[khoadratic]

OK So this is my first post on Head Fi and I just want to apologize ahead of time for all of these insanely dumb questions. I'm new to this and still trying to wrap my head around it all. 

 
So what I want is to pretty much start establishing a good portable listening setup. I'll start with the media players which I already have: an iPod Nano 6G (The tiny one) and my phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (the crappy one they tried to flagship before the Galaxy SIII). The cans I currently have is the Shure SRH440. 
 
So the first thing I think I need to get is a portable amp, correct? I'll probably be using the iPod since the battery life is god-awful on my phone. I've read quite a bit on amps and DACs but I feel like I'm still missing the point somewhere. Do I need an amp? Or a DAC? Or a combo? 
 
The amp that I was most intrigued by (especially considering price point) was the JDS Labs cMoyBB. Would this work with my iPod and is it recommended? I was assuming I would need to get a LOD for my iPod to bypass the internal amp to get a cleaner sound. And if I wanted to use it on my Macbook, would it work to plug in the direct line out from the MB to the cMoy or would that not be a clean signal? Of course, I'd eventually get a USB DAC and desktop amp but I was just wondering if using a portable amp would improve the sound quality until then?
 
Also, I was looking to purchase the Shure SE215's pretty soon since I want a more portable solution and lugging around the 440's gets tiresome. Do IEM's like the 215's need a different type of amp or would the cMoy drive it OK?
 
Jeez I know I sound like a complete noob but I'd really appreciate any help I could get. Thanks in advance!

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

OK So this is my first post on Head Fi and I just want to apologize ahead of time for all of these insanely dumb questions. I'm new to this and still trying to wrap my head around it all. 

 
So what I want is to pretty much start establishing a good portable listening setup. I'll start with the media players which I already have: an iPod Nano 6G (The tiny one) and my phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (the crappy one they tried to flagship before the Galaxy SIII). The cans I currently have is the Shure SRH440. 
 
So the first thing I think I need to get is a portable amp, correct? I'll probably be using the iPod since the battery life is god-awful on my phone. I've read quite a bit on amps and DACs but I feel like I'm still missing the point somewhere. Do I need an amp? Or a DAC? Or a combo? 
 
The amp that I was most intrigued by (especially considering price point) was the JDS Labs cMoyBB. Would this work with my iPod and is it recommended? I was assuming I would need to get a LOD for my iPod to bypass the internal amp to get a cleaner sound. And if I wanted to use it on my Macbook, would it work to plug in the direct line out from the MB to the cMoy or would that not be a clean signal? Of course, I'd eventually get a USB DAC and desktop amp but I was just wondering if using a portable amp would improve the sound quality until then?
 
Also, I was looking to purchase the Shure SE215's pretty soon since I want a more portable solution and lugging around the 440's gets tiresome. Do IEM's like the 215's need a different type of amp or would the cMoy drive it OK?
 
Jeez I know I sound like a complete noob but I'd really appreciate any help I could get. Thanks in advance!

welcome to head -fi
 
looking at the SRH440s specs, im not sure you even need an amp? do you not get sufficient volume from your ipod? if not, the cmoy will do very nicely. does a macbook have a line out? im not too sure about that. are you talking about the headphone jack?
 
anyhow, i have a cmoy from jds labs and its awsome, but if your looking for portability that can fit in your pocket, id recommend the fiio e11 over the cmoy, as its way thinner and a little shorter.

 

[khoadratic]

Quote:

welcome to head -fi
 
looking at the SRH440s specs, im not sure you even need an amp? do you not get sufficient volume from your ipod? if not, the cmoy will do very nicely. does a macbook have a line out? im not too sure about that. are you talking about the headphone jack?
 
anyhow, i have a cmoy from jds labs and its awsome, but if your looking for portability that can fit in your pocket, id recommend the fiio e11 over the cmoy, as its way thinner and a little shorter.

Thanks for the reply! Hm yeah I was talking about the headphone jack on the MBP. I think I might just get a DragonFly for mobile computing. My only other concern is that I would need a LOD for the iPod, correct? Would something like the FiiO L1 or L3 work? 

 

[adamlr]

Quote:

Thanks for the reply! Hm yeah I was talking about the headphone jack on the MBP. I think I might just get a DragonFly for mobile computing. My only other concern is that I would need a LOD for the iPod, correct? Would something like the FiiO L1 or L3 work? 

dont know what a MBP is. the headphone jack on your computer gives an analog signal, which has already been converted by your onboard dac and amplified by your onboard amplifier. a line out is a low level signal thats given from a dac, thats meant to be sent into an amp (not to drive headphones or speakers of any sort). i doubt very much your computer has a line out option, but i could be wrong.
the dragonfly, which i have never used, is indeed a portable dac and amp combo, to be plugged into a computers usb port (not an iphone).
LOD stands for "Line Out Dock". when connected to an I device, it will collect the analog signal outputted from the devices dac, and direct it to the audio jack at the other end (as opposed to the inbuilt amplifier), which is meant to be connected to an external amplifier. i dont know the technical details, but thats the practical bit. you dont HAVE to use it, you may if you choose to. i dont use any i device myself, infact my portable "setup" is phone > iems.
so i cant help you much more than that. if you use the search option on the top of the page, youll be able to find loads of information about the L1, L3, Dragonfly and pretty much anything.