[Noob Meister Jr]

I just received some 250 Ohm DT880. I've never had high impedance headphones before and expected they'd be quiet when playing on my computers. They're not, they are adequately loud when on full volume on my HP envy x2; in fact they are louder than my old $10 32ohm headphones on the same computer.
 
What I want to know is whether these are going to sound any better with an amp. I also got some 32 ohm DT660s for recording as people had raved about how isolating they were so I figured they'd be good for recording (actually disappointed at how much leakage they have) and was wondering if these would benefit from amplification as well.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[PurpleAngel]

If the DT880s can get loud enough and they sound good to you, guess you do not have to (optional) buy a headphone amplifier.
A $200 Magni/Modi should improve sound quality, but I guess you can always buy it in the future.

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

thanks for the reply. i don't have much to compare these to. the most I've previously spent on headphones was about $120; so yes they sound good to me but I guess what I don't really understand is whether an amp improves sound quality or just makes it louder.
 
So maybe i should have asked, "does an amp improve sound quality"?  which you seem to be answering yes to but then i have seen people say that the only point in an amp is to make it louder, so wouldn't mind some convincing here; or other opinions.
 
i know that everyone else that has these phones seems to have an amp. why? is it because they are deaf? or is that their aim? Or do they think it sounds better?
 
very interested to see what anyone has to say.

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

also the magnus costs about $230 US here in NZ. I can get things from amazon for practically the same cost, plus shipping, as americans pay as long as it is under about $US 200 so the import taxes get waived, otherwise it can cost significantly more. Actually i lie, a lot of things simply won't ship from Amazon to NZ, but I can sometimes get good prices here anyway. e.g. fiio products are pretty decent, e,g, e11, e12, x3 go for about 60, 130, and 210 US$ respectively.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Loudness isn't the only thing amps do. Some frequencies require less energy than others to produce. The 250ohm Beyer DT880 is not that difficult to drive. You'll find that it's bright on any source. You'll generally hear the mids/treble without much effort on even a cellphone. The difference shows up when amplified regarding the lower frequencies which require more energy to generate properly, and control.
 
If you want to know what I mean, take a bassy song and turn it up fairly loud. Listen to it unamped.
Then listen to the same song, same perceived volume, on an amplifier. You'll hear the difference there in this situation.
 
Is an amp necessary for you? No. Clearly not.
But will it improve quality in general? Yes. Especially the lower frequencies.
 
Very best,

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

 The difference shows up when amplified regarding the lower frequencies which require more energy to generate properly, and control.

Thanks mate, that's a great answer - exactly the kind of thing I wanted to know. Would you care to elaborate though? What exactly do you mean by "generate and control"? I mean I guess 'generate" means produce the sound in the first place and then "control" means produce it accurately. would this be correct? And, if so, what doe that mean? Less distortion?
 
Sorry for being so noobish. 

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

Also, if half volume on my macbook air is as much as i can handle, does this imply that there is enough energy to produce low frequencies?

 

[drez]

A headphone can sound loud enough from a laptop and still be improved by an amplifier, the headphone will sound clear and loud but could lack dynamics (the difference between the loudest and softest sounds in music) and bass drive and control.

If you can try an amplifier out at a shop this might give you some idea of the possible improvements.

 

[Rem0o]

  Also, if half volume on my macbook air is as much as i can handle, does this imply that there is enough energy to produce low frequencies?

As Malveaux said, not all sound are as difficult to produce. When you increase volume, your laptop might be able to increase the volume of some frequency of your headphones (most likely treble) but not all of them (most likely bass). At half your laptop volume, the treble might be to much so you can't increase the volume more but the bass might need more power compared to the treble part to "follow" or match it. Final result, SOME oif the sound get loud, but not all of it.

Better? Can't simplify it more than that.

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

Thanks Drez, much appreciated/

REm0o, that is perfectly simple enough and enswers yhe question perfectly. Tnakyou!