[nicholars]

This question sounds stupid I know, as most people would say a headphone amp should be neutral, but I use my headphones for watching films on netflix sometimes, which means I cannot EQ my headphones to have more bass for films etc. I don't think any headphone amps have tone controls, except for the Ifi dac / amps which have the bass boost switch.

So my question is which headphone amp might give me a better bass response? I guess most of them are going to be similar, except more power might give me better bass. Are there any headphone amps which naturally have more bass than others? From what I have read it looks like Lake people amps generally are "bassier" than most? What about any other brands?

Thanks

 

[Arniesb]

Beyerdynamic A20 have even more powerfull bas than any Violectric. If you have Sennheisers it will pair fine.

 

[Wiljen]

While most amps try and stay neutral, there are differences that impact how well they can deliver bass. Bass takes the most sustained current to deliver so, the amount of bass is dependent on the power of the amp and the size of the output caps. This is a reason many times you will see recommendations to swap in larger output caps as having a small output cap can limit the amount of current available and the first place that shows up is bass. I'll recommend the Burson Fun as being near neutral in and of itself, but capable of delivering plenty of power when called upon which helps with getting the most out of a headphone.

 

[nicholars]

Beyerdynamic A20 have even more powerfull bas than any Violectric. If you have Sennheisers it will pair fine.

Does not seem very powerful though compared to a lot of amps : 100 mW / 600 Ω 170 mW / 250 Ω 150 mW / 30 Ω

The amp I have now on my NAD DAC, is quite a bit more powerful than that.... 1.2w 32ohm, 50 ohms: 0.80 RMS per channel, 300 ohms: 145mW RMS per channel, 600 ohms: 100mW RMS per channel

If I was adding an amp, I would want one that has more power than what I have now, not necessarily for my current headphones, but if I got something in future that needed more power.

 

[Wiljen]

Now take a look at the Burson Fun specs and I think you'll see what I was saying about output power 2.1Watts into 32 Ohm.

PS - for the record I don't think the A20 is better than all of the violectrics or many other amps, I'm at a loss as to how he came up with that too.

 

[MikeW]

Any competent amp with EQ.. seriously just use EQ.

Edit: shame on me for not even reading the OP. Can you use an external EQ? like Schiit Loki? Even a simple setup like Magni/loki would probably do what you want, or better JDS ATOM and Loki. Not a fan of the JDS tone control, Loki mini is better implemented.

 

[italiandoc1]

aurilac taurus mkii...can pick one up used for around $800-1000. Its like 4.5W at 32ohm with the balanced connection, 1.2 W unbalanced at 600 ohm. Definitely not short on current. Agree with Violectric and Burson recs for being heavy hitters too.

 

[nicholars]

Now take a look at the Burson Fun specs and I think you'll see what I was saying about output power 2.1Watts into 32 Ohm.

PS - for the record I don't think the A20 is better than all of the violectrics or many other amps, I'm at a loss as to how he came up with that too.

Yes I was looking at the new burson Playmate and that does look very interesting and good value, I could replace my NAD with that possibly, I do like the NAD, but think I could possibly do better with an external amp or possibly something like the Burson which is a DAC amp but with a better amp.

I did try using the Sennheisers out of my NAD integrated amp headphone jack, because it has tone controls so I can increase the bass that way, it does not sound bad, but not as good as the Dac / amp.

I am surprised that the NAD integrated amp jack, does not sound bad, slightly less clear and detailed, but not as good as the proper dac / hp amp.

 

[nicholars]

Also what about tube amps? Would getting a tube amp then picking a "bassy" tube, have a similar effect to EQ?

Or do tube amps degrade the bass quality compared to solid state?

I want more bass yes, but I would rather have no bass at all, compared to bloated sounding bad bass!

 

[Wiljen]

I don't think you can generalize and say that all tube are going to be more or less than all solid state, there are lots of variations within both. I don't think trying to find a tube with better bass has nearly the amount of potential change that an EQ does as I have never heard a tube swap result in more than maybe 1dB worth of increase in any given frequency. You really have two options here, 1.) Use EQ and enyoy what you have, .) Get a different headphone that has more or better bass. None of the other things being discussed have nearly as much potential for impacting the sound as those two do.

 

[boozcool]

AMB M^3 with bass boost for bass quantity and iFi iCAN Pro for bass quality

 

[rishan]

Man I feel your pain, coming from a 2 x 15" sub car bass type of background, re-creating it in a headphone is kinda a losing game but...as you can see from my signature I've tried a TON of options.

I think of bass across a few dimensions: slam strength, hit/slam speed, depth or extension of sub-bass, decay time (natural being optimal.) Melodic type rap is my preference, think R.O.D. from Boogie with a Hoodie's new album - listen to 1:35 - 1:57

Without knowing what set of cans you currently have, here are some highlights:
- Without EQ, getting a strong amp is the single best way to improve bass (especially slam);
- PC System-wide EQ -> Hugo 2 -> LCD 2C was a huge upgrade for me from the same chain but with the TR-X00, the accuracy and speed of the bass was very noticeable and more enjoyable;
- PC w/ No or very mild EQ (I think my tastes have changed a little) -> Fiio X7 as DAC -> SMSL SP200 -> LCD 2C Closed Backs is my current favorite;

Some random thoughts, I thought dynamic drivers were the only bass solution, but the LCD 2C's won me over big time through bass speed and lack of distortion (at non-insane listening levels.)
The Fiio's A5 Bass Boost can help if it's your thing, but adding it into the chain makes a little less clear for my ears.
Kinda off-topic, but my Earstudio ES100 + either pair of my CIEMs without EQ hit hella hard, like more than just say the PC -> Fiio X7 as a DAC -> Darkvoice -> LCD 2C Closed Backs.

Would love to hear others thoughts on this topic too.

 

[Relaxasaurus]

While most amps try and stay neutral, there are differences that impact how well they can deliver bass. Bass takes the most sustained current to deliver so, the amount of bass is dependent on the power of the amp and the size of the output caps. This is a reason many times you will see recommendations to swap in larger output caps as having a small output cap can limit the amount of current available and the first place that shows up is bass. I'll recommend the Burson Fun as being near neutral in and of itself, but capable of delivering plenty of power when called upon which helps with getting the most out of a headphone.

This post was so informative because your explanation was so dead simple. Thanks for this!