[BigTony]

I drove my HD 650s for a few hours today from a Sansa Fuze/Ibasso D3, sounds quite excellent. Quite capable, if i'd not bought the DV 332 i'd have easily settled with the D3 sound.
The fact that it battery driven is a plus, nice clean power signal.

 

[csroc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif Portable amps can and do power these cans but not as well as home amps with power supplies with enough reserves to adequately handle the impedance curves of the more harder to handle headphones such as the HD650. This is where the bass gets weaker when the two are compared. This also applies to the high frequencies as well.

I have noticed that a portable amp like the Practical Devices XM5 I've been trying suffers from the very same problem with the HD650 as you mentioned, however with bass boost on it seems to restore the bass and makes the HD650 a much more enjoyable listening experience than using headphone out on any of my computers. Not quite the same sound as a proper desktop amp but the bass boost gets it very close.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the record I have never said a portable amp can do the work of a home amp.

Exactly.

This is the same reason I'll take water over a Coors Lite, even if I want a beer. Sure, Coors Lite is beer and you can get drunk off it, but that isn't why I drink. I want something I can enjoy.

Full-sized headphones on a portable are lacking. So why bother?

You can get full sound with IEMs straight from an iPod. There's no need to buy something that's only marginally good.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can get full sound with IEMs straight from an iPod. There's no need to buy something that's only marginally good.

Disagree. ER4S sounds so obviously very bad straight from the iPod. Ngeaha.

For the sake of argument's sake.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif Disagree. ER4S sounds so obviously very bad straight from the iPod. Ngeaha. For the sake of argument's sake.

Well, I'll take your word for it.

I've been thinking about new IEMs for a long flight in March - I'll take the ER4S off my list.

 

[-=Germania=-]

If you want to walk around with a portable amp and play through full sized....then you need to get a home amp turned portable like the Pimeta or TTVJ hybrid (grados though).


I can say from experience that even the P-51 Mustang can't really compete with the authority of my franken SSMH using a headphone like the CD1000 (or CD3000) with its 32ohm drivers. It is a matter of current just not being there. A portable battery is not going to be able to put out 1A at the 48V that run my SSMH. Plus a portable amp also has size/heat constraints that can prevent it from beating home amps. There are portable amps out there that can be used as home amps (iQube, P-51, Pico, Lisa II, etc). Still, they are not ideal solutions for monsters like K701 and HD600/50 which are difficult to drive properly anyway.

Yes, you will get volume. However, it will not have the same musicality as a home solution will.

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I'll take your word for it. I've been thinking about new IEMs for a long flight in March - I'll take the ER4S off my list.

now, now - hah, hah - don't take it literally uncle... I won't fly without the ety (with p-s cable) but bring a small amp too - and bob's your uncle, eric!

joking apart, I do wonder exactly how much better my Lunchbox Pro is than my Pico, and how much that "better" is worth (not just in monetary terms), so I have to assume other people wonder the same thing. I'm going to go back and forth with my own ears, as we all do, and eventually expect to come to the conclusion that will represent (hopefully sooner rather than later) the (however provisional and head-fi delusional) deal made between ears and wallet.

 

[DayoftheGreek]

So I have a question for the desktop amp guys.

I currently own a D2 Boa, yet I find myself using its DAC feature with my computer 99% of the time. It sits on my desk and never moves. The output on my Zune drives my portables (Zune buds, soon to be ER-4P) just fine. Even if it doesn't drive the Ety's well, I do not need to carry around an amp to walk between classes or use on the bus. It is just a bit more than I like to carry in my pockets on a regular basis.

So, I paid $175ish for my Boa. It is currently being used as a desktop amp/DAC. Let's say I wanted to sell my Boa, for an assumed $150 as it has just been to iBasso for repairs and is good as new. What desktop USB amp/DAC combo could compete(hopefully blow it away, based on the contents of this thread) with it, assuming I will spend no more than $150, possibly stretching to $200 at absolute maximum. Most of the desktop stuff I have seen is in a much higher price bracket. I would also not like to include DIY amps in this discussion, that's a totally different animal.

Thanks

 

[Brighten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DayoftheGreek /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I have a question for the desktop amp guys. I currently own a D2 Boa, yet I find myself using its DAC feature with my computer 99% of the time. It sits on my desk and never moves. The output on my Zune drives my portables (Zune buds, soon to be ER-4P) just fine. Even if it doesn't drive the Ety's well, I do not need to carry around an amp to walk between classes or use on the bus. It is just a bit more than I like to carry in my pockets on a regular basis. So, I paid $175ish for my Boa. It is currently being used as a desktop amp/DAC. Let's say I wanted to sell my Boa, for an assumed $150 as it has just been to iBasso for repairs and is good as new. What desktop USB amp/DAC combo could compete(hopefully blow it away, based on the contents of this thread) with it, assuming I will spend no more than $150, possibly stretching to $200 at absolute maximum. Most of the desktop stuff I have seen is in a much higher price bracket. I would also not like to include DIY amps in this discussion, that's a totally different animal. Thanks

Hmm... what kind of full-sized headphones do you have?

 

[DayoftheGreek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brighten /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm... what kind of full-sized headphones do you have?

Grado SR80's. I'm still only about a year or so into this whole audio thing, so I don't have much. I'm also not really sure where I want to go from here in terms of my next set of cans. So as much as I would like synergies, it would be nice to pick an amp that still keeps lots of options open.

 

[smeggy]

I dunno, you must all have pretty piss weak DAPs. My Rio karma drives almost everything I throw at them to at least decent levels and often loud, and we're not talking about efficient portable phones here. I think a portable amp would need to be quite beefy to do much better considering I'm not known for quiet listening.

I've yet to have any extended time with small amps but reading how many strain with normal phones it's hard to get enthusiastic about them when the Karma seems to have little trouble doing so. I still want to get a Pico one day, mostly for the DAC side of things but I guess I'll find out then if they are any better than a decent DAPs amp.

 

[csroc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dunno, you must all have pretty piss weak DAPs. My Rio karma drives almost everything I throw at them to at least decent levels and often loud, and we're not talking about efficient portable phones here. I think a portable amp would need to be quite beefy to do much better considering I'm not known for quiet listening. I've yet to have any extended time with small amps but reading how many strain with normal phones it's hard to get enthusiastic about them when the Karma seems to have little trouble doing so. I still want to get a Pico one day, mostly for the DAC side of things but I guess I'll find out then if they are any better than a decent DAPs amp.

Depends on the headphone. Something like the HD650 (which I have) is high impedance which goes higher towards the bass. Connected to a portable or most portable amps you will lose a lot of the bass depth, detail and separation. Connected to a good home amp or even my NAD integrated receiver and all that wonderful bass content and detail returns. Connected to a portable amp like the one I've been using requires the bass boost which at least in my case returns a lot of what is lost, making the 650s quite enjoyable, although the boost can probably be a little bit much with some music. Simply using the EQ on my PC or on my portable players is not enough to get the bass out of the 650s but the portable can do a reasonable job of it. I mention the bass because it is the most noticeable thing that suffers with inadequate amplification, on the portable amp it's almost all that is lost before the boost though.

 

[Lamenthe]

My RSA Predator does pretty well driving my K701's and my iQube just barely does as well. It's good enough for me since I travel so much, but as Germania says the best solution is still a home amp.

 

[smeggy]

My phones are all (with few exceptions) known pigs to drive and most are happiest running from power amps. I lose very little bass from the DAP, just ultimate volume.

I have been known to be out and about with my K1000s attached to it and even those go quite nicely.

 

[csshih]

so.. bulky... augh!

I carry a headroom bithead