[Rufus-TheDog]

Hi all! Just joined the Head-Fi community and the VERY first question I wanted to ask already has an ongoing thread. Lucky me!
 
I'm literally waiting for a delivery of my AKG K550, which should arrive any day now. While I am waiting, I was doing some research about whether I can enhance my listening experience by getting a portable amp. I'm using my iPhone for listening to music at the office/home, so I thought getting Fiio E17 DAC was good idea. Thank god I did some research as well as discovered this topic that made me realize that a) E17 wouldn't be able to bypass the built-in iPhone soundcard and b) the iPhone soundcard is in fact decent and I wouldn't benefit much from a DAC.
 
So I guess now I'm back to the amplification-only point. Some said in this topic that K550s don't actually need an amp to drive but while others say that they do in fact benefit from it.
 
I do have a small budget (not more than 150euro) that I set aside for an amp. I was primarily looking at Fiio E11. Is there anything else in that price range I could look into? Of course I am not trying to go out of my way to spend this money, but if my listening experience can improve, I won't mind.

 

[imackler]

Quote:

The headfonia guys make a brief mention of amplifier pairings at the top of page 2:  http://www.headfonia.com/akgs-new-reference-the-k550/2/  You might also want to try combing through the comments section since I bet a lot of people will have asked about various amps.
 

I left a question under the name eagle1776. We'll see what he says!

 

[scratchy]

Quote:

Bumping this thread, hoping more out there have tried the K550 amped.
 
I currently don't have an amp but its pretty hard to drive for my ipod classic. For the first time being in headfi, I may need to take off the safety lock I put on years ago on the volume; not a problem really, but while the ipod has plenty to power genres influenced by the loudness wars, well recorded classical stuff is kind of tough to get enough juice for.
 
Has anyone noticed any improvements amping the K550? I know AKGs can be tough to amp... Any matching up that you like?

I can testify that apming these cans greatly increased my enjoyment levels... Infact, before i bought my dac/amp (fiio E17) i found the sound a tad dull and unexciting. Sure in ipod CAN power them, but i found the sound SO much better after i bought the amp. the E17 is also a good choice as it has the bass controll. i leave mine at +2 just to give it that extra bit of oomph.
 
Just my 2 cents but i highly recomend the Fiio E17. It made listening so much more enjoyable. you wont regret it

 

[Rufus-TheDog]

Glad to know E17 improved your listening experience.
 
I'm considering getting E11 as apparently, talking strictly amplifiers, it is the better device.
 
Can you tell me if you managed to get E17 to work as a DAC when hooked up to your Apple device?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Glad to know E17 improved your listening experience.
I'm considering getting E11 as apparently, talking strictly amplifiers, it is the better device.
Can you tell me if you managed to get E17 to work as a DAC when hooked up to your Apple device?

Hooking an external DAC to a portable apple product is not cheap (HRT $150) and Fiio (even the E17) have no way to bypass the DAC built into portable apple devices.
At least with apple laptops, you can hook the E17 to the laptops USB port to bypass the internal DAC.
Apple products usually come with decent DACs, better just to add an amplifier (E11).
The E17 and E11 are about equal amplifier wise.
Get the Fiio L cable for connecting the E11 to the apple (portable) products LOD port.
 
Sign
    My Two Cents.

 

[proton007]

What he said. ^^

 

[Spawn300Z]

Hello, I have been trolling the forum for a while now. I have usually been into home and car audio. I have an iTouch 4G and just picked up an iPod Classic 7G since I needed more space so

I'm green to the headphone amp thing. I have ordered a set of the AKG K550's and plan on eventually getting a pair of Hifiman HE400/HE500s.

Would it be better to get something like thw Headstage 12HE 4G to use in my portable setup for these two headphones or will the Fiio E11 or E17 good enough for booth headphones.

 

[xStreame]

Quote:

I can testify that apming these cans greatly increased my enjoyment levels... Infact, before i bought my dac/amp (fiio E17) i found the sound a tad dull and unexciting. Sure in ipod CAN power them, but i found the sound SO much better after i bought the amp. the E17 is also a good choice as it has the bass controll. i leave mine at +2 just to give it that extra bit of oomph.
 
Just my 2 cents but i highly recomend the Fiio E17. It made listening so much more enjoyable. you wont regret it

Having the same setup, I agree that the k550 does benefit well from the E17. 
 
I am looking forward to adding a desktop amp to add even more liveliness to these cans, though with a small budget. I will still be using the E17 as a DAC. I am looking at the Bravo audio v2 tube amp. 
Any impressions/experiences with this setup?