[Applebean]

Currently I'm listening to HD485s on a Chaintech AV710 (via my Logitech X-230's headphone jack). Would buying a chu moy amp actually make a noticable difference to my listening?

 

[monolith]

My little amp certainly made a noticeable difference for me. Even though my laptop had no trouble driving my MDR-CD780s, the amp made things sound fuller, improved the soundstage and generally made for a more satisfying listening experience.

It especially revolutionised my listening experience from my PCDP and my mp3 player. The lineout on the mp3 player along with this little amp of mine is fantastic. I can't wait to try some higher-end stuff.

I imagine the CMoy would sound a little better than what I have, too. I say go for it.

 

[Applebean]

Hm, so they actually increase the soundstage (seperation between instruments?)? Interesting, I thought it was more to do with bass/treble levels and crossfeed.

What exactly do you mean by 'driving' the headphones?

 

[bdh]

Sure. Sometimes they make a difference for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes you can barely tell any difference at all. Just realize the better the headphones and source and the more experience listening, the easier it is to hear the difference. You just have to try different amps and hear the difference yourself to determine if it's worth it for you.

 

[monolith]

Well, headphones are electronic deviced that need a certain amount of power to work at their best. You'll find, for example, that high impedance headphones sound very quiet out of certain portable players that don't have much power. My laptop, on the other hand, has plenty of power and has no trouble driving my phones. The amp certainly does make it louder, but even before I had the amp it was capable of driving them more loudly than I can take.

I did find that my amp improved soundstage, particularly for soundstagey (copyright) recordings like classical works and live recordings (I'm a Deadhead).

Crossfeed is an option included on a few amps, but certainly not mine or most portable models. I'm sure it's easy to achieve right on the computer, but I've never tried.

Many amps do change bass and treble levels. Mine seems like it has a little bass hump to it, but I welcome that (especially for drone/doom like Sunn O))) and riffy psych/metal like Ufomammut, Morkobot and the like).


I should of course add that not all amps do this. Some will help achieve the sound you want and some won't. I'm quite inexperienced, but I imagine I'll be trying many more amps in time and pinning down what I'm looking for in an amp, just as you probably will if you hang around here for a while.

 

[rxc]

My short answer would be "OMG yes." But try for yourself and see.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Applebean /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hm, so they actually increase the soundstage (seperation between instruments?)? Interesting, I thought it was more to do with bass/treble levels and crossfeed. What exactly do you mean by 'driving' the headphones?

The diaphragm of a headphone driver is an electro-mechanical device. It responds to an electrical signal produced by an amplifier in response to a much smaller music source signal.

The reaction of the headphone driver is to make an excursion (push out). When the signal stops, the driver snaps back into position. How fast it snaps back is somewhat a function of the quality of the driver. When it does snap back, a backward EMF is sent back through the wires to the amplifier - a small signal in the reverse direction just as if it were a microphone.

The amplifier either damps this signal to nothingness, allowing the driver its maximum excursion capability for the next signal, or the backward EMF gets reflected back, pushes out the driver again at some lesser value, then snaps back, sends another backward EMF signal back through the wires to the ammplifier. This keeps going until the amp is finally able to damp the signal in accordance with its capability, while continuing to send out more amplified music signal.

This is called ringing. Most of the time, with our small headphone diaphragms, the excursions are super small and the ringing can't be directly heard. However, removing the ringing with a much higher quality amp can result in what sounds like increased transparency, wider soundstage, and a better crispness in the music.

The typical amplifiers in a PCDP or similar device are often woefully inadequate to handle much of the above in an audiophile-quality-level fashion for all but the most outrageously efficient earbuds/iems.

Anyway, that's sort of what's meant by "driving the headphones" - the amp has total control, hopefully, and doesn't zig and zig on its way to producing beautiful music.

EDIT: That's the way I look at it, anyway.

 

[bhd812]

IMO:

to a new user it might not be as day and night of a difference at first but after a few days you should start to hear it make a "upgrade" in sound quality and not quantity.
when i first received my RA-1 (first headamp i bought..or heard) I didnt notice nothing with my 325's at the time, but later that night it came out..maybe cause my ears settled or my "omg i spent $350 on some for only headphones" faded away..

if you really are bored I am sure you can find my post about it (probably 5200 ago) and maybe you can see what i am saying here.

just be ready to jump on the train of hifi headphone audio cause once your ears hear the reality of an amp sonics you might be hooked.

after that you'll be changing sources (to me this is the most important) and cables and stuff like that in no time, then youll find yourself alone in some dark alley way sitting in a pool of your own hifi vomit thinking "What? where did it all go wrong?"..yeah..

lol

 

[tbonner1]

Quote:

This is called ringing.

Glad to see this topic discussed. It can be measured as overshoot on a scope and can result in bright distorted sound that is a component of what some call sibilance.

 

[lerio]

If you listen from a PC what you first need if you want to upgrade is a Amp with a good DAC to bypass you soundcard

 

[dkjohnso]

Do amps make a real difference? Depends on the cans, depends on the source. I can't stand listening to the k501 without an amp. On the other hand, with a reasonably powerful source I often can't tell the difference with my Grados.

The HD485s are 32Ohm I think, so there is a good chance you will not notice a difference with an amp. However, that all depends on the output of the Logitechs, which I have not heard.

 

[kramer5150]

Yes. It can be night and day, for better or worse. Depending on the cans, amp, source, listening material and the individual's hearing perception

 

[scompton]

I didn't notice much difference for the HD485 between my iPod and the X4 or T1 once I matched sound levels. At first, I thought I heard a night and day difference, but I was listening at a louder level with the amps. A lot of my other headphones can't be driven properly with the amp in an iPod or AV710. The main reason to get an inexpensive amp for your HD485 is to not have to reach around to the back of your PC every time you want to plug or unplug your headphone. And in anticipation of upgrading you're headphones.

From personal experience, I can tell you it very frustrating to buy headphones and not be able to listen to them. I bought a pair of Stax headphones on eBay that didn't come with an adapter and it was 2 months before I could find an adapter at a reasonable price.

 

[FallenAngel]

First thing you have to do is stop using the Logitech headphone jack, then set set your AV710 to output at "2 Channel High Quality" mode so it uses the rear channel (black jack) Wolfson DAC, then connect the speakers to it, and use a mini to dual-mini splitter so that you have them all connected to the soundcard, not through another circuit.

Yes, an amp should sound better with your setup, especially once you do things above. Grab one of the MisterX's XP amp, Pimeta, PINT or GoVibe that's on the for-sale forums that's under $100 and you should be pretty happy with it.

 

[Applebean]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

FallenAngel: will my current setup sound better if I use the 2 Channel High Quality mode and the black jack? I currently use the green one. Also, where would the option to adjust its output be? The driver CD that came with the card install an app called Audio Deck, and it's not available there.