is a good quality amp. I used it as a small desktop amp in my secondary system. I once did an extensive A/B comparison between it and my HeadAmp GS-1 (with DACT stepped attenuator). I had the two amps hooked up to the same source (Ack! dAck! v2.0). I even equalized the output of both amps using a SPL meter, something most people don't bother to do when comparing amps. As much as I tried to deny it, I honestly could not tell much of a difference in sound between the two amps.

I sold the AirHead because I found a great deal on a used Gilmore Lite + DPS. As superficial (strange) as it sounds, I primarily did so because wanted the looks and the tactile feel of using a metal amp. The plastic AirHead was too light for my tastes.