[vranswer]

...And I thought the damage was done after buying both the Shure E5s and the Ety ER4s. That was when I looked and noticed, "hey, wonder what that amp forum is all about?". I mean I've read the posts over on the headphone side about JMT PIMETAs and such, but wasn't really paying that much attention...In my mind the Ipod Mini with 30mW of power was supposed to be pretty stout. But after recognizing some blaring from the ETYs I peaked in here.

So here we go again...question, please: Since I would like as little extra "baggage" as possible, I suppose one of these MINT amps could be an option. Want to stick it in my pocket and forget about it, using the MinIpod for volume changes. Would this be enough to juice the ER4P (with S cable if I get it)? Is there a cable to go from the bottom of the minIpod - as in line out - to a MINT amp? Should I be looking at something else? Again, I really don't want to add any more weight than absolutely necessary and I can hardly believe that in my mind it's beginning to become necessary. Shame on Head-Fi and its band of audio pushers!! (just kidding, taking it and liking it)

 

[episiarch]

The Xin amps (SuperMini, SuperMicro, and upcoming SuperDual - see comments elsewhere in the Amplification forum) add a whole lot soundwise, while adding very little bulkwise. Highly recommended.

I keep a Supermini permanently velcro'd to the back of my G2 iPod, and it's great with ER4's. I use the Plastics One mini-mini interconnect sold by HeadRoom to connect the iPod to the SuperMini.

 

[Jeff E]

Isn't there a great deal on a 6.2 supermini for $40 in the "for sale" forum? No volume control but that's not a problem with the ipod.

 

[ipodstudio]

Headroom Total Airhead might do it.

EDIT: My comment is based on what I've read here and around other sources on the net, not from actual experience, JFYI...

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E Isn't there a great deal on a 6.2 supermini for $40 in the "for sale" forum? No volume control but that's not a problem with the ipod.

If you are going to use an amp with an Ipod 3rd gen or the mini, you need to get a Sik imp or din to give you a true line-one. Link:

http://store.sik.com/merchant.mv?Scr..._Code=S03-1007

Using the line-out you would need to control the volume with the amp.

I also had a sm 6.0 and found the improvement not big enough to carry around a seperate amp. I was even using a battery powered PPA for a while but it kinda of kills the whole portable thing with the ipod.

I feel if you own both the etys and the shure, it's better to sell them both and get the ue5c, which doesn't need an amp and combines the sound of both. The etys improve with an amp but the bass will still never have the impact you are looking for. The shures sounded worse to me with my PPA.

Portable amps have their place, you just have to weigh convience vs sound improvement.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

If you are going to use an amp with an Ipod 3rd gen or the mini, you need to get a Sik imp or din to give you a true line-one. Using the line-out you would need to control the volume with the amp.

While that is one way of using an amp with an iPod, it is not a requirement, just to be clear.

Btw, that is my Supermini for sale, to be even more clear. Using the headphone-out & using the iPod to control the resultant volume works fine.

All that being said, using an amp with an iPod Mini seems counter-design to me as well, from a bulk/size standpoint. But if you do want an amp, from a design/size standpoint the Supermini is the best add-on for an iPod, as compared to much larger Mint CMOY's and such. Unless you look at Xin's even smaller amps!

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg While that is one way of using an amp with an iPod, it is not a requirement, just to be clear.

Yes, you are right. Using the line-out will just give a cleaner signal but the headphone out will work as well. Plus, for $40, it's a great price to see how a portable amp can improve the sound.

 

[kcaesthete]

With an iPod Mini I think you have two good choices

1) use the ER4p with the mini w/o an amp. This will sound good and you will keep the small form factor of the mini.

2) get a Sik line out (e.g. imp which is what I use) and buy the forthcoming Xin SuperDual, which (I think) has a built in 4p-s converter circuit. It will be available in a couple of weeks for somewhere in the neighborhood of $150.

The other amp possibilities don't make a lot of sense with respect to the size of your mini. I currently use a portable amp which is larger than my 3g ipod, and sometimes it seems a little much. Strangely enough, I'm going to be putting that in storage for one which is even larger, but still portable.

When I want to go ultra portable, I just lose the amp and the 4p-s cable, and I'm in good shape.

 

[lifeinabox]

As a fellow Mini owner, I can relate to what you're going through. I really like the sound of the AKG K240S and the Mini does an ok job of powering them. But I can't help but feel that I'm missing out on something, especially reading opinions here of a need to amp these cans. I went through the same struggle of whether or not to get an amp and ultimately feel it's an all or nothing proposition.

Like the others have suggested, adding an amp, no matter how portable, defeats the purpose of having something so small and sleek like the Mini. You should either live with the Ety/Mini combo or else spend the money and get a decent home rig that can not only do the Etys justice but also allow you to expand as your interests grow. That's what I'm doing in considering a PIMETA or PPA amp at home that can be used with my selection of headphones, the Mini, and my Jolida/Sony cdps. I figure I don't do much critical listening on the road anyway, so might as well spend the money where I'll realize the largest gain.

 

[iamdone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeinabox As a fellow Mini owner, I can relate to what you're going through. I really like the sound of the AKG K240S and the Mini does an ok job of powering them. But I can't help but feel that I'm missing out on something, especially reading opinions here of a need to amp these cans. I went through the same struggle of whether or not to get an amp and ultimately feel it's an all or nothing proposition. Like the others have suggested, adding an amp, no matter how portable, defeats the purpose of having something so small and sleek like the Mini. You should either live with the Ety/Mini combo or else spend the money and get a decent home rig that can not only do the Etys justice but also allow you to expand as your interests grow. That's what I'm doing in considering a PIMETA or PPA amp at home that can be used with my selection of headphones, the Mini, and my Jolida/Sony cdps. I figure I don't do much critical listening on the road anyway, so might as well spend the money where I'll realize the largest gain.

For a home setup, I'd suggest the PPA. It's a big improvement over the PIMETA. You can also upgrade down the road if you get the urge to upgrade later. There different opamps you can try, power supplies, diamond buffers, but a very basic PPA is still a big improvement over the PIMETA.