Quote:
Originally Posted by royalcrown /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Good point odigg, I neglected to note that his headphones are low-impedance Grados. Bullseye, if you search pro audio sites such as sweetwater or zzounds you can find a huge selection of pro headphone amps. Try the SM Pro Audio HP4 available at zzounds (SM Pro Audio HP4 Headphone Amp from zZounds.com!), it will perform identically to the other amplifiers but it has a 22 ohm output impedance - not the lowest, but it should be low enough for 32 ohm headphones. From my personal experience and observations, so long as the damping factor is a bit above 1.0 (that is, the headphone impedance is at least a bit higher than the amp's output impedance), you should be fine with headphones. Speakers need much more, but (likely due to the small size and power requirements of headphones) this doesn't seem to be the case for headphones.
The downside is that there's no pass-through for a pair of speakers. I bought the HP4 based on that, and I could've probably had the same performance for 20 bucks, but the convenience of having a quick button to switch between headphones and speakers was worth the extra cash. You can find various pro amps at many price ranges, and they all perform the same (given a proper match in terms of impedance), but they have different features.
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Hi again,
Well I had to revive this thread because searching for more low cost headphone amps I found one which can't compete with the price of the S·Amp, but has some interesting specs. In the end maybe (most likely) it sounds the same as the S·Amp, but it has different specs and that is where I am going.
The amp I am talking about is the Musical Fidelity V-Can.
Its has this specs:
Quote:
Power: 0.25W /channel into 32 Ohms
Output devices: 2 per channel
Output impedance: 5Ω
Total harmonic distortion: <0.005% typical 20Hz-20 kHz
Signal/noise ratio: >109dB ‘A’ weighted
Input impedance: 25KΩ
Frequency response: +0,-1dB 20Hz to 80 kHz
Power requirement: 12V DC 500mA |
Link:
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/manua...n_manual_1.pdf
The interesting part of this is the output impedance of 5Ω
The total harmonic distortion is low, but even if it were <0.05 or more it would be ok. What do you think about the S/N?
The MSRP price is $199. Almost 4x the price of the S·Amp. However it can be found for $160 (shipping included to my place) (still around 3x the price of the S·Amp)
Another amp I have found is the Pro-Ject Headbox II:
These are the specs:
Quote:
Power output 330mW/30ohms, 60mW/300ohms
Headphone connection > 30ohms
Signal to noise 78dB (100dB - A weighted) at full output
Frequency response 30Hz – 20kHz/-0,05dB
THD (IMD) ,005%/30ohms, 0,007/300ohms
Gain 11dB
Headphone jack 3-pole ¼" (6,3mm Ø) phono socket
Outboard power supply 16V/500mA AC, suitable for your country's mains supply
Power consumption 16V/120mA AC
Dimension W x H x D 103 x 38 x 127mm
Weight 600g without power supply |
Link:
http://www.project-audio.com/inhalt/...al_headbox.pdf
This amp seems to allow headphones with impedances higher than 30 Ohm
Price is a bit more than the V-CAN: ~$170 (Much more than the S·Amp)
Finally the Creek OBH-11
Specs:
Quote:
Output Power > 10 mW into 30 ohm / 300 ohm loads
Headphone Impedance 30 ohm to 300 ohm
Total Harmonic Distortion < 0.01% at 1 kHz
Signal To Noise Ratio > 70 dB
Power Consumption < 4 VA
Power Supply Requirement 24V DC 150mA (Uni-OBH)
Weight 3Kg
Size W/H/D 130 x 100 x 65mm |
Link:
http://www.creekaudio.com/products/leaflets/obh11.pdf
Price: ~$220 The priciest. This one also has a variable headphone output impedance.
Why am I putting all of these amps here? Well my intention was mainly to mention the V-can due to its specs and its very low output impedance. The others just for reference, and due to their multi purpose with different headphone impedances.
So far I still feel the S·Amp will be the best buy. For the price you just can't go wrong. But for people who use low impedance HPs, the V-Can, even if pricier than the S·Amp might be a good amp.
What do you guys think? (Mainly directed to Royalcrown?
Edit: Forgot about one last thing. It is still unbelievable how much the price sky rockets as soon as "Hi-Fi" is mentioned... Luckily we also have the word Pro that sometimes it is well used