[donunus]

If I use the headphone jack of the creative zen micro to hook up to an amp, What type of amp should i get. Will an amp with no volume control have an improvement in quality? Will the zen micro sound good with an amp since it has no line out? If I do hook it up to a portable amp that has a volume control, what volume level should I leave the zen micro at for best sound quality?Full volume? Hope These questions get answered, I'm thirsting for more juice for my music

 

[uncle b]

I have hooked up both of my amps to the ZM, and have really noticed very negligible improvement, I'm glad I didn't purchase these amps to power the ZM...

 

[donunus]

you say negligible improvement. you mean in sound quality right? it probably shouldnt improve the quality much since it is coming from a headphone output but what about the power and volume. maybe more slam???

 

[uncle b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus you say negligible improvement. you mean in sound quality right? it probably shouldnt improve the quality much since it is coming from a headphone output but what about the power and volume. maybe more slam???

Yeah, I guess I can say there is more power and volume, and that is something I've always felt the ZM needed more of. I just feel adding an amp should give volume, power, and deeper, richer sound...I kind of feel on of the ZM's best features is the small, portable size, and I feel adding one of these amps, just adds so much heft for not really so much improvement in the sound. For at home listening, though, I'd find an amp to be a welcome addition.

 

[donunus]

Hmm, so if it's for the zen micro exclusively, I should just get an inexpensive amp like the pocket amp v2 if sound quality doesnt improve much plus the pocket amp is great for portable use due to its great battery life and in-amp charging capability

 

[PFRfan]

A lot depends on the kind of phones you're using. If the Micro is having trouble driving what you're using, then a PA2V2 is probably a good fit. If you're looking for extra quality, it seems like most people aren't THAT high on amping a Zen Micro.

I use a Karma (which is one of the big boy DAP's in sound quality) going into Shure E4Cs. I find that using a PA2V2 adds a little bit of "roundness" to the sound (warmness, maybe), but mainly it flattens out some wobbly bass notes, but I have to A/B it a lot to notice. If I was being double-blind tested, I could probably figure out which sound was through the amp and which was straight from the player, but it would take several passes at some specific splaces in specific songs. The point of it all is that the PA2V2 gets used at home, but not really when I'm walking around becuase as small as it is, it still takes up quite a bit of space in a pocket that's already carrying a DAP. A better amp might be a different story.

 

[mariadoc]

it is a beginners question (and probably asked many time before, but i did a search and couldn't fina the answer), but why is there such a big loss of sound quality when you use the (amplified) Jack Out and not the Line Out?

 

[meat01]

When you are connecting the amp to the headphone out, you are just adding another component to the audio path. You have the players built in amplifier and then that signal gets amplified again through the amp. When you use the line out, you are bypassing the player's built in amplifier and only using the headphone amp's amplifier.

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncle b I have hooked up both of my amps to the ZM, and have really noticed very negligible improvement, I'm glad I didn't purchase these amps to power the ZM...

That's surprising. When I amped my iRiver player with a cmoy and used my SR60, I found that the sound really opened up... more dynamic... and the sound had more energy and oomph. The experience with that little $40 cmoy is what started me on head-fi. I certainly found it worthwhile enough to carry the cmoy around.

Even without a line-out, a headphone amp is definitely something you want to experience.

 

[uncle b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 That's surprising. When I amped my iRiver player with a cmoy and used my SR60, I found that the sound really opened up... more dynamic... and the sound had more energy and oomph. The experience with that little $40 cmoy is what started me on head-fi. I certainly found it worthwhile enough to carry the cmoy around. Even without a line-out, a headphone amp is definitely something you want to experience.

No, I agree that adding ANY amp is worth the listening experience, I started with some kind of Z-Audio mint tin amp, and quickly and obssessively upgraded to the SM and SR-71, though I never ran one of those through my iRiver iFP-390t...I just think one of the high-end portable amps paired with a ZM may be a bit of a waste o' money.