[DanTheMiataMan]

Right now I have a pair of AKG 81DJ's that I use with my iPod and Lappy with some onboard audio card. I am looking to pick up a pair of Sony MDR v6 and was curious to if there are any headphone amps that would work as a portable for my ipod but also can be used via the lappy. Flame away for not using the search function correctly but I am a 100% headphone newb and after reading tons of great posts here I still understand very little about this big ol world of audio.

 

[tpc41]

you are probably going to want a portable amp / dac combo

for 150 you are kinda limited, one that comes to mind is the headroom total bithead HeadRoom Total BitHead @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears
i think bumping your budget up to about 200 will really open you up for a lot more options

 

[gtp]

Total Bithead is a tremendous bargain at $150.

 

[MusicallySilent]

What about the ibasso d2 boa there is a lot of hype about it and apparently the viper which is very similar was very good. It also has a gain switch depending on what headphones you want to use

 

[andrew jc]

No I do not own this but people here have had some positive comments about it HotUSB1 USB DAC High-Performance Headphone Amplifier - eBay (item 260241319901 end time May-23-08 20:48:22 PDT)

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Bumping into the 200 dollar range vs the Total Bithead would I see a huge difference with only the sub 100 dollar headphones I have.

 

[tpc41]

well, there arnt too many portable amp dac combos for under $150. I used the bithead for almost 8 months before i decided that it was too much of a hastle to use with an ipod. It is rather large and bulky, plus the inputs and outputs are all on the corners. Ibasso makes some great dac/amps but they are in the 200 price range. There website is a little scewed up right now, but they have the D2 which is what you would be looking at. I have a P2 which doent have a dac, and i love it with my ipod, much better than the bithead. It has 3 gain stages and a 3 level bass booster switch, and looks beautiful. So i guess i didnt really answer your question as i have never tried a $200+ dac

 

[ok computer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew jc /img/forum/go_quote.gif No I do not own this but people here have had some positive comments about it HotUSB1 USB DAC High-Performance Headphone Amplifier - eBay (item 260241319901 end time May-23-08 20:48:22 PDT)

x2 I'm not really in a position to judge anything quite yet, cause I haven't tried anything else but from what I can tell this thing is pretty darn good for the money.

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ok computer /img/forum/go_quote.gif x2 I'm not really in a position to judge anything quite yet, cause I haven't tried anything else but from what I can tell this thing is pretty darn good for the money.

That looks fine but doesnt look like it does the portable job.



Also when you say "dac/amps" is that meaning USB powered ones. Id rather have a AC powered unit that can also go off batterys or some internal battery as running via USB from what I understand either gives sub-par as to the batterys can do and drains your lappy battery life quicker. As for the 200 range if it opens up my options hugely I think I can go that far. I'll check out the Ibasso stuff. Also Anyone have any experience with Z-Audio?

 

[tpc41]

all amps are different, but some of them have replaceable batteries (bithead) and some have a rechargabe battery built in that charges via usb or ac power most portable dacs will just run of usb power, im not sure how many have an ac power supply too because that kinda kills the whole portablitly thing.

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpc41 /img/forum/go_quote.gif all amps are different, but some of them have replaceable batteries (bithead) and some have a rechargabe battery built in that charges via usb or ac power most portable dacs will just run of usb power, im not sure how many have an ac power supply too because that kinda kills the whole portablitly thing.

Touche, if it has a rechargeable built in battery then running off USB isn't that big of a problem because you can use both the battery and the USB at the same time and just suck the power off your lappy. But if it has replaceable like the Bithead to get "full" power you gotta drain the battery's and AAA's get spendy after a while. This D2 looks like what I am prolly going to go with unless I can find something that tops it as it seems to be Internal Battery + USB Charge/Run + Small.

 

[ZMU817]

I have a good recomendation, Vivid Audio has a DAC/amp that charges and runs via USB. it's small enough to cary with your ipod, has great battery life (i've never run it down, since i'm plugging it into my laptop so much) and has plenty of power (I turn it up a little over half way to power my Beyer 600ohm, it'll be fine for your AKGs)

only a couple of notes - it hisses with my Shure e2c. dead silent on the Beyers, but almost unusable (at least with acoustic music/stuff where a black background is essential) with super-efficient headphones... this might be the case with the AKGs, I'm not sure.

Also, there is some sibilance with my Beyers which can be annoying, but I've heard that this is just the case with using a solid state amp with this particular model. You should be fine.

Mark was a pleasure to work with and offered me a 7-day return policy, but I use it constantly. cost just under $100. Hope you enjoy!

EDIT: Almost forgot, it has AC input (+5V DC) but doesn't ship with the wallwart.