[Mooses9]

   
This depends on what you are listening it from. The Shure SE535 can have a very wide soundstage with the right DAC/AMP.

and i repent.
 
i recently bought a pair of se535 bronze.
 
when i said the se535 didnt have a wide soundstage i was refering to what i hear out of just a ipod>ibasso p4 warbler>ipod lod with that setup i had both the se535 bronze and the ltd edition, i didnt find with that rig the sound stage to be super wide.
 
now the setup i have going:
 
Iriver IHP-140 Optical Out>Ibasso DB2 Dac Optical In>Sys-Concept custom Fiber Optic cable>Toxic Cable Silver Poison RSA male To Hirose Male>RSA SR-71B>DHC Symbiote Occ Cable>SE535
 
 ^ THIS rig is phenomenal and the se535 have a very wide soundstage, but the midrange is forward so the soundstage is wide but feels like the vocals are right up next to you.

 

[neckemoff]

  and i repent.
 
i recently bought a pair of se535 bronze.
 
when i said the se535 didnt have a wide soundstage i was refering to what i hear out of just a ipod>ibasso p4 warbler>ipod lod with that setup i had both the se535 bronze and the ltd edition, i didnt find with that rig the sound stage to be super wide.
 
now the setup i have going:
 
Iriver IHP-140 Optical Out>Ibasso DB2 Dac Optical In>Sys-Concept custom Fiber Optic cable>Toxic Cable Silver Poison RSA male To Hirose Male>RSA SR-71B>DHC Symbiote Occ Cable>SE535
 
 ^ THIS rig is phenomenal and the se535 have a very wide soundstage, but the midrange is forward so the soundstage is wide but feels like the vocals are right up next to you.

I am puzzled why people are doing all of these crazy DAC, AMP, and cable things...
 
I plugged my Westone 4's into my $1200 receiver and I didn't notice much difference, aside from having to turn the volume waaaaayyy down (as in 1/10 of normal) for it to be listenable. I noticed more bass and slightly thicker sound, but I think it felt like the headphones were in overdrive mode rather than enhanced. I preferred listening directly from my iphone or ipad... sounded more balanced and open.
 
I really don't think EARphones such as these need an amp. I think you need an amp for HEAD phones only. THOUGH I HAVE NOT TRIED IT, I can see a tiny FiiO e7 might do a REALLY minor improvement (as in not really noticeable). A tweeter or tiny speaker doesn't need much power and too much power will make it sound worse. I think the biggest improvement is the source and DAC. After listening and experimenting, the iphone 5s and ipad Air DAC is actually really good and I doubt you can easily get better or notice it. 
 
I tested a few other EARphones with my receiver and also thought it was not needed. Main thing that happened was the low-end got louder...bass got more pronounced and mids got thicker. It felt artificially increased and sounded unbalanced. I think these earphones are designed for mobile devices without an amp in mind. The Westone 4's bass is already deep and loud with the right content.

 

[Spyro]

I agree for the most part but I DO think maybe 10-15% of IEM's out there DO benefit where it is worth using an amp.  For me W4 and ER4S are the first two IEM's that come to mind in that regard.

 

[kabuljange]

What are some good portable amps you'd recommend? I just started playing with the thought of using an amp with my se535 but not sure if it's necessary.

 

[Mooses9]

Id say the jds labs c421 and jds labs c5. Depends on your budget those are 100.00-189.00 the fiio e12 might be good too...again depends on your budget

 

[zombywoof]

Id say the jds labs c421 and jds labs c5. Depends on your budget those are 100.00-189.00 the fiio e12 might be good too...again depends on your budget

I use a JDS C5 with my SE215's and 535's...source is IPod Classic 160Gb 7G with Fiio L9.  I have tried several other amps (DIY Cmoy, Fiio E6, E7, and E11, ).  For me the C5 is the sweet spot.  I like the sound out of the C5 much better than the Fiio E11.

 

[lwells]

  Owned the SE535s (and liked them very much), but I STILL own the Westone 4s. 

 
 
This is verbatim, what my response was going to be.
 

  I am puzzled why people are doing all of these crazy DAC, AMP, and cable things...
 
I plugged my Westone 4's into my $1200 receiver and I didn't notice much difference, aside from having to turn the volume waaaaayyy down (as in 1/10 of normal) for it to be listenable. I noticed more bass and slightly thicker sound, but I think it felt like the headphones were in overdrive mode rather than enhanced. I preferred listening directly from my iphone or ipad... sounded more balanced and open.
 

 
The difference between my iPhone 5, the pico DAC, and my ODAC is pretty noticeable to me.