[Kayzo]

So after some brief research I found out that the ES7's benefit substantially from an amp , and since I'm always on the move thought a portable one would be my best bet. I have my eye on the iBasso D4 , but does anyone else have any other suggestions from experience? Thanks guys.

 

[Kayzo]

Forgot to say I will mostly be using a DAP with it , which should
be obvious IMO if its a portable amp.

 

[Asr]

You don't really need an amp for the ES7 and I'd recommend against one if you're going to be transporting DAP and headphones together, as it'd add unnecessary bulk.

 

[Kayzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr /img/forum/go_quote.gif You don't really need an amp for the ES7 and I'd recommend against one if you're going to be transporting DAP and headphones together, as it'd add unnecessary bulk.

Well most people that have posted say that they've heard a big difference with the ES7's amped and unamped. And if transporting it is a problem, then why is it a portable amp? o_O

 

[Asr]

A lot of people on Head-Fi overstate the differences that amps make. I too find them to benefit from a dedicated amp but the source also plays a part and I personally have completely different setups in which I've compared "unamped" to "amped" as I own a CD player w/ HeadAmp Gilmore Lite, a laptop PC with HeadAmp Pico DAC/amp, and an iAudio X5 MP3 player. I don't use the ES7 with the MP3 player very often but it sounds almost as good as it does on my laptop PC setup and CD player setup. I routinely use it directly from my laptop PC (and my desktop PC too) and it sounds fine in those setups too. I think buying an amp for the ES7 for use with a DAP would be a waste of money - it'd make a lot more sense if you were using a computer or disc player. Also if you're playing MP3 files on your DAP then an amp will just make the files sound worse.

Most portable amps currently in existence are actually too big to transport too, at least in terms of stuffing them into a pocket - most portable amps defeat the purpose of portability for this reason.

 

[Kayzo]

Okay , so if i buy an amp I should use it on my PC ? Okay ! So if I want to upgrade the sound of my music with a DAP , and all I have is an iPod Touch and my ES7's , would the best course of action for an upgrade be a better source ? I also have my eye on the Cowon S9.

 

[Asr]

I didn't say you should get an amp let alone one for your PC. (And an amp for your PC will just make your PC sound worse unless you also get an external DAC, unless you have one of those audiophile-grade sound cards.) I think your current setup is just fine and nothing needs to be changed unless you're dissatisfied with it. The ES7 is a headphone that performs just fine directly from DAPs and does not need to be "amped" further. It's not a very detailed headphone, so what's the point?

Sorry but I'm going to bow out of this thread now as I have a limited amount of time to try to help people out around here.

 

[Kayzo]

Okay well sorry for misunderstanding , but wkth my current setup even I know the iPod Touch has one of the worst playback capabilities and can be upgraded easily.

 

[jjinh]

I agree with asr, not much improvement when I use my mini3 with my es7s.

you mention the cowon s9; I've got a cowon d2 and it sounds pretty good with the es7s

 

[kshelton]

I used a Fiio E5 with my ES7s. Don't drop 220 on the D4, I would look at other headphones first if you looking into amps because you want a sound improvement.

 

[K_19]

Purely my opinion, and others may hear it differently, but ES7 is one of my only two headphones where I feel that amping actually has a detrimental effect on its sound signature (Interestingly, the other is AD700, so maybe it's the lower end AT thing)... on all my amps that I have or had, I get the bass blown out of proportion and sound becoming overly warm and sound unbalanced (on both SS and tube gear). Only one it sounds respectable is out of the E1, which is really no better (just different) than any other DAP amps... so yeah, I no longer bother trying to amp it.

 

[yukihiro]

Might as well add my opinion.

I find that amping my ES7's adds minimal improvement. With the portable amps that I've had, I barely noticed a difference with the ES7. With my EF2 amp, I noticed some improvement, but the ES7's aren't my main home pair of headphones. So I never really did any extended listening with them.

If you want to try a portable amp, I tend to use my E5 a lot on the go. I feel like it brings some life to my portable headphones with all the background noise outdoors. The E5 won't put that big of a dent in your wallet either. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Squirsier]

I prefer my ES7 out of my 2nd Gen iPod Touch unamped than through my iPod Classic 160g with Predator Amp.

However, when using my AKG K319, it's the other way around...

 

[LeftyGorilla]

ESW9/10 upgrade before amp.