[Supertoaster]

Quote:

Really? My radius atomics BLEW THE **** UP when i used my friends amp

Yes. I have a half decent amp built into my soundcard (Asus Xonar DG) and all they do is get louder, but it does not really change the sound at all. They are only 40ohm and relatively sensitive.
 
You should get the Asus Xonar for about $20 and sometimes its only $11 with rebate. It's a huge upgrade from onboard sound.

 

[Itskewl42]

I apologize for my retardedness but what does onboard mean? If it means computer, it doesnt matter because my "computer" is half of a 2004 gateway laptop (its a long story) and its a POS but it does word and internet so i covers most of my needs. All of my listeng will be on my ipod home and away. The reason i want an amp is because i have this picture in my head of me listening to music with some really good budget headphones and an awesome desktop amp while playing WaW custom zombies with my friends (hopefully i can modify my "computer" enough to handle that) drinking an arizona tea feeling so blissfully unproductive an for some reason in my mind that sounds ******* awesome

 

[Itskewl42]

Also after looking at more reviews i think i can afford an E11 if i really try

 

[obobskivich]

Supertoaster is right, it's an unnecessary component in the right context. Although in your situation it might make sense - would need more data though.

Still, we're talking about very easy to drive components here.

 

[Marximus]

Another vote for the Panasonics.  No other headphone under $70 that I enjoyed so much.

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

I apologize for my retardedness but what does onboard mean? If it means computer, it doesnt matter because my "computer" is half of a 2004 gateway laptop (its a long story) and its a POS but it does word and internet so i covers most of my needs. All of my listeng will be on my ipod home and away. The reason i want an amp is because i have this picture in my head of me listening to music with some really good budget headphones and an awesome desktop amp while playing WaW custom zombies with my friends (hopefully i can modify my "computer" enough to handle that) drinking an arizona tea feeling so blissfully unproductive an for some reason in my mind that sounds ******* awesome

Onboard means from the DAC of the computers motherboard rather than from a dedicated soundcard. Dedicated soundcards generally have better DACs(onboard isn't terrible nowadays though), and are in theory supposed to take a load off the processor but I don't know how well that actually works.
 
Installing a dedicated soundcard on an already built laptop is likely impossible.

 

[Supertoaster]

Quote:

Onboard means from the DAC of the computers motherboard rather than from a dedicated soundcard. Dedicated soundcards generally have better DACs(onboard isn't terrible nowadays though), and are in theory supposed to take a load off the processor but I don't know how well that actually works.
 
Installing a dedicated soundcard on an already built laptop is likely impossible.

My mobo is only from around 08 - 09 and I found the Xonar to be a significant upgrade. Without it, everything sounds sort of nasal and congested/veiled. But with it everything just gets better.

 

[Supertoaster]

Quote:

Onboard means from the DAC of the computers motherboard rather than from a dedicated soundcard. Dedicated soundcards generally have better DACs(onboard isn't terrible nowadays though), and are in theory supposed to take a load off the processor but I don't know how well that actually works.
 
Installing a dedicated soundcard on an already built laptop is likely impossible.

Aren't there external sound cards for that?

 

[chewy4]

Quote:

My mobo is only from around 08 - 09 and I found the Xonar to be a significant upgrade. Without it, everything sounds sort of nasal and congested/veiled. But with it everything just gets better.

I don't doubt you, but some onboard sound is more decent than you'd think on a nice mobo. At any rate, yeah, a $30 soundcard will indeed beat it in most cases.
 
Quote:

Aren't there external sound cards for that?

Yeah, true. I guess I don't really think of those when I think soundcard though. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

KSC75 or KSC35. BOOM. No reason not to own one of these.

 

[Supertoaster]

Quote:

KSC75 or KSC35. BOOM. No reason not to own one of these.

Why do people always recommend these? I mean they are fantastic but they are $10 and this guy can spend $50.

 

[Deviltooth]

Quote:

Really? My radius atomics BLEW THE **** UP when i used my friends amp

 
Dude, I have a set of those, they're some of the worst IEMs I've ever heard.  The bass bleeds so heavily into the mids that it's one big sonic mashup and the treble is situated somewhere on the other side of the planet.  The Soundmagic E30s are under $40 and infinitely better than the Atomic Mess.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Why do people always recommend these? I mean they are fantastic but they are $10 and this guy can spend $50.

To be fair, the KSC35 is $45.

Why do I recommend them? Because I actually prefer the $15 KSC75 to anything under $50 to begin with (other than the KSC35).

 

[Supertoaster]

Quote:

To be fair, the KSC35 is $45.

Why do I recommend them? Because I actually prefer the $15 KSC75 to anything under $50 to begin with (other than the KSC35).

I was unaware there was a KSC35. I thought you just made a typo 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It's only sold on the Koss website now. It was discontinued, but due to it's popularity, it was brought back.