[haarism]

So I've only recently gotten into the whole audiophilia ( can't say I am one, I only have a pair of srh440s and upgrading to ath m50 or srh840 sometime soon) and I was just wondering if you guys carry around your portable amps in your pockets, like to use at school and on the street
 
also what cheap amps do you guys recommend, because my pcs sound card is really poop, like seriously, music sounds better from my ipod than my pc

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

For your pc, you'll want a DAC first. Though a DAC/AMP like the Fiio E7 or UDAC2 would be a money saver.

 

[Riku540]

Walking around I use cheap, but good IEMs right out of my phone with no amp.
 
On some form of transportation I use really good IEMs with a portable amp.
 
Home I use a DAC/Amp... Get the E7 it will work for both your PC needs at home and portable amp for on-the-go.

 

[haarism]

what exactly is a dac?
and I tried googling fiio which yeilded no results

 

[jononku]

Quote:

So I've only recently gotten into the whole audiophilia ( can't say I am one, I only have a pair of srh440s and upgrading to ath m50 or srh840 sometime soon) and I was just wondering if you guys carry around your portable amps in your pockets, like to use at school and on the street
 
also what cheap amps do you guys recommend, because my pcs sound card is really poop, like seriously, music sounds better from my ipod than my pc

Yup, I carry my PA2V2 wherever I go with my m50s.  Even bigger amps are not that big a deal to put in your pocket in my humble opinion.
As for crappy computer sound, I agree with the previous poster recommendations.  Even a low budget DAC will likely be an improvement over your pc.

 

[revolink24]

what exactly is a dac?
and I tried googling fiio which yeilded no results

Really? The first Google result shows the wikipedia page, which is definitely relevant.

The easiest way to put it to someone new to this but familiar with computers is that a DAC by itself is like the computer's sound card, except that while a sound card will have a built in headphone amp, a DAC itself does not (though many hybrid DAC/Amp units exist, as mentioned previously.)

 

[Riku540]

Quote:

what exactly is a dac?
and I tried googling fiio which yeilded no results

 
Digital to Analog Conveter. Like a soundcard, that specializes in clean, accurate music reproduction.
 
FiiO E7 (Micca Distributor is an authorized seller of FiiO products in the US):
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E7-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003E6K1VK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&m=AFKH6OU9WWNFS&s=generic&qid=1295805202&sr=1-4
 
Official website:
http://www.fiio.com.cn/index.aspx
 
All found with Google.

 

[revolink24]

Quote:

what exactly is a dac?
and I tried googling fiio which yeilded no results

 
Digital to Analog Conveter. Like a soundcard, that specializes in clean, accurate music reproduction.
 
FiiO E7 (Micca Distributor is an authorized seller of FiiO products in the US):
http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E7-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003E6K1VK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&m=AFKH6OU9WWNFS&s=generic&qid=1295805202&sr=1-4
 
Official website:
http://www.fiio.com.cn/index.aspx
 
All found with Google.

Ha, that's not exactly what all DACs specialize in. Every CD player, MP3 player, PC soundcard, A/V reciever, and DVD player in the world has a DAC in it. The DACs you hear mentioned at Head-Fi are almost entirely outboard, dedicated units, not designed with any fancy features (EAX, Dolby, etc.) built in, but focusing on low-jitter conversion of digital samples to analog audio.

The Wikipedia page is a good read if you have the time and interest. There are loads of different types of DAC out there, and they have many applications.

 

[Riku540]

Quote:

Ha, that's not exactly what all DACs specialize in. Every CD player, MP3 player, PC soundcard, A/V reciever, and DVD player in the world has a DAC in it. The DACs you hear mentioned at Head-Fi are almost entirely outboard, dedicated units, not designed with any fancy features (EAX, Dolby, etc.) built in, but focusing on low-jitter conversion of digital samples to analog audio.The Wikipedia page is a good read if you have the time and interest. There are loads of different types of DAC out there, and they have many applications.

I realize all that... but for the sake of keeping it simple for someone who doesn't know...
 
Sheesh.

 

[revolink24]

Quote:

Ha, that's not exactly what all DACs specialize in. Every CD player, MP3 player, PC soundcard, A/V reciever, and DVD player in the world has a DAC in it. The DACs you hear mentioned at Head-Fi are almost entirely outboard, dedicated units, not designed with any fancy features (EAX, Dolby, etc.) built in, but focusing on low-jitter conversion of digital samples to analog audio.The Wikipedia page is a good read if you have the time and interest. There are loads of different types of DAC out there, and they have many applications.

I realize all that... but for the sake of keeping it simple for someone who doesn't know...
 
Sheesh.

I knew you did, I just like clarification.

 

[EddieE]

Nope, doubt I ever will either. There are few other things on head-fi more exaggerated than the benefit of an external portable headphone amp.
 
It's got to the point where people refer to using the amp inside a dap as using headphones "unamped" which is ridiculous.
 
The amp inside the Sansa Clip + and the one inside the Cowon S9 is perfectly capable of driving any of the phones I use portably.

 

[joelpearce]

Quote:

 
also what cheap amps do you guys recommend, because my pcs sound card is really poop, like seriously, music sounds better from my ipod than my pc

This, I would say, is the real important question here.  A small external USB headphone amp can make a world of difference in terms of sound quality.  I'm using the Firestone Fireye II right now for my laptop, and it's an easy addition to the laptop bag.  Since it doubles as a USB to optical converer, it would make a good choice for if you have an integrated amp nearby but no easy way to connect your computer up.  I was looking at the NuForce offerings at the same time, which look pretty slick.
 
If it's a desktop computer, then another good choice is an older home theatre receiver if you've got one kicking around.  Most modern sound cards offer a digital out, and all home theatre amps would be able to drive those headphones nicely--my old Yamaha is actually one of my better sounding amps for some headphones.
 
I would recommend either of those options over an upgraded internal sound card, because with a sound card, you always end up dealing with the electrical noise inside the case itself.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Quote:

Nope, doubt I ever will either. There are few other things on head-fi more exaggerated than the benefit of an external portable headphone amp.
 
It's got to the point where people refer to using the amp inside a dap as using headphones "unamped" which is ridiculous.
 
The amp inside the Sansa Clip + and the one inside the Cowon S9 is perfectly capable of driving any of the phones I use portably.

The internal amp of my Sansa Fuze can efficiently drive my D7000, yet my D7000 yields noticeably better SQ from my E9. Not a huge difference, but the improvement in bass control at the least is worth it over going 'unamped'.
 
External amps will be better than stock internal amps. The difference might be very subtle to noticeable, but it's pretty much always better in the end, from my experience.

 

[GreatDane]

For me, half of the portable amp allure is having precise volume control with a small knob instead of larger steps with a tiny button. Despite the somewhat small difference between amped and unamped, once I knew what to listen for I couldn't ignore it. Amps are not needed AT ALL to get great sound from a mid to high-end IEM. Some portable type HPs really do benefit substantially from using an amp.

 

[cowjuan]

i usually just stuff my source (ipod) and amp in my backpack and wear my headphones to keep from carrying them around. it may look weird but in the words of bilavideo "i don't care what i look like, just what my gear sounds like." and that's my whole philosophy.