[selfdivider]

Hi, guys. Just purchased two new headphones, AKG K701 and Sennheiser PXC 450. Before this I never owned headphones, just earbuds: Audio Technica ATH CK7. I'll be using Leben CS600, but I'll have the amp in April/May, and am looking for a headphone amp to use in the meantime.

I'd like to receive your input on headphone amps, as I am pretty clueless. I was thinking about a portable amp, so when the Leben comes in, I can just use the amp w/ my mp3 player. But I am loathe to give up sound quality. Are there portable amps that rival or surpass the capabilities of a standalone, non-portable amps?

For that matter, what ARE some of the amps I should be considering? I went to one of the audio dealers to demo some speakers the other day and this one guy was raving about Heed or something... Thanks!

 

[oicdn]

Heed Canamp, haven't heard it, but highly regarded around here. It's a home amp.

As far as portables, check out the link in my sig

Also, look for SKylabs "Portable amp roundup", well, linked below:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...mpared-214588/

Also you can check out MrArroyos portable amp thread. I don't think he's updated it in awhile, but there's alot of good info there as well.


Your portables will sound great, infact, that's what they're trying to do, imitate the sound that you get from your home set-up. Some amps do very well at replicating this sound, and although portables drive some headphones with authority, it's a bit different from the authority driven from a home amp, if that makes sense.

FWIW, in all practicality and purposes, I SHOULD have a home set-up only vs a portable, seeing as how my portables never leave my desk/table unless I'm going to like the library or a friends house or to walk the dog. Otherwise, they're essentially a desktop amp. So you should decide if you really "need" a portable amp/set-up. Do you ride a subway? Train? Bus? Long bike ride? No radio in your car (lol)?

Home amps give you versatility in the sense that you can drive practically ANY headphone with them. Caveat is you can't leave home with it unless you decide to pack it up and unplug it, then you need an outlet and have to "set-up shop" where ever your final destination is.. Portables give you the ability to just GO, and have great sound with you. Problem is, not every portable, can drive every headphone. Of course there's synergy in everything(at home is no exclusion), but it's even more stressed in a portable set-up because it may not only may it not sound/synergize well, it flat out just may not be able to drive them properly....that, and depending on the headphone choice, it wouldn't be prudent to lug around the huge cans anyhow.

Whoa...that was longer than I thought...lol.

 

[selfdivider]

Thanks for the suggestions. I live in Manhattan, so I ride the subway often. Plus, I do a lot of studying in libraries... I think I am kind of leaning toward the Heed, but I thought that since I'll have the Leben CS600 in a few months, I can get a portable amp, provided that it sounds good or almost as good as a home amp, like the Heed (I wouldn't expect it to sound as good as the Leben.) Perhaps this is an impossibility?

 

[RBYRER]

Go check out the pico portable amp it really is as good as everybody says.