[mitchjohns97]

So through a happy coincidence both my uncles got me pair of earbuds for Christmas. One got a pair of Bose ie2 and the other got a bluetooth pair of higher end sports earbuds. Since I didn't have much need for sports earbuds, I decided to return them and keep the Bose. I got $170 when I returned them and now I want to get a better pair of around the ear headphones with that money, I wouldn't mind throwing a few more bucks in if it helped me up to a better fitting headphone for me. I stumbled upon this forum and pretty much landed on the Sennheiser 558, but most people that use these seem to have them hooked up with amps and other set ups. I really don't have a clue what any of that means so needless to say, I'd prefer to avoid getting an amp and other accessories. So my question is do I NEED an amp to use those headphones or is it more of just another plus? If I do need an amp, what other sets should I look at that don't need one (I'm looking mostly at around the ear models). I would use them for listening to music on my computer, mostly from spotify, I know that they have a higher quality streaming rate for premium that I guess I'll have to try out. I also listen to music from i tunes (I get the feeling I'm going to be hated for that one) off of my ipod. I listen to just about everything at one time or another but I tend to stick mostly to alternative, indie, emo, and punk so I don't think I need anything very bass-heavy.
Any suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks!

 

[Headzone]

You don't need an amp for HD558's, they can be run straight from your computer. 
 
Later on, if you want you can add something like the FiiO E10 AMP/DAC (50$) but it's not necessary. This thing should give you slightly cleaner sound compared to your onboard audio or iPod.