[Adreneline]

Hey guys, I've been using my AV40 speaker's amp to amp my headphones. Apparently they were quite good (so I thought), as there is a thread somewhere on Head-Fi saying that they ran their HD600s/650s through them and they sounded quite nice.

I have the MS-1i's. I can almost tell that the highs aren't as good going directly into my Xonar DX... but that could be because there's so much more bass...

It is quite a bit more boomy, I think. All I know is bass quantity, wow.. a lot more.

So does amping the headphones make the bass more controlled or? Could my Xonar DX be running my MS-1i's better than Xonar DX --> AV40 Amp --> MS1?

It almost sounds as if it's hitting lower notes without the amp...

 

[Gbjerke]

For the title, EQ them

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Try something with really low notes and find out if it does extend deeper?

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gbjerke /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the title, EQ them

I don't mind the amount of bass I'm getting without my AV40 amp... I'm just wondering if the more bass means that my AMP made it more controlled and less boomy... or that my Xonar DX by itself somehow without an amp, can produce better bass... I'm confused.

 

[nullstring]

I would think that it would be the latter... because if the Xonar was just bassy, it would be transparent through the AV40.

How about try your onboard sound... and see if it sounds more bassy with and without the AV40. That should give you, your conclusion.

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nullstring /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would think that it would be the latter... because if the Xonar was just bassy, it would be transparent through the AV40. How about try your onboard sound... and see if it sounds more bassy with and without the AV40. That should give you, your conclusion.

It does. I remembering trying with the RX700, it sounded more boomy and bassy through the onboard sound.

So what does this mean? AMP is beneficial or worse?

 

[nullstring]

hard to say. It's possible the headphone amp in the AV40 is just bad... and it's possible that it's more controlled... less flabby.

Go with whichever sounds better.

 

[Adreneline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nullstring /img/forum/go_quote.gif hard to say. It's possible the headphone amp in the AV40 is just bad... and it's possible that it's more controlled... less flabby.

It does sound better out of the amp... not sure if it's just because there's less bass so more room for details, or something else... not very good on these technical things.

I can hear the drum being hit more so than the bass, is that a good thing? With running them straight to the Xonar, it just turns into a bass note, I can still hear the drum, but not as clear.

I do like the more fullness of straight to soundcard but... I think it's more boomy and flabby ..

I was just under the impression that if there was more bass, that it was driven better. Well, more like if there was less bass, that it wasn't driven enough is what I thought.

 

[Uncle Erik]

It's boomy and flabby because the soundcard is underpowered. It doesn't have the power to control the bass and the driver flops around, making extra noise.

Amplification is about control.

Also, a lot of people prefer the sloppy or "fuller" bass because that's the only kind of bass they know. They've spent their lives listening to compressed music on flabby subwoofers, so when they hear proper, tight and accurate bass, they whine about the component being "bass light."