[athani]

Use: almost exclusively at home/indoors
Source: exclusively iPhone
Music genre: pretty much everything
Budget: $500

Considering that I'd be listening to Apple Music songs on my iPhone, am I right in assuming that a headphone requiring an amp would be useless since the source is not high enough quality? If not, feel free to suggest a headphone-amp combo.

Thanks in advance!


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[WashingBeard]

Any headphone will benefit from the use of an amp. period. can you tell us a bit about what you want in a headphone? in ear, on ear, over ear. do you want bass heavy, treble heavy, neutral? Hesitant to suggest anything with such a broad range. Unfortunately, in the headphone world "what's the best there is for ~$500", will get you 500 different answers. everyone here is willing to help, we just need more to go off of.

 

[fabioyamauti]

 
Any headphone will benefit from the use of an amp. period.  

 
Totally agree. 

 

[athani]

Any headphone will benefit from the use of an amp. period. can you tell us a bit about what you want in a headphone? in ear, on ear, over ear. do you want bass heavy, treble heavy, neutral? Hesitant to suggest anything with such a broad range. Unfortunately, in the headphone world "what's the best there is for ~$500", will get you 500 different answers. everyone here is willing to help, we just need more to go off of.

Sorry. I've never purchased any earphones/headphones at all. Always used the crappy earphones that came with whatever phone I was using. Now that I have taken a liking to Indian/Western classical, I think I need something to do justice to the great music.

I'm definitely looking for over the ear phones. I understand open-backed are best for indoor use? I definitely don't want a bass heavy set. So I guess a neutral sounding one is what I want.

 

[buke9]

If you something to play out of your phone that sounds very good for the money a par of HE-400S would do well. Not bass heavy and little on the warmer side but not too warm and good soundstage. Comfortable also.

 

[serman005]

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I'm definitely looking for over the ear phones. I understand open-backed are best for indoor use? I definitely don't want a bass heavy set. So I guess a neutral sounding one is what I want.

HD600, HE400i, HE400S all come to mind. All are open. None is bass-heavy.  Perhaps you should read about these and see what you think. As @buke9 points out, the 400S is very comfortable and sounds terrific. Tyll the noted reviewer prefers it to the HD600. Can use it straight out of a phone or ipod. It would be my preference. YMMV. FWIW.

 

[athani]

If you something to play out of your phone that sounds very good for the money a par of HE-400S would do well. Not bass heavy and little on the warmer side but not too warm and good soundstage. Comfortable also.

Thanks. Do I need amps? And DAC (whatever it is..)? If yes, any suggestions?


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[buke9]

Thanks. Do I need amps? And DAC (whatever it is..)? If yes, any suggestions?


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A DAC is a digital to analog converter. You have one in your phone but they do come stand alone as well at various prices. For your budget I don't think you need either with the 400S but for HD 600's you will need a amp for sure.

 

[athani]

A DAC is a digital to analog converter. You have one in your phone but they do come stand alone as well at various prices. For your budget I don't think you need either with the 400S but for HD 600's you will need a amp for sure.

Thanks. I think my mind is set on the HE400S. I understand I don't "need" an amp to drive these but should I get a portable amp nevertheless? Would it make a significant difference to the sound?

 

[buke9]

i think they sound better with my amps but they would blow your budget and haven't heard them from anything else so can't say for sure which one would be better. If you are set on them just give them a go on what you have for a while and see if you like them first then decide if you think you would like something more. Just my opinion.

 

[WashingBeard]

@buke9
Right on the money. As an intro, invest as much as your comfortable with on a set of cans. Once your used to the sound, you'll have a better idea of what is missing or something you may want amped up a bit (pun totally intended). Don't buy an amp until you know your listening style would benefit from it.
I'm a strong believer that any headphones Sound better with an amp. I think it'd be hard to convince me otherwise. That being said, don't buy an amp strictly because it amplifies. 90 percent of my listening is very enjoyable without an amp.

 

[athani]

Suppose I were to go for an amp, would I need just the amp or amp+DAC?

Would the O2 amp/ amp+DAC be a good choice?

 

[WashingBeard]

As @buke9 said, there's a DAC built into your phone (which iPhone are you using?) So a DAC isn't necessary. If your just starting out, I would recommend just headphones until you know an amp would be useful. Too many times people ask for this, that, and the other and get lost.

Remember that the whole point is to love your listening experience. If you can get by on headphones alone, do that. Coming straight from the earphones that came with your phone you'll notice an unbelievable difference in OE cans like the HE400S.

Hell, when I started out I went from a pair of 10yo RadioShack headphones to a 30 dollar pair of Sennheiser 202HD. That's what brought me here. Just trying to fine tune my listening preference.

In the $500 range you can get a great intro setup; you can also get a great pair of cans by themselves.

I have no experience with the O2 amp (though it does get great reviews here on Head-Fi), so I'll defer to someone else on that. Regardless, at your price point your bound to shed a tear of pure joy when you start listening.

My apologies for the rant, it's barely 4am here. Short answer is no; you do not need an amp amp/DAC combo, but you will if you stick around long enough :wink_face:.

 

[Malfunkt]

Use: almost exclusively at home/indoors
Source: exclusively iPhone
Music genre: pretty much everything
Budget: $500

Considering that I'd be listening to Apple Music songs on my iPhone, am I right in assuming that a headphone requiring an amp would be useless since the source is not high enough quality? If not, feel free to suggest a headphone-amp combo.

Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some headphones require a dedicated amp as they require more power. For efficient headphones, they require less power, so your phone amp may do fine. Additionally, some phones have quite good amps and DACs and are more than good enough for many headphones. You may want to check into a new Audeze EL8 open or HE400S. You can look into the EL8 Titanium which comes with a decent amp/dac that can connect to your iPhone, which will future proof it somewhat if you need to upgrade to a new iphone.