Need Advice: Headphone Amp

[djtech2k]

I am looking for advice on a portable headphone amp for my son. I bought him vmoda headphones and he uses all sorts of earbuds. He uses his phone as the main source. Any advice for a good amp that's not too hard to carry?

 

[PurpleAngel]

FiiO A3 (E11K) headphone amplifier, $60.

 

[tz0531]

Unless your son's phone has an absolutely terrible headphone out with not enough power to drive his headphones, I don't think that an amp is necessary. Vmoda headphones aren't exactly known for their ability to scale with amplification and aren't hard to drive, and the "all sorts of earbuds" you mentioned probably are most likely plenty efficient out of a phone. The improvement in sound quality with a portable amp would likely be minor at best. You're better off investing the money set aside for an amp in a better set of headphones/IEMs to maximize sound quality for money spent.

 

[djtech2k]

I thought the vmoda's were supposed to be a good set. I also thought they could use more power. Guess that shows what I know.

 

[tz0531]

I'm not saying that all V-moda headphones are bad. Some V-moda headphones, like the M100, M80, and XS, are pretty good, but all of them are colored to some extent and have boosted bass, which may or may not be preferable depending on your tastes. I tried out the M100 once and they were way too colored for my taste. As for source pairing, all of the three I listed have fairly flat impedance curves, low impedance, and do not require much power to drive, so they won't be picky about source and don't strictly require amplification.

 

[cel4145]

FiiO A3 (E11K) headphone amplifier, $60.

+1

Excellent headphone amp for the price.