[n3wdisea5e]

one more thing i was looking at alot of pics of molded ear phones whys every one have amps on there ipods i thought u could listen to custom molded ear phones at half the volume of normal headphones 

 

[Mad Max]

It is Apple's fault for not giving their ipods a good headamp circuit. 

 

[n3wdisea5e]

i use zune not a big apple fan im trying to get a zune hd like next week

 

[yifu]

So... What exactly are you asking? People use amps with custom IEMs because the balanced armature drivers are very sensitive so there might be hiss with poorer internal amp circuits. All that is solved with an external amp.

 

[sari0n]

You don't have to have an amp, but people like showing them off in pictures sometimes =D
Some headphones are hard to drive, which means they require much more power than an iPod or any other standard mp3 player can output, so that's why they need an amp.  It's not only about the volume, amps do much much more than just make headphones louder.  Without enough power headphones will sound weird.
Amps also do things like improve your soundstage and sometimes add some bass.  They generally improve the sound so even when they're totally unneeded people still like to use them.

 

[Zephyron]

Anyways, if you're wondering, the simple way to put it = Amps aren't all about volume.

They're paired with portable music players under the preference of some users because the body of the sound is better tailored via the portable amp to what the users either want or seek.

 

[n3wdisea5e]

ok i was under the impresion it was just for vol i dident think they helped sound quality