[1UP]

Portable headamps are an oxymornic concept to me, so I vote no

 

[Zentactics]

Hi Mark,

I am kind of new here too, but have been a recovering audiophile for over 20 years. As the saying goes: Audiophile. Crack is cheaper.

This is what I would do, if I were trying to set up a better sounding system:

1) Make sure that your source hardware sounds good. This means get a good CD player, MP3 player or whatever. If your source sounds lousy, no matter how good your amp, headphones and cables are, it will still sound lousy!

2) Rip your music in a lossless manner. It's free and you'll hear a bigger difference in fidelity, than if you purchase an amp.

3) Spend 2/3 of the total cost of your setup on good headphones. Sound from headphones vary tremendously and a little money can make a big difference.

I guarantee that you will hear a bigger difference in fidelity, by spending $100 on a pair of headphones hooked directly up to an MP3 player, than if you spend $50 on an amp and $50 on headphones combined.

However, if your great sounding headphones, lacks "punch" then it's time to.....

4) Get an amp, now that you have a good source and headphones.
I like ones made by this guy on ebay for portable use: eBay Seller: biosciencegeek: Electronics items on eBay.com

5) The last step is to play with the dark arts of recabling your headphones and "futzing around with them". It may help to kill a chicken, chant, and use alloys from meteorites that are gold plated by virgins. (Unfortunately, I find myself in this stage right now)

Conclusion:
If it were me, I would consider canceling your order with Amazon and doubling up on the price of your headphones. You can always get an amp later if you have to.

Good luck in finding YOUR audio bliss!

 

[bba1973]

Thanks Zen. It's too late to cancel the amazon order, but I really need earbuds for portablility so I can take them to college and listen there. I've heard great things about them too, and I've heard some bad stuff about my MDR-EX55's that I'm using right now. I'd like to be able to "take down" my Zune and earbuds carefully within about 15 seconds so I don't seem disrespectful to my professors. With cans, I'm not sure that would be possible (making sure they don't get damaged too).

Quote:

Good luck in finding YOUR audio bliss!

Believe it or not, I've experienced this with my current portable setup. I know there's better stuff out there that I can afford, so that's why I'm upgrading. Once I get an external hard drive, I'm going to back up all my 192 WMA files to it, switch to lossless for most of the stuff I listen to (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Yes, Rush, Jeff Beck, Tommy Bolin, etc.), and use the 192 for stuff that won't sound much better at all in lossless (Red Hot Chili Peppers, old skool rap, and other "brickwalled" stuff).

 

[IPodPJ]

How sucked in are you prepared to get?

It's a very fun hobby but chances are you will want to constantly upgrade like we all do. Rarely is there a true moment of content without thinking about the next upgrade you can do to your system. I love the thrill of it, and I love the joy that comes from listening to superbly reproduced music. I also started with a portable system, like you. That was great for a short while but it quickly led me towards a home system. Now I've got over $10K invested in it. Truthfully, it's an addiction just like anything else.

I wish you the best! Welcome to Head-Fi and sorry about your wallet!

 

[Earwax]

I say skip the amp. At least until you get tired of sticking the UHP's in your ears and want a nice open-air headphone.

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earwax /img/forum/go_quote.gif I say skip the amp. At least until you get tired of sticking the UHP's in your ears and want a nice open-air headphone.

I've got a zit in one of my ears right now. That happens almost every time I get some new earbuds for some reason.

 

[Zentactics]

Mark,

Skip the amp then. I personally, don't think you will get much bang for your buck from an amp with your current headphones. Besides, for your needs, you really don't want to be dragging around another piece of equipment.

BTW, this is not a slight of any sort to your choice of headphones, it seems that you did your homework on selecting them based off of your specific criteria.

With the money your saved why not get a few new CDs!

When you are ready to upgrade, and you will

let us know and we'll have a whole new set of recommendations for you!

Zen

 

[bba1973]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zentactics /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mark, Skip the amp then. I personally, don't think you will get much bang for your buck from an amp with your current headphones. Besides, for your needs, you really don't want to be dragging around another piece of equipment. BTW, this is not a slight of any sort to your choice of headphones, it seems that you did your homework on selecting them based off of your specific criteria. With the money your saved why not get a few new CDs! When you are ready to upgrade, and you will let us know and we'll have a whole new set of recommendations for you! Zen

So the best I could expect from a headphone amp would be a slight improvement in sound and better volume control? Yeah, I'll hold off for now or until I get some good cans (headphones, mind you).

More CDs would be nice, but I've got my eyes on an external hard drive so I can back up my 192 WMA files and switch to lossless, but still have the 192's at hand. I'll backup the lossless too because ripping CDs takes so much time on my laptop. There's also Father's Day and my sister's birthday too, so I'll have to buy them both something. I'll definitely be buying the Audio Fidelity reissue of Deep Purple's In Rock though.

I've got it all figured out now, and I'll hold off on the amp for a little while. Thanks for the advice guys.

EDIT: I went ahead and wiped my Zune. Screw backing up the 192, I'm going lossless. Might as well get the cheapest upgrade out of the way.

 

[bba1973]

My UHP336's just came in today. So far, the bass and lower midrange are kind of weak, but I'm still trying to break them in. Other than that and comfort level, they're much better than my MDR-EX55's. Once I get them broken in, I hope they'll sound even better. Just thought I'd update you guys on my progress.