[Nick727]

Hey guys, I'm new to the whole audiophile world and there's something I've been thinking about and I couldn't find any answer by researching so I thought I'd ask here.
 
 
Listening to my HD600's if I increase my computer's volume (no amp), I noticed the music sounds louder obviously, but also better with more detail. I mean it plain out sounds better with more volume. Could this be an issue with insufficient power being fed to the headphones?
 
I have a Magni 2 on the way, should I expect that to change this, or is it all in my head?
 
 
Thanks in advance guys!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Listening to my HD600's if I increase my computer's volume (no amp), I noticed the music sounds louder obviously, but also better with more detail. I mean it plain out sounds better with more volume. Could this be an issue with insufficient power being fed to the headphones?

 

Louder, barring enough audible (more like "perceivable") distortion, is generally perceived to be better. It will tend to bring out more detail because some of the other sounds may be softer, so you don't hear it easily. It isn't all the time that they're all actually inaudible - sometimes your brain just ignores the softer sounds. If you know the track well and listen critically you'll hear them at lower output levels too. At the same time the louder sounds have more impact, like the percussion, and these drive the beat, so psychologically you'd be more easily drawn into the music.
 

 
I have a Magni 2 on the way, should I expect that to change this, or is it all in my head?

 

Nope, in fact you'd probably risk hearing damage more. An amplifier circuit that distorts more means it sounds worse sooner, so you tend to dial back sooner; a cleaner amp like the Magni (vs your computer) will distort at a higher output level. There was a time I didn't realize how loud I was listening on my Cantate.2 until I put the headphones down on the table with music playing, all because I tended to rely on distortion to get me to pull back.

 

Note that I don't mean you ditch the amp, but you need to be aware of how much more power it has before you get to the same distortion levels on your computer.

 

[Music Alchemist]

The HD 600 should sound better with the amp, without having to crank the volume up as much.
 
Of course, the phenomenon you're experiencing will still occur, but to a lesser extent, since you would be getting more of that detail even at lower listening levels - more so if you connect the amp to a DAC instead of merely to your computer.
 
At the same time, it will be able to reach higher output levels with less distortion, so as ProtegeManiac cautioned, do be careful to protect your hearing by avoiding excessive loudness.