RobertW
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2007
- Posts
- 18
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- 0
Hi all,
My primary earphones that I use at work are the Etymotic ER6i's. I use them almost exclusively with my laptop.
Lately, I've become frustrated with the audible "hiss" one can hear when listening to music. I attribute this to the ER6i's high sensitivity, but this is troublesome since I generally listen at very low volumes.
I'm looking for an amp that I can use with my laptop that will give me better sound quality and most importantly, eliminate the "hiss".
I've heard good things about the iBasso D10, but if it would make a huge difference I can also stretch my budget for the RSA Predator amp (listed at $475, this is more or less at the top end of my budget.)
Since I've never owned a headphone amp before, I have a question:
- How will the amp actually connect to the laptop? Do you use the USB port (so that the amp literally becomes like a secondary sound card) or do you need a RCA adapter to run from the laptop's headphone output?
To summarize, my requirements are:
- Amp to use with laptop
- Source would be MP3's, ripped at 256KBps or better.
- Eliminating "hiss" with ER6i's is very important
- Budget definitely to remain in the $400 range, could stretch a little bit (e.g. RSA Predator), but not beyond that. iBasso D10 is very attractively priced at $275 for me - not sure about availability, their website says "out of stock".
- I'd prefer an amp that have alternative power options beyond batteries (not sure how long these amps last running on battery power alone.)
Any recommendations welcome, if I need to clarify something please ask.
Cheers!
Rob
My primary earphones that I use at work are the Etymotic ER6i's. I use them almost exclusively with my laptop.
Lately, I've become frustrated with the audible "hiss" one can hear when listening to music. I attribute this to the ER6i's high sensitivity, but this is troublesome since I generally listen at very low volumes.
I'm looking for an amp that I can use with my laptop that will give me better sound quality and most importantly, eliminate the "hiss".
I've heard good things about the iBasso D10, but if it would make a huge difference I can also stretch my budget for the RSA Predator amp (listed at $475, this is more or less at the top end of my budget.)
Since I've never owned a headphone amp before, I have a question:
- How will the amp actually connect to the laptop? Do you use the USB port (so that the amp literally becomes like a secondary sound card) or do you need a RCA adapter to run from the laptop's headphone output?
To summarize, my requirements are:
- Amp to use with laptop
- Source would be MP3's, ripped at 256KBps or better.
- Eliminating "hiss" with ER6i's is very important
- Budget definitely to remain in the $400 range, could stretch a little bit (e.g. RSA Predator), but not beyond that. iBasso D10 is very attractively priced at $275 for me - not sure about availability, their website says "out of stock".
- I'd prefer an amp that have alternative power options beyond batteries (not sure how long these amps last running on battery power alone.)
Any recommendations welcome, if I need to clarify something please ask.
Cheers!
Rob