[ShaftedTwice]

I have just recently gotten myself into decent beginner headphones and am now about to order the iM716's and I was wondering, if I, someone who can't tell too much difference with sound quality, would really get a lot out of a portable amp in my situation?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yeah. If anything, you'll get more volume out of your headphones and allow them to be properly driver. Most portables are weak in the amp department to save on battery life, so a cheap portable amp would help a lot.

If you want to develop your "ears" (and everyone can) learn to play an instrument. Join the school band, get a guitar, whatever. You'll learn a lot and enjoy it, and as a bonus, your "ears" will get a lot better.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaftedTwice I have just recently gotten myself into decent beginner headphones and am now about to order the iM716's and I was wondering, if I, someone who can't tell too much difference with sound quality, would really get a lot out of a portable amp in my situation?

No. That of headphone amps being "compulsory", even for portable applications, is but a myth.

Not that they're unuseful (if they're good). IMO something like, say, a Little Dot Micro+ is likely all that anyone would need in a portable situation.

 

[JMCIII]

Who says you have to be an audiophile to enjoy better sound. A portable headphone amp will enhance your musical enjoyment by allowing your new headphones to play to their full capabilities. That's cool for audiophiles and non-audiophiles alike.

And hey, who knows. It could be the first step to becoming one of us (evil laugh fading out......)

John

 

[Yikes]

Learning to play an instrument can teach you many things, how to hear better quality sound is not one of them. Very few musicians are audiophiles. Most musicians tend to listen to the music whereas audiophiles listen to the sound (and hopefully the music).

Who’s better off? A Music lover with a low-fi systems and 2500 CD’s who enjoys listening to music? Or an Audiophile with a killer system and 300 CD’s who enjoys the sound of the music on their system, but is always obsessing over the next upgrade?

Do I really enjoy my music more than when I had a crappy little system? No, but I do enjoy my equipment as well.

If you enjoy the sound of your inexpensive equipment I envy you. My advice would be to stop hanging out at equipment oriented forums, and never listen to anything better. In my experience most people can hear the difference in equipment. Your wallet determines whether or not you believe the performance difference is worth the money, but you will hear a difference.

RUN AWAY!!!!

Be happy with what you’ve got.

Or stay and experience equipment envy.

If can be a fun hobby.

 

[Loftprojection]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes If you enjoy the sound of your inexpensive equipment I envy you. My advice would be to stop hanging out at equipment oriented forums, and never listen to anything better. In my experience most people can hear the difference in equipment. Your wallet determines whether or not you believe the performance difference is worth the money, but you will hear a difference.

That's one of the best "and funny" quote I've read here!

I remember when I was young (because I'm not anymore!), I was listening to a "transportable" vinyl all in one turntable/amp/speaker! The sound was real crap, but I loved it. Then I managed to buy a "real" sound system and so on as my wallet was expanding. It's now a never ending process, fun, but sometimes unnecessary time consuming and a real diet for the wallet.

 

[hugz]

Dont waste your money on it. It may, at best, improve sound quality slightly.. but it probably wont even do that. Unless your portable has as line out, then you'll just be adding an amp to an amp (there's already an amp inside your portable player). Adding amps to amps is generally a bad idea

If you want to spend some cash on audio, your money will be better spent on headphones than amps. Dont bother will portable amps until you have headphones that need it (or if you headphones really suck on your portable compared to at home)

 

[smeerkaas]

It probably depends on the source how much an amp would make a difference.

if you're source is an 4g iPod then a nice little pa2v2 fed through the line out (got a turbodock ar sik din ram) would be a good idea.

My advice is ti just listen to your rig and if you're pleased with what you're hearing then don't think about upgrading.

 

[DevilDog]

In you case an amp probably isn't worth it. An amp improves things, but it's a pretty small increment. You'd be better off spending the bucks on headphones or just be happy with what you have.

 

[daggerlee]

I feel that in most cases, the benefits of the amp are outweighed by incidental noise from portable use, like busy traffic, etc. - of course all this changes if you're using good isolating cans!

 

[ShaftedTwice]

Yeah, I'll be using a Zen Vision:M and probably those iM716's with it, maybe I should hold off for a little while on the portable amp, this place really eats up my poor wallet

 

[stewtheking]

Yeah, I wouldn't change too many things at once, then you never know which piece of equipment is changing the sound in the way you like! I always try to upgrade one bit of kit at a time, so I can appreciate it's particular changes with my existing gear. (of course, come electrostat country, this may not be possible)

 

[smeerkaas]

post your experiences when you get your earphones, i'm interested

 

[echnaton]

I have the Little Dot Micro and I am more than happy using it with my 5G video on the road.it puts the sound into another level and my E4C like it too much!


greetings,


echnaton

 

[warpdriver]

I'd say generally no, it's not worth it unless you have some earphones that are very hard to power (like expensive full sized ones).

I can hear the difference sitting at home, but the difference may not be noticeable when you are actually moving around. I'd rather go without the bulk.