Is a portable amplifier a waste of money?

[birkborkason]

Not really. I plan to also use the for the computer and connected to my guitar amp, so over ear seems best suited.

 

[jbgarcia]

But if you have a device with a weak amp, it can make a world of difference.

 

[Watagump]

The thing about amps or anything you are testing, unless you are 100% sure you are listening at the same decibels, louder can be perceived as better sound.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  The thing about amps or anything you are testing, unless you are 100% sure you are listening at the same decibels, louder can be perceived as better sound.

 
Exactly. Volume-matching is essential. What I usually do is just compare at all levels and approximate, since most of the time I don't need to test things more precisely than that.

 

[Currawong]

Something you could consider is buying a DAP -- that is, a digital player to use for music. Many aren't at all bad with full-sized headphones and many of them can be used as a DAC connected to your computer via USB. The cheaper ones don't have onboard memory, but even 128 GB cards are cheap now.

 

[birkborkason]

  Something you could consider is buying a DAP -- that is, a digital player to use for music. Many aren't at all bad with full-sized headphones and many of them can be used as a DAC connected to your computer via USB. The cheaper ones don't have onboard memory, but even 128 GB cards are cheap now.

Thats actually a really interesting idea. That would probably give me decent amplification and dac, right? Can you use them with Tidal? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[WhiteKnite]

  Thats actually a really interesting idea. That would probably give me decent amplification and dac, right? Can you use them with Tidal? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

There are quite a few that will let you use Tidal.  There's a list at this link and a few more that have come out since then like the Cayin i5: http://www.head-fi.org/t/797001/portable-dap-for-tidal#post_12307440

Definitely double check those before purchasing though, I'm not totally sure if a couple of the ones he listed can actually install Tidal.
 
**edit** Finally stumbled upon the thread I was thinking of - http://www.head-fi.org/t/764349/best-android-dap/15

 

[Currawong]

What WhiteKnite said. I only have the FiiO X7 here, which only works as a DAC with what is beta firmware ATM and a very expensive AK that support TIDAL. I use the X7 as a transport with a Chord Mojo when I want to use TIDAL on the go (in offline mode).