Can anyone recommend a good cheap amplifier to use with a PC.....?

[Enigma3]

Can anyone recommend a good cheap amplifier to be used with an Ultrasone Pro 550 headphones?
I am thinking about hooking up one to my PC. I will be using it purely for entertainment purposes as I am not into the professional aspect of music.

Any and all recommendations will be highly appreciated.

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enigma3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can anyone recommend a good cheap amplifier to be used with an Ultrasone Pro 550 headphones? I am thinking about hooking up one to my PC. I will be using it purely for entertainment purposes as I am not into the professional aspect of music. Any and all recommendations will be highly appreciated.

Click here for a review that mentions amping needs: "You really need a good headphone amp for use with these headphones to get the full dynamic range from them. There's a guy that sells some nice burr-brown portable amps from his ebay store that are inexpensive and work well with these cans."

Apparently light portable amps might do the job. What's your budget? What kind of music do you listen to? With the closed Pro550, I'd guess rock with solid bass? You actually have a lot of excellent options if portables will do.

 

[adiZero]

I would look into a cheap DAC/Amp combo if I were you. Your setup will then be:
PC - DAC/AMP - Headphones

IMO a good source is very important for final sound quality, in addition to amp of course.

Ibasso d10 might be a good choice, it will also give you portability (to be used with your portable player and so on). But, I guess this depends on your budget.

 

[Enigma3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by feifan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Click here for a review that mentions amping needs: "You really need a good headphone amp for use with these headphones to get the full dynamic range from them. There's a guy that sells some nice burr-brown portable amps from his ebay store that are inexpensive and work well with these cans." Apparently light portable amps might do the job. What's your budget? What kind of music do you listen to? With the closed Pro550, I'd guess rock with solid bass? You actually have a lot of excellent options if portables will do.

Well my budget is $100US but anything of a lesser cost that can do the job would be a plus. I listen to New Age, Indian music (Instrumental and devotional), Enigma and Loreena Mckennitt.
I have found that in order for these types of music to sound good solid bass, clear highs and detailed instrument placement is a must in order to enjoy it fully.

I would prefer something light as I do not live in the USA but in the Caribbean and would have to rely on my uncle who lives in NY to both buy and bring it down for me when next he visits my country.

The burr brown's look good I must say but not quite sure if they can be use on a PC though...would they?

Any other suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thx in advance.

 

[Enigma3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adiZero /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would look into a cheap DAC/Amp combo if I were you. Your setup will then be: PC - DAC/AMP - Headphones IMO a good source is very important for final sound quality, in addition to amp of course. Ibasso d10 might be a good choice, it will also give you portability (to be used with your portable player and so on). But, I guess this depends on your budget.

Well my budget is $100US on anything of a lesser cost. $100US in the most I can spend although it would be really great to get something cheaper. It would be used strictly for entertainment purposes only though. Not into and never going into the professional aspect of music.

Basically something cheap that can give the full dynamic range from the Ultrasone PRO 550 headphones I am about to buy.

Additional suggestions would be highly appreciated.

 

[Kawai_man]

You should get a DAC/AMP combo an amp alone wont get you goood sound out of your laptop, check out the musiland svcdac06 (I might have gotten the model name wrong) its only 120 shipped and it includes a decent quality amp and dac its gotten posiive review on the forum.

 

[graben]

Try to find a used Nuforce Icon, very nice, even better when hooked up to some quality speakers

 

[uday1583]

Hey thanks for some nice feedbacks, even i wanted to buy one amplifier for my PC at home. i got some very useful information here. I think i will go with what Kaai_man has said, thanks for sharing

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enigma3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well my budget is $100US but anything of a lesser cost that can do the job would be a plus. I listen to New Age, Indian music (Instrumental and devotional), Enigma and Loreena Mckennitt. I have found that in order for these types of music to sound good solid bass, clear highs and detailed instrument placement is a must in order to enjoy it fully. I would prefer something light as I do not live in the USA but in the Caribbean and would have to rely on my uncle who lives in NY to both buy and bring it down for me when next he visits my country. The burr brown's look good I must say but not quite sure if they can be use on a PC though...would they? Any other suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thx in advance.

I did a quick check on ebay using "headphone DAC" as my search words and the price range $50-100. There are a number of possibilities in your price range. Make sure that the unit has both a DAC and an amp.

What appears to be the best in the lot is $99 but with shipping the total is something like $115.

 

[Carter54]

I have never heard it personally but this little amp DAC is highly recommended as a beginner bang for your buck option around here. I know a few people that have Sennheiser HD600 have used this and it drives those nice. They are 300 OHM and pretty tough to drive.

vividaudiotech.com - Headphone Amplifiers

 

[wallace]

Have a look at Hotaudio40 on ebay,i use his bit-perfect USB Dac/AMP on my pc,with MS-1's, and it has a line out .I paid £40 delivered to UK from canada.Arrived in a week and sounds good for the money,Great for an office system.