Headphone amp with tone control?

[frix]

Hi,
I'm using a fiio e17 currently and I'm loving it's basic EQ/Tone control.
For convinience reasons I want a proper desktop amp
which I'm going to connect with my hifi main system.
 
My first thought was to buy the fiio e09 and dock the fiio e17 onto it.
This way I would connect the fiio e17 via spdif with my home cinema receiver.
so I can still use the fiio as a DAC with its EQ.
 
Though this setup is kinda bulky with the spdif connection being on top of the e17.
 
Are there any other good headphone amps which offer tone control?

 

[K_19]

Amps such as the PPA and AMB M3 has the Bass Boost option which is adjustable with a knob and can be very useful with many headphones. There are also amps like Stello HP100 which has a "filter" that smoothens out the treble and such.  Can't think of anything in a good desktop amp range which has a EQ-type tone control, though.

 

[frix]

thanks for the info.
I don't understand why such features which are pretty basic for a stereo speaker amp are
not common for headphone amps.

 

[Hooster]

Quote:

thanks for the info.
I don't understand why such features which are pretty basic for a stereo speaker amp are
not common for headphone amps.

 
Because they muck up the sound.

 

[frix]

So you think mucking up the sound for stereo speaker amps doesn't matter then?
Sorry but that point does not make sense to me.
 

 

[Hooster]

Quote:

So you think mucking up the sound for stereo speaker amps doesn't matter then?
Sorry but that point does not make sense to me.
 

 
Sure do. That is why I don't use them, and that is why you will not see tone controls on high quality speaker amps. You may find tone controls on some integrated amplifiers and receivers but they will usually have a button that allows you to bypass them and hear the sound properly.

 

[Philip Baker]

What I need is a portable, headphones amplifier that enables me to get rid of the bass completely and enhances the treble. I only listen to speech on my headphones, never music, and because of a hearing impairment, sounds that I hear, particularly speech, are muffled and boomy and I can make out almost nothing that people are saying to me, including on the phone. My hearing aids correct this (though not on the phone for some reason). However, I want to be able to listen to audio without having to wear big, over-ear headphones with my hearing aids underneath. I have found I can do this when listening to speech on my PC as it has an equaliser to cut out the bass and increase the treble and this works perfectly for me. Equaliser apps for the mobile phone though seem to be useless for me as they all double up as music players, and only allow the equaliser to be used when playing music stored on the phone, not when making phone calls or listening to the radio etc. My DAB radio that I have next to my bed has a sort of equaliser with presets – Jazz, Classical, Flat, Pop etc – all of which make very little difference and are no use to me at all.

I cannot try out in-ear headphones in shops as they are all packaged up in plastic, and shop assistants are completely unable to help me to find what I want, and in any case most of them boast of enhanced bass.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received. I should add that I am almost 70 and live on my pension, so cannot afford anything very expensive.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Are there any other good headphone amps which offer tone control?

They're kind of rare nowadays given digital sources like computers and smartphones that can do more precise variable EQ settings via software, ie, you can target specific frequencies or do as wide a swath of boost or cut as you can (and maybe make it trim peaks within that swath too).

If you're using a computer or smartphone anyway might as well use software EQ.

 

[starence]

nm

 

[Roving poet]

Hi,
I'm using a fiio e17 currently and I'm loving it's basic EQ/Tone control.
For convinience reasons I want a proper desktop amp
which I'm going to connect with my hifi main system.

My first thought was to buy the fiio e09 and dock the fiio e17 onto it.
This way I would connect the fiio e17 via spdif with my home cinema receiver.
so I can still use the fiio as a DAC with its EQ.

Though this setup is kinda bulky with the spdif connection being on top of the e17.

Are there any other good headphone amps which offer tone control?

 

[Roving poet]

I think your best bet is to get a hifi integrated amplifier meant for loudspeakers but with a headphone socket. One with tone controls I mean. Obviously quality of headphone output varies a lot on such devices I can personally recommend the NAD 320BEE which you can get second-hand for about £100. The only problem is the size of course depends how big your desk is. Anyway the sound is smooth and refined and I would say nearly as good as a dedicated desktop headphone amp costing about £100 - such as the Atom.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I was gonna say a receiver- but yeah, similar idea. And as you alluded, how well that works really depends on the headphones. Most modern receivers and integrated amps can't get out of their own way in the headphone amp department. Given the op's English he's English but he didn't say where he lives. If you can get a 1970s vintage receiver they usually do quite well with headphones except for the modern low-impedance ones.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Nothing wrong with tone controls if used sparingly. The WM1A and WM1Z have them as alternative to EQ. Meaning the units have both methods of EQ. They are my preferred way to go over regular EQ. I think the DMP-Z1 offers them with it’s operating system based on Linux also?