[BravoSector]

Hey guys, I'm new here and to headphone and headphone accessory buying, so please bear with some questions.

Okay so apparently the ipod/other portable devices have small output impedence (which, correct me if I'm wrong: translates to how much power they suppy to the headphones). I think the ipod is said to be around 5ohms. The headphones I was looking at are the Sennheiser hd 555's, which I read need 120ohms (I have no idea if this is the right number or not so correct me if I'm wrong please.). My question, is the sound going to be horrible if I don't get a headphone amp, assuming that the mp3s I'm listening to are good quality? Am I doing any damage by listening to them without one? And what's a good quality yet affordable amp, if it turns out I do need one?

Oh yeah, and the only two things I plan on plugging my headphone into are my ipod and my Dell pc, if that matters.

Really, I just want to hear my music in as good quality as I can without burning my college student wallet. About the amp, I'm just interested in whatever amp is good enough to fully power a good headphone, but if there's more than just that let me know. I'm pretty clueless.

Thanks for your time guys.

 

[coconut]

mp3 players like cowon d2 or ipod actually has very strong output compare to some mp3 made by Sony. Ipod can drive Sennheiser hd 555, but if you wanna get most out of the headphone, you ought to get an amp.
When you hear distortions, bass roll off, muddy narrow sound stage, loosing detains things like that when you use hd 555 without amp, it means the ipod is not driving it efficient. An good quality amp will most likely solve these problems.

I don't know about the damage to headphone that has high impedance if you don't use an amp. But 120 ohm is not very impedance IMO, but an amp is recommended here.

Tell me about your budget and preference like size of the amp, do you need DAC?

 

[BravoSector]

Well, I plan on spending about $100US on headphones, so an amp that's between $20 and $60 is ideal. It doesn't need to be perfect, I just want the headphones to be properly run. But if you think the ipod can handle them then I guess that's alright.

But since I'm asking, do you think that Sennheiser hd555's are a good choice?

 

[boomy3555]

I run my Denon 7K's off of my Ipod w/o an amp when I'm at work and they sound great.
IMHO you need an amp on heaphones that excede 75 ohms of impedence. Don't look at the H/P out impedence of your player. It doesn't relate to the headphone impedence.

 

[logwed]

You also need to look at sensitivity. In the case of IEMs, which generally have low impedances, high-end models may have a lower sensitivity and require an amp. IMO, always amp. But it doesn't become necessary unless you (as previously stated) pass 75 ohms or so.

Btw, impedance is a measurement of the headphone's resistance and load. Sources have negligible internal impedance, they just supply the voltage and signal. So, a source with a weak signal paired with high impedance cans requires an amp.

 

[BravoSector]

Okay, thanks a lot guys. I think I'm just going to try them out as is and see if there's anything that's not all that.