[niotio910]

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum and I'm kinda new to music stuffs.
After reading a lot of posts from this forum, I want to buy an amp to drive my Ipod touch 2g and the IE8. I've seen you offering so many good products, but a lot of them are limited to the US only. I'm from Sweden and it's hard for me to get one of them.
After searching around some stores in Stockholm, I bought the Headbox II (didn't hesitate to buy it because I can return it if I'm not satisfied

). When I got home and tried it out, I was really disappointed

because I didn't find any difference in terms of SQ between w/ and w/o this amp. The only difference I can see is just the loudness, but it isn't a big deal for me. I'm gonna return it tomorrow, but I'm just wondering if I should try another brand name or just forget about using the amp???
What do you think guys?
One more question: can the amp produce better SQ or it just boost the ipod's volume?

Thanks!

 

[HONEYBOY]

I have an Alo Rx amp and when paired with the IE8 I hear little to no difference Vs unamped. I also heard them through a Voyager and the only thing that amp did was to dissapointingly boost the bass.I have heard great things about OP amp rolled ibasso D10 and P3+. Am about to get an ibasso D4 and give an update on how they pair with the IE8.

 

[niotio910]

Yeah, I heard about Ibasso too, but unfortunately I can't find it in my country

 

[midoo1990]

My headroom micro amp paired with the ie8 and touch make the bass much powerful,tighter,punchy more like that of the fx500.the vocals are pushed forward....very forward as well ad instruments.soundstage decreases greatly and all the sound is cramped to the front side of your brain and the rear side is hollow.the ie8 sound way way better directly from the touch,but I didn't buy the micro amp for ie8 in the first place,I bought it for my future to come full size CAN jvc DX1000 or AKG701

 

[niotio910]

So it seems like the amp also affects the SQ. Good to know that!

 

[trentino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niotio910 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I heard about Ibasso too, but unfortunately I can't find it in my country

Hi,
I'm from Sweden too. The Ibasso T3 makes a huge difference for me using the latest ipod classic and Shure SE530. I use a LOD cable between the classic and the amp. But maybe the IE8's are different, I haven't tried them. Maybe they don't benefit that much from using an amp?

 

[niotio910]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trentino /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I'm from Sweden too. The Ibasso T3 makes a huge difference for me using the latest ipod classic and Shure SE530. I use a LOD cable between the classic and the amp. But maybe the IE8's are different, I haven't tried them. Maybe they don't benefit that much from using an amp?

Alright, where did u get your Ibasso then? I'm thinking about trying Argon HA1 from hi-fi Klubben tomorrow after I've returned this one. What do you think?
BTW, what's the LOD cable? is it the cable from the ipod's output to the amp's input?

 

[trentino]

Ordered from iBasso's site. They have extremely fast shipping. I suggest you ask around in the IE8 appreciation thread and check what kind of amps people use with IE8. Lod cable goes from Ipods line out in the bottom and into the amp.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Amps always have the highest buyer's remorse. Your disappointment is quite common. Remember that while amping will always improve the SQ of all headphones [especially in soundstage], its best effect is observed with an inefficient headphone.

The IE8 is very efficient.

 

[Currawong]

You have to remember that DAPs (iPods and the like) are DESIGNED to be used with IEMs, so the lack of improvement with an amp is no surprise at all. Like other people here, the most I've experienced is an increase in bass. I'd be willing, very strongly, to bet that the iBasso simply changes the tonality of the sound, giving the impression of an improvement.

There are exceptions to the above, which are the high-sensitivity IEMs that benefit from higher quality amping that a DAP just doesn't have the space to provide.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif You have to remember that DAPs (iPods and the like) are DESIGNED to be used with IEMs, so the lack of improvement with an amp is no surprise at all. Like other people here, the most I've experienced is an increase in bass. I'd be willing, very strongly, to bet that the iBasso simply changes the tonality of the sound, giving the impression of an improvement. There are exceptions to the above, which are the high-sensitivity IEMs that benefit from higher quality amping that a DAP just doesn't have the space to provide.

yes they are designed to do it, but when talking multiple driver IEMs (which the IE8 is not admittedly), not many do it very well, not too many portable amps do either, but my D10 is not one of them. sounds to me like the OP was using the headphone out as well, this will have something to do with it. then again I have no idea about the quality of the amp purchased.

OP buy online. pretty much ALL of these businesses we talk of on here are internet based businesses and you can order directly from them.
also if you buy the D4 you will get a much improved dac you can use with your computer (or laptop) and this presents a major improvement.

low noise would be something the OP would benefit from since IE8 are pretty damn sensitive

 

[niotio910]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif You have to remember that DAPs (iPods and the like) are DESIGNED to be used with IEMs, so the lack of improvement with an amp is no surprise at all. Like other people here, the most I've experienced is an increase in bass. I'd be willing, very strongly, to bet that the iBasso simply changes the tonality of the sound, giving the impression of an improvement. There are exceptions to the above, which are the high-sensitivity IEMs that benefit from higher quality amping that a DAP just doesn't have the space to provide.

Hi, I don't know why I didn't even see the difference when I tried this amp with my logitech z10 speakers.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif You have to remember that DAPs (iPods and the like) are DESIGNED to be used with IEMs, so the lack of improvement with an amp is no surprise at all. Like other people here, the most I've experienced is an increase in bass. I'd be willing, very strongly, to bet that the iBasso simply changes the tonality of the sound, giving the impression of an improvement. There are exceptions to the above, which are the high-sensitivity IEMs that benefit from higher quality amping that a DAP just doesn't have the space to provide.

Agreed.

Also to the OP, when you read something on head-fi you need to understand there is no common rule as to what should be classified as major or minor improvement, i.e. very often some of us who will see a 5% ~ 10% as major, but it will take a more inexperience person >20% to see it as a major improvement. This is mainly because some of us have trained ourselves to pick up and recognize detail and think of them more significantly than other. There is nothing wrong with both, just the difference in expectancy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by niotio910 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I don't know why I didn't even see the difference when I tried this amp with my logitech z10 speakers.

Your Logitech speaker has its own power amp section inside. Any benefit of your portable amp will be floored by that speaker's internal power amp. You need to know that amp is not the magic cure for better sound quality, hence why people spend a great deal of time and money trying to build a good rig of their own.

 

[fatman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed. Also to the OP, when you read something on head-fi you need to understand there is no common rule as to what should be classified as major or minor improvement, i.e. very often some of us who will see a 5% ~ 10% as major, but it will take a more inexperience person >20% to see it as a major improvement. This is mainly because some of us have trained ourselves to pick up and recognize detail and think of them more significantly than other. There is nothing wrong with both, just the difference in expectancy. Your Logitech speaker has its own power amp section inside. Any benefit of your portable amp will be floored by that speaker's internal power amp. You need to know that amp is not the magic cure for better sound quality, hence why people spend a great deal of time and money trying to build a good rig of their own.

Agree, to different specify listener, the improvement space is very different.

By the way, As a decent audio device, 5% or 10% percent improvement is a huge advanced. If with home audio rigs, it will cost you about 10000 dollars some times for this improvment.

 

[shigzeo]

OP - note that many dynamic driven iems are so well driven by the iPod touch headphone out that if anything, you might get a little more power from amps. Balanced armature earphones on the other hands, are impossible to really drive from any portable. Only a good amp will bring them to full power with respect to frequency response, control, distortion and image. The IE8 is simply too easy to drive for the iPod.