[The Walrus]

  I don't Trade my A17 for a iPod because they sound bad, lifeless and it's apple, ugghh LOL. I love my walkman a lot, i was for 4 years not a walkman fan

Same here. Apart from one small Philips a long time ago, all my DAPs were walkmans. And ipod? Apple stay away from me please. (And give Beatles their recording company's name and logo back  

) 

 

[gerelmx1986]

Same here. Apart from one small Philips a long time ago, all my DAPs were walkmans. And ipod? Apple stay away from me please. (And give Beatles their recording company's name and logo back  

) 

Oh and i forgot to mention that ipod are not expandable (microSD slot)? hahaha

, for many years i dreamt of a player that had expandable memory like the RAM system used in the computers, open device, pop old memory out and put new bars in

 

[fish1050]

  You should use an amp if you have a power hungry headphone and even if your A17 gets them loud enough, you could be the unwitting victim of clipping distortion at high volumes, and an amp will improve the SQ drastically.
But it cannot alter the sound signature. All transparent amps should sound the same. Nevertheless, what I learned is that the most important mismatch is between the amp and headphone / speakers. The best thing you can do is take your headphones, your A10 and a LOD to a local dealer and try it. 
 

 
Yes the amplifier can most definitely alter the sound signature. There are alot of different amplifier designs, some analog, some digital and some are hybrid.  Depending on the design and the components used in the amplifier stage you will alter the sound signature.  In an ideal world the amplifier should be transparent but reality is a different story especially with cheaper amps.  I have listened to dozens of amps over the years and  I can tell the difference in sound between amps from different manufacturers connected to the same equipment especially headphones.
 
Before I bought the E11K I was using the older E11 with my A17.  There is a clear difference in sound between these two versions of the same amp.  With the E11K and A17 the vocals are further away than the E11 and A17. With the E11K the A17 sounds clearer with greater definition and a fuller sound stage than the E11. In this headfonia.com review http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-e11k-new-budget-king/2/ it goes into specific detail about sound differences between these two versions of the same amp. 
 
If the amps sound different then the sound coming out of the player will be different.  An amplifier will do more than make your DAP sound louder.

 

[god-bluff]

 

 
If the amps sound different then the sound coming out of the player will be different.  An amplifier will do more than make your DAP sound louder.

Yes, louder and different but it it might not automatically make it sound better. 

 

[krayziehustler]

My only wish is that the A17 had a way of managing the levels of L/R where you can lower the volume on one side. Only feature missing imo

 

[god-bluff]

You could always try one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5mm-AUDIO-BALANCE-VOLUME-CONTROL-Headphones-Earphones-Speaker-Extension-Cable-/361211561651
 
Bought one for my dad the other year as he suffers from loss of hearing in one ear. Seemed to work okay.

  My only wish is that the A17 had a way of managing the levels of L/R where you can lower the volume on one side. Only feature missing i

 

[gerelmx1986]

  You could always try one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5mm-AUDIO-BALANCE-VOLUME-CONTROL-Headphones-Earphones-Speaker-Extension-Cable-/361211561651
 
Bought one for my dad the other year as he suffers from loss of hearing in one ear. Seemed to work okay.

  My only wish is that the A17 had a way of managing the levels of L/R where you can lower the volume on one side. Only feature missing i

I also have severe deafness in myright ear, but i still can hear higher frquencies if i cranck the volue to super loud. I had premature birth, and suffered retinopathy of prematurity, and wen t blind in the left eye

 

[The Walrus]

  Before I bought the E11K I was using the older E11 with my A17.  There is a clear difference in sound between these two versions of the same amp.  With the E11K and A17 the vocals are further away than the E11 and A17. With the E11K the A17 sounds clearer with greater definition and a fuller sound stage than the E11. In this headfonia.com review http://www.headfonia.com/fiio-e11k-new-budget-king/2/ it goes into specific detail about sound differences between these two versions of the same amp. 
 
If the amps sound different then the sound coming out of the player will be different.  An amplifier will do more than make your DAP sound louder.

Whatever the design of the amp is, transperant is transperant and its parameters are well defined and measurable. I'm sure there is a reason why E11 and E11K sound different such as non-flat FR or some sort of distortion. 
If I were to make a blind test with E12 using the bass boost switch on / off and making people believe that they are listening to two different amps, I'm sure they would prefer one to the other and describe the sound signature with different subjective adjectives. Don't underestimate confirmation bias and placebo effect. 
The sole purpose of the amp is to amplify the signal; not to add colourization to the input signal.

 

[mdfalco]

I would like reply to fish1050 because I also have a combo A-15 (european version) + AKG K451.
I've tried my A-15 with several other headphones: Momentum On/Over Ear, Beats (only because present in the commercial stores), other Sehnny and AKG models etc... I always had his same feeling about volume, all this oem's sound far less loud than K451.
There's a reason I think, declared sensitivity for this headset is 126dB SPL/V, that is enormous !
All other models are around 110 dB maximum.
 
Probably they sound better, but I always use my A-15 on the train, so too low volume levels can be an issue...
I would like to try the MDR-1A pairing, hoping in a better isolation if not the same volume level, but I can't find a shop to try them in my country (Italy)...
 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Whatever the design of the amp is, transperant is transperant and its parameters are well defined and measurable. I'm sure there is a reason why E11 and E11K sound different such as non-flat FR or some sort of distortion. 
If I were to make a blind test with E12 using the bass boost switch on / off and making people believe that they are listening to two different amps, I'm sure they would prefer one to the other and describe the sound signature with different subjective adjectives. Don't underestimate confirmation bias and placebo effect. 
The sole purpose of the amp is to amplify the signal; not to add colourization to the input signal.

I hate the bass boost on the E12, makes everything muddy and boomy. By mistake it was on when I was first listening to my MDR 1A and I was thinking man this headphone is way to bass centric. Then it dawned on my to check the bass boost and low and behold, it was on. Personally, I only EQ downward, never upward. Boosting a signal to my ears is almost always destructive whereas a cut seems to be less adverse to the sound.

 

[gerelmx1986]

 I only EQ downward, never upward. Boosting a signal to my ears is almost always destructive whereas a cut seems to be less adverse to the sound.

But what if you have a slightly mid-centric headphone like the MDR-1R, which yes has bass but lacks ecxtensions to the helm's deep of bass

, then yes EQ upward, using a good parametric EQ, which clearly those amps lack and well as the sony does (5-bands is too outdated)

 

[fish1050]

  Whatever the design of the amp is, transperant is transperant and its parameters are well defined and measurable. I'm sure there is a reason why E11 and E11K sound different such as non-flat FR or some sort of distortion. 
If I were to make a blind test with E12 using the bass boost switch on / off and making people believe that they are listening to two different amps, I'm sure they would prefer one to the other and describe the sound signature with different subjective adjectives. Don't underestimate confirmation bias and placebo effect. 
The sole purpose of the amp is to amplify the signal; not to add colourization to the input signal.

Let's agree to disagree and leave it at that.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  But what if you have a slightly mid-centric headphone like the MDR-1R, which yes has bass but lacks ecxtensions to the helm's deep of bass

, then yes EQ upward, using a good parametric EQ, which clearly those amps lack and well as the sony does (5-bands is too outdated)

I would be lying if I said never EQ up, I have done so with a gentle parametric EQ, but it is rare. That is more accurate, but I think EQ still do best to attenuate rather than accentuate frequencies, or so I've always believed to be the case.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I would be lying if I said never EQ up, I have done so with a gentle parametric EQ, but it is rare. That is more accurate, but I think EQ still do best to attenuate rather than accentuate frequencies, or so I've always believed to be the case.

Yes i get the point, sadly sony A10 has not well-implemented parametric EQ fro "fading" frequencies that cause the midbass boom on my xba-h3, but with no filter they seem to sound way better

 

[The Walrus]

 
I hate the bass boost on the E12, makes everything muddy and boomy. By mistake it was on when I was first listening to my MDR 1A and I was thinking man this headphone is way to bass centric. Then it dawned on my to check the bass boost and low and behold, it was on. Personally, I only EQ downward, never upward. Boosting a signal to my ears is almost always destructive whereas a cut seems to be less adverse to the sound.

I like it in certain songs where the bass guitar is in lead