[uosux]

I've heard repeatedly that a headphone jack is inferior to a true line-out, and it is best to amp a line-out. Why is this? I don't doubt it's true, but could someone please explain why this is to me? I am especially curious because I have a Nomad Zen Xtra as a source, and it only has a headphone jack. I am at odds of whether an amp would have any payoff.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

i am wondering the same thing, i have the 2nd gen ipod and it doesn't have a line out.

but from what i've heard:
most portable player's internal amps are weak and suck. When you plug your amp into the headphone jack you are going from
Suck------>Great, so the result of the sound is only Good.
you are

 

[uosux]

So can a signal only effectively be amplified once? If a crappy amp in the headphone jack first does the amping, is the signal permanently screwed?

 

[Sovkiller]

Simple, mostly those amps on portable really suck, and far from benefit the signal, just degrade it, yes, you get it loud, but worst, if they take a time to design a good jack, it will be OK, but just for cost and battery life reasons, this is not posible...
If you look, most of the headamps, run with 9V batteries and sometimes more than one....and the durability is not that much neither....they could implement something like the mini amps, small compact, sound good, and good battery life, but for some reason they never do it....

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by uosux So can a signal only effectively be amplified once? If a crappy amp in the headphone jack first does the amping, is the signal permanently screwed?

The main problem is not with the amp (unless it doesn't get loud enough or is non-linear) but with the fact that the headphone has varying impedance at different frequencies, causing a poor amp to have distortion. An amp helps protect against this latter sort of distortion.