[ac500]

> The old myth of needing an amp is a carryover from the past
 
What are you talking about? My SRH940 has a rather big noticeable difference between out of my NFB12 and out of my macbook. Confirmed double blind with someone else as well, so it's not my imagination.

 

[funkmeister]

Your NFB12 can supply much more current than your macbook. It's not the voltage.

 

[ac500]

Your sentence which I quoted was the confusing part (a current or power amplifier is still an amplifier).

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Your sentence which I quoted was the confusing part (a current or power amplifier is still an amplifier).

Well if it has no voltage gain its technically just a buffer but if it has any gain its still an amplifier even if you don't actually use any of the voltage gain.
 
Practically though, if you need an extra box you might as well just call it an amp...

 

[Twinster]

This was like a lecture. Thank you 

.  I loved reading these respectfully arguments.
 
Quote:

 
 
  Yup, we have to find a coloration that makes sense to us and forge ahead. Never formulate a value judgment of equipment at a meet or similar for the distractions.
 
  If your at a Music venue and experiencing the presentation, I have never used the typical audiophile criteria to validate (or attempt to substantiate) what I'm hearing. That flies right out the doors of the Hall and defies convention. The live, visceral experience can't be precisely captured then re-lived. Some Loudspeakers will dig up the past and you can again glimpse what the event covered, still never quite the same (IMO). You have to push the "believe it button" and use imagination to fill the voids. Yet when it works, the smile creeps across the fascia

. 
 
  Tastes in gear will very with time and experience, while being linked to our personal evolution. If Music remains important in ones life, it will undergo an expansion of sorts. It will expand beyond a single favorite artist or a favorite genre and include many of the Musical facets available. We alter how we listen, why we listen and the importance placed on those interpretations.
 
  And healthy (respectful) arguing is always constructive!  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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[ac500]

Quote:

Well if it has no voltage gain its technically just a buffer but if it has any gain its still an amplifier even if you don't actually use any of the voltage gain.
 
Practically though, if you need an extra box you might as well just call it an amp...

Well technically speaking, a "buffer" is actually called a "buffer amplifier", to be precise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_amplifier
 
But I'm just being jokingly pedantic . I get what you're saying now.

 

[funkmeister]

Good dialog and clarification. I think I'll call it a buffer amp from now on. I've been nerding out on this stuff and I'm amazed at how few amps can deliver more than 25~35mA. So many of our headphones and IEMs want more than that. My 55Ohm AKGs want up to 59mA of current.
 
Oh, in case you're wondering, higher impedance cans want a higher ratio of voltage and are OK with very few milli-amps (amperes or current). Lower impedance cans are OK with less voltage but want more milli-amps. It's dependant on the amplifier as to whether or not it can deliver the amperage where needed or force the voltage where needed. It all comes down to dB/mW, and the impedance determines where the amplifier is more stressed in terms of the V/I relationship.

 

[achristilaw]

 
Quote:

We're in a new era. The old myth of needing an amp is a carryover from the past. I know you have all had positive experiences with amps as I have, but the modern phones benefit most by a current buffer and not a voltage amp. These Shure SRH940's are low enough impedance that you need something that can deliver over 50mA of current and also have an undistorting opamp implementation with super low impedance on the output. Would you like some suggestions?

  No, I don't want your suggestions...thank you.... I'm very familiar with Ohm's Law. As much as a formal two year AS degree in electronics will breed familiarity. You wouldn't need to EQ your AKG's if you had stable current capability and in excess of demand.... Altering the signal is a band-aid solution.
 
  I don't know what past your referring to, or what present your living in. Your "old myth" idea? Oh Brother......I'm out! 
 
    

 

[funkmeister]

My AKGs don't measure flat so I EQ them flat. I wish there were headphones that existed which measured +/- 3 dB from 20Hz to 20kHz, but they don't exist, so I equalize. I know I don't fit in with some of you because of that, but I fail to see the problem with trying to uncolor a headphone electrically?

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

My AKGs don't measure flat so I EQ them flat. I wish there were headphones that existed which measured +/- 3 dB from 20Hz to 20kHz, but they don't exist, so I equalize. I know I don't fit in with some of you because of that, but I fail to see the problem with trying to uncolor a headphone electrically?

EQ is the way to go, haters gonna hate.
 
The flattest headphone I've heard while using EQ was a HD 600 (needs a bit more bass).
But in the end I really love my Ety HF5 with massive (~7db) Bass boost. They still lack the really deep blows but are extremely liquid and quite balanced without getting your ears fatigue.
 

 

[Dennis]

EQ = Distortion, in other words, you are not listening to the original sound, but the sound you personally prefer.

 

[TMRaven]

what is your definition of the original sound?

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

what is your definition of the original sound?

The un-EQed sound...?

 

[funkmeister]

I have a two albums where every single track has clipping on it. I also have a few tracks on other albums that are clipped. The tops of the waveforms are cropped because the studio mix may have sounded great but they cooked it when laying it on the disc. These are huge selling albums, too. So you can't ever get perfection anyway. I'm a purist as far as I can be. Is that considered undistorted to you if I play those without EQ?
 
So I accept reality in that my headphones manipulate the sound and respond more strongly in one frequency area than another. So I EQ to counter that "distortion." The big problems with EQ show up if it's additive and not constant Q. If you're dealing with that kind of EQ, then you'll have all kinds of "distortion" problems beyond reason. I use subtractive constant Q. It'll never clip or compress, but any dynamics beyond 40dB in a track will start to be impacted if I move past 6dB. I can count on one hand the number of songs that applies to and even though that's mathematically a problem, my ears aren't hearing it. So those who don't believe in EQ have far fewer headphone sounds to choose from than I do.
 
In my limited experience, closed cans don't take EQ as well because the resonant harmonics change. Open cans can take it all day without a problem. My experience in that particular issue is derived from use of EQ on AKG K171's and K142HD's. The K171's could only take about 5dB at most. The K142's could run as far as the slider would go without the sound getting resonant (or inversely so, which sounds the same to our ears anyway). AKG tunes their closed cans far more meticulously. Proof is in the fact that with the same exact driver capsule, their closed can has much less bass... because they tune it out so it doesn't cause other problems. I discovered that when I turned up the EQ in the lowest two bass octives and found it was smothering everything once the impact became about normal. So I looked at the service manual and the exploded diagram showed that they have a bass tube on the back of the driver that attenuates the frequencies. Genius! If a headphone maker distorts the sound, why shant I ?!

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

EQ = Distortion, in other words, you are not listening to the original sound, but the sound you personally prefer.

The headphone isn't flat either, in other words, you are not listening to the original sound, but the sound you personally prefer.