[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman If you're saying what I think you're saying, there's no guarantee that the Karma's headphone out works well with the loads that an amp imposes just because of what I said. Many portables sound pathetic when amped through the headphone out.

Very true but your post has me thinking about it again....and wondering. I just need to steer clear of the portable forum. I get too many crazy ideas when I come here.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman If you're saying what I think you're saying, there's no guarantee that the Karma's headphone out works well with the loads that an amp imposes just because of what I said. Many portables sound pathetic when amped through the headphone out.

A good example of a portable that "sounds pathetic when amped through the headphone out" is my Sony D-NE300 ATRAC PCDP. What sounds good unamped through headphones becomes dark, woolly, weak and grainy when an amp is added.

 

[bigshot]

I can understand how inadequate amping can make headphones sound bad, but I really can't see how amping an efficient set of headphones can make them sound worse... unless you're just overdriving them.

To answer a previous poster, I compared unamped headphone jack output of my 3g 30 gig iPod to the Pocket Dock with a Super Mini Moy using Steely Dan's Gaucho ripped at 256 AAC. I also used a track I transferred from Dave Grusin's Direct to Disk Sheffield Lab LP as an AIFF file. I used Sennheiser PX-100s and HD-590s for the test. Both headphones and both sources sounded better through the dock/amp... punchier and more present sounding. I did have to rebalance the relative volume for each set of cans, because the PX-100s are considerably more efficient. If I had to put a quantitative number to the amount of difference, I would say around 15 percent better.

The amount of difference between the iTrip and the PodFreq is greater, but I suspect that has a lot to do with the strength of the FM signal that the PodFreq puts out compared to the wimpy iTrip.

See ya
Steve

 

[yeeyy]

I have done this quite sometimes ago, yes the line level output is better than headphone output for iPod.

 

[akerman]

Hehe why do you guys even bother with an iPod? With all that heavy gear, your not very portable anyway, might as well just use your cd-player or soundcard

Btw. can anyone tell me the difference between the line-out and the head phone jack? I used to think a line-out was just that, a line out without being passed through an amplifier - but if I turn up the volume of my ipod, the volume on the line-out also increases.

I tested last night with my new Shure E2cs, and found that I liked the headphone jack better than the line-out on my IMP-400, it had way more static and noise, but the sound was fuller and deeper.. is this normal or am I just weird? =(

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindrone Interesting, since I own no high-impedance headphones at all anymore (everything I own is 40 ohms and below)... That might be the reason why I've always noticed a difference?... Hmm.... So what does this mean though? Is the line-out a true line-out, or is it just a path without the volume control? It's outdated anyway, that test is often referred to, but was done on a 3rd gen iPod. 4G iPod do *not* sound the same as the 3G.

4G iPod's L/O is a * true * line-level output.

 

[jturn00]

Hi,

When connecting the Ipod (line out) to a receiver (harman-kardon avr 325) which is input on the receiver would result in the best quality. Would an amp in between the ipod (or any mp3 player) and the receiver improve the quality?

Thanks,

Jeff

P.S. In the amps used in the test above, are any of them portable?

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jturn00 Hi, When connecting the Ipod (line out) to a receiver (harman-kardon avr 325) which is input on the receiver would result in the best quality. Would an amp in between the ipod (or any mp3 player) and the receiver improve the quality? Thanks, Jeff P.S. In the amps used in the test above, are any of them portable?

Run a mini-to-RCA cable from the iPod's Dock (or Sik Din, etc.) to the receiver's Tape In, Phono In, or Aux In... enjoy!...