Sycraft
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2004
- Posts
- 440
- Likes
- 12
So I just got a new set of Shure SE420s. Amazon is selling the ones with white accents for $160 right now. Not a bad price for those it seems. Their purpose is to travel with my laptop.
Well I wasn't that impressed. The fidelity was good, but the bass was rather anemic. Now I have high standards, I normally listen on a system with an SVS 20-39 PC+ that is properly calibrated... But still.
Notice though I said was. I got a sneaking suspicion maybe the laptop didn't have the current for these. Hooked them to my PPA and sure as hell, they now hit just fine.
So I need an amp. The problem with the PPA is twofold:
1) It is designed for low impedance efficiency headphones. I have it at 10 gain with 637 opamps. So when there's no music playing I can hear it hissing, even with no input. That annoys me. I suppose it could be changed, but it would require desoldering resistors and getting new opamps for the left and right channels.
2) I am not good at builds, so it is just kinda a bunch of wires in an open top plastic case. I cannot imagine the TSA won't freak out upon seeing this thing and I really don't need that.
So, looking for amp recommendations for earbuds like this. Needs to be reasonably portable, but battery power isn't a necessity since the laptop will largely be plugged in when it reaches where I'm going. I won't say no to battery power, just not essential. I don't really want to spend too much on this, not much more than the phones for sure. This is not my primary listening environment so dumping tons of money in to it is not a worthwhile idea. It is also being fed by a laptop soundcard so that is a factor (though that seems low noise, no hiss when plugged in to it directly).
I suppose if there's someone out there who would be willing to repack my PPA for a reasonable price I might be interested in that. If it was packed in a nice case maybe it would be airport friendly.
Thanks for any help.
Well I wasn't that impressed. The fidelity was good, but the bass was rather anemic. Now I have high standards, I normally listen on a system with an SVS 20-39 PC+ that is properly calibrated... But still.
Notice though I said was. I got a sneaking suspicion maybe the laptop didn't have the current for these. Hooked them to my PPA and sure as hell, they now hit just fine.
So I need an amp. The problem with the PPA is twofold:
1) It is designed for low impedance efficiency headphones. I have it at 10 gain with 637 opamps. So when there's no music playing I can hear it hissing, even with no input. That annoys me. I suppose it could be changed, but it would require desoldering resistors and getting new opamps for the left and right channels.
2) I am not good at builds, so it is just kinda a bunch of wires in an open top plastic case. I cannot imagine the TSA won't freak out upon seeing this thing and I really don't need that.
So, looking for amp recommendations for earbuds like this. Needs to be reasonably portable, but battery power isn't a necessity since the laptop will largely be plugged in when it reaches where I'm going. I won't say no to battery power, just not essential. I don't really want to spend too much on this, not much more than the phones for sure. This is not my primary listening environment so dumping tons of money in to it is not a worthwhile idea. It is also being fed by a laptop soundcard so that is a factor (though that seems low noise, no hiss when plugged in to it directly).
I suppose if there's someone out there who would be willing to repack my PPA for a reasonable price I might be interested in that. If it was packed in a nice case maybe it would be airport friendly.
Thanks for any help.
