New RHA MA750i Headphones - should I buy an amp?

[zclgb29]

Hi all,
 
I'm very new to all the world of headphones and amps, and would really appreciate some advice!
 
I just got a pair of RHA MA750i IEMs as my first venture into decent quality headphones based on some reviews on here (they're in the post and I can't wait for them to arrive!).  I was thinking of buying an amp to use with them - I'll be using my iphone 4s to listen to music (mostly rock / indie / folk guitar music), but as I'm new to all this, I was wondering if it would be beneficial to use an amp with these headphones?  In principle, would an amp increase the sound quality from an iphone, or would the headphone do a good enough job on their own with their inbuilt drivers etc?  
 
I was looking at the fiio e5 or e6 which are relatively inexpensive - would these be a good choice?  I don't want to spend too much on anything, and these seems small and portable which I'd need.
 
Last question - I've read that using an amp would mean that I couldn't use the iphone 3-button remote on the headphones (which I can accept if the sound quality is better) but is there another amp that would allow me to use the remote?
 
As I say, I'm new to all this, so appreciate your help, and sorry if I'm asking questions with obvious answers!
 
Thanks in advance for your help!
 
 

 

[billybob_jcv]

Are you sure you really need an amp? Those IEMs are 16 ohms and 100 dB/mW sensitivity, so they are pretty efficient. You could try an amp, but I doubt it will do much other than make them louder. I think the little Fiio amps have some bass boost built-in, so that would certainly *change* the sound - whether it improves it or not would be up to you.

 

[zclgb29]

Are you sure you really need an amp? Those IEMs are 16 ohms and 100 dB/mW sensitivity, so they are pretty efficient. You could try an amp, but I doubt it will do much other than make them louder. I think the little Fiio amps have some bass boost built-in, so that would certainly *change* the sound - whether it improves it or not would be up to you.

 
Hi Billybob, 
 
Cheers for replying.  I'm not at all sure I need an amp.  In fact from your comments I'm pretty sure that I don't.  It seemed as though a lot of people use them, and I wasn't too sure what their function was, but it seems as though these headphones will do a good enough job on their own.  Don't need any more base or volume, but some people seemed to suggest the the quality coming out of the iphone would be improved with an amo, but if this isn't the case then fair do's, I'll save my money and carry less stuff around with me
 
Thanks again for your help

 

[billybob_jcv]

Many people confuse "more volume" with "better sound". In many cases, if the volume was actually closely matched in a blind test, the listener might have a very hard time telling the difference between unamped & amped headphones - if the headphones are already being properly driven by the unamped source.

On the other hand, if we were talking about higher impedance/lower sensitivity headphones, then an amp can absolutely improve the sound - even at the same volume. But I don't believe in "more is always better" when it comes to audio. In fact, using very efficient headphones with a high-gain amp can actually make the sound much, much worse. The headphones might cause the amp to go into clipping, creating a nasty, distorted sound. In that case, more is absolutely NOT better!

 

[Dratino]

You definitely won't need an amp for MA750i. These are very efficient earphones and can be driven very easily by iPods and iPhones.

 

[FastAndClean]

With fiio e11 they are sub bass beasts !!!