[Boothead]

Hello, friends. I am here once again for audio advice. I have super.fi 5 pros with a Zen Vision: M.

All of my music is ripped to alt-preset-extreme vbr. The ZV:M paired with the super.fis does sound good, but, since as of late I have a little extra money to piss away, I was wondering if there was a portable amp that could improve upon the current sound.

I'm not really sure about all of what I would need to buy to make this work. I've read a little bit about interconnects and stuff, but I don't know what purpose they serve. I was looking at the RSA Tomahawk, but that's a little too expensive at the time. Would something like the Go-Vibe 5 be good for my situation?

Any advice is encouraged and appreciated. Thanks

Edit: Let's try and keep it under $150, if possible, please.

 

[senny-ftw]

FWIW, I have a pair of SF5Ps and find that the 5G iPod does a good job of driving them - I don't find a big benefit from amping.

 

[tbonner1]

I don't find a big benefit from amping.

I agree

 

[osocan]

x2

My personal experience is that the SF5P's doesnt really benefit much from external amping. However, if you'd like a little colouration, an amp would be useful. FWIW, I find the Tomahawk gives the SF5P a similar sound signature as compared to unamped. Source is an iPod 5.5g.

 

[Boothead]

Alright, that's cool. Thanks for the help, everyone. The SF5P's sound plenty good, I guess my desire for more is just something that comes with the hobby.

 

[ZARIM]

I think XIN SuperMicro IV 04/11/07 is realy good(better than Tomahawk) and it's also less pricey. Try it and you will love it but don't forget to buy quality dock cable or mini to mini cable(ALO Cotton recomanded).

 

[TAFB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by senny-ftw /img/forum/go_quote.gif FWIW, I have a pair of SF5Ps and find that the 5G iPod does a good job of driving them - I don't find a big benefit from amping.

I agree.

 

[JLai]

I'd get an amp just to use the better sound quality from the lineout as well as change the background to completely black. I noticed an audible hiss w/ my SF5Ps when music wasn't playing.

 

[jcx]

likely an output attenuator would be more helpful than an amp for these iems

super fi 5 pro are insanely sensitive, 200 mV will give 120 dB, most listening will be at <10 mV or < 1/100 th of the player's output

when you turn down the digital volume that much the DAC and amp noise is a problem

by adding an output attenuator you can use the dap at reasonable volume setting where s/n is good

the divider between the output and the iem is very low resistance which will not add noise


http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=201098

.

 

[tbonner1]

quote-super fi 5 pro are insanely sensitive

Does anyone know of an IEM that is more sensitive?