[wirbeltier]

Hey guys, heres my experience with the (often disputed) SimplA1 headphone-amplifier for the full-sized iPod.

I tested it with the PX100 and the etys 6i and my favorite kind of music (read: rock *g*). the first impression was: nicely built, good packaging and easy to handle. the second impression was: loud hisssing! should've been reading the recommendations on the manufacturers home-page for low-impedance phones... damn. but anyway, now that it's here and i listened to it, my first sq-impressions were: More detail, more impact, and it really rocks!!!

But now that i've been listening to it for two weeks, i get the feeling, that i don't really need it. the hissing is very audible with the iems. although i have not tested the low-impedance-phones-version you can order... with my portable headphones i can have fun without an amplifier and have better portability (including keeping the pouch!). if i turn up the volume loud enough so i don't here the hissing anymore, it's too loud for me to be comfy...

If you want to listen to your music very VERY loud, go and get it... If you have high-impedance phones on-the-go, go and get it also... If you're sticking with a reasonable amount of volume, maybe you want to think twice about buying a headphone-amp for your portable if you have low-impedance phones (what has now become the standard for portable use, as i could observe) or iems. i wasn't able to listen to other portable headphone amplifiers on the market, so my opinion may not be the most qualified but anyway, these are my thoughts...

Does anyone have a second opinion on portable amplifiers? How do you rate the necessity for having one with iems or portable low-impedance headphones?

Thanks guys for your thoughts and for the good times i have with you on head-fi!!!

-K

 

[TheSloth]

This is pretty near the bottom of the heap of portable headphone amplifiers. I had one for a while and hated it. Apart from the hiss, I found the sound unrefined and strident with 650's. It's very convenient, and very nicely designed, but it's what's inside that counts and I found it sorely lacking.

Note that hiss with low impedence headphones is not a factor of headphone amplifiers in general, but more a factor of those that combine low quality parts/design with high gain.

 

[atx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wirbeltier If you want to listen to your music very VERY loud, go and get it... If you have high-impedance phones on-the-go, go and get it also... If you're sticking with a reasonable amount of volume, maybe you want to think twice about buying a headphone-amp for your portable if you have low-impedance phones (what has now become the standard for portable use, as i could observe) or iems.

Sounds like your final impression of the amp is that it merely increases volume rather than improve the sound quality. I think the pa2v2 would've been a much better choice with the ER6i.

Anyway, I think it's pretty stupid to create an amp for an ipod that hisses with low impedance earphones -- since that's what most ipod users use. What were they thinking.

 

[wirbeltier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atx Sounds like your final impression of the amp is that it merely increases volume rather than improve the sound quality. I think the pa2v2 would've been a much better choice with the ER6i. Anyway, I think it's pretty stupid to create an amp for an ipod that hisses with low impedance earphones -- since that's what most ipod users use. What were they thinking.

That were my thoughts, too, but (as i found out later) they offer a different version for low-impedance headphones for the same price (see their faq-section, should've looked there before purchasing, but how could i know?). As to the sound quality, i did not want to say that it doesn't improve (it improves in fact: more detail, better dynamics). but if you want to enjoy your music you have to enjoy it really loud, or get the low-impedance-version, or get a different amp...

 

[wirbeltier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth This is pretty near the bottom of the heap of portable headphone amplifiers. I had one for a while and hated it. Apart from the hiss, I found the sound unrefined and strident with 650's. It's very convenient, and very nicely designed, but it's what's inside that counts and I found it sorely lacking. Note that hiss with low impedence headphones is not a factor of headphone amplifiers in general, but more a factor of those that combine low quality parts/design with high gain.

Thanks Sloth!
I will try out some other portable amplifiers...
BTW: i found it also being a little strident, but not to a great amount - but thats just listening with the px100