Jeffreybar
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2003
- Posts
- 371
- Likes
- 10
I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to get myself a "winter" portable setup, since I do a lot of walking (to class, work, downtown, etc.) and it gets rather chilly here in the winter months. For my real portable setup (now my summer setup), I use just my iHP-140 and e2s...I always resisted getting an amp because I wanted my setup to be as portable and simple as possible. But since in the winter I almost always have a big heavy coat with lots of big pockets (and since my winter headphones were going to be large ones anyway), I decided I would take the plunge into the world of amped headphones.
After some research, I settled on getting a Super Mini Moy (it was between that and the Go-Vibe) and some Beyer 770-80s...I like my rock and roll and they look big and comfy and warm, so I figured this would be a good combo. My 770-80s aren't here yet (should be either this week or next, thanks Thaddy!) but my SMM came yesterday. I've been playing around with it since then, and have made some startling, at least to me, discoveries about what it can and cannot do.
For home listening (out of my Onkyo TX-8511 receiver) as well as musician-related suff (out of my guitar amp, Alesis synth, and m-audio omnistudio USB), I use a pair of super-high-impedance AKG 240Ms. I've always loved the sound of these cans out of a powerful source and was looking forward to being able to use them around the house while I clean, sit by the fireplace, etc....places away from my receiver. I've never had a dedicated headphone amp, but I figured it was a safe bet that even a small portable dedicated headphone amp would beat the 8511's integrated one.
Unfortunately, I was very wrong about this. I guess it's a matter of power supply...hard for a 9.5V battery to compete with a 110V wall socket. The SMM can drive the 240Ms to much higher volume than my iHP-140 can by itself, but still nowhere near as loudly as the Onkyo integrated jack does. Worse, while these phones sound lush and spacious and fairly detailed with the Onkyo, with the SMM they just sound flat and soupy. This isn't a huge deal, after all I did get the SMM primarily for my on-the-way 770-80s, but it does go to show that a dedicated headphone amp won't always beat an integrated one.
Now on to the pleasant surprise...after being a bit bummed about the SMM just not having the juice to power the 240Ms, I decided to try it out with my E2s. I wasn't really planning on using the SMM with the E2s...they're meant for my minimalist summer setup. But holy crap! The SMM really makes the E2s sing...in fact, I currently have a pair of E5s which I have been listening to for the past week, and I feel that in some ways, the E2 + SMM combination compares *very* favorably to unamped E5s. The bass really tightens up but also goes lower, sibilance is reduced substantially, and the soundstage is 10x better with amped E2s than it is with unamped E2s. I was really surprised by this since the E2s are almost always mentioned as an unamped-only sort of phone.
Anyway, all-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with my new toy...I have a feeling that it's going to make my 770-80s sound really great, and my ears will be nice and comfy warm to boot.
After some research, I settled on getting a Super Mini Moy (it was between that and the Go-Vibe) and some Beyer 770-80s...I like my rock and roll and they look big and comfy and warm, so I figured this would be a good combo. My 770-80s aren't here yet (should be either this week or next, thanks Thaddy!) but my SMM came yesterday. I've been playing around with it since then, and have made some startling, at least to me, discoveries about what it can and cannot do.
For home listening (out of my Onkyo TX-8511 receiver) as well as musician-related suff (out of my guitar amp, Alesis synth, and m-audio omnistudio USB), I use a pair of super-high-impedance AKG 240Ms. I've always loved the sound of these cans out of a powerful source and was looking forward to being able to use them around the house while I clean, sit by the fireplace, etc....places away from my receiver. I've never had a dedicated headphone amp, but I figured it was a safe bet that even a small portable dedicated headphone amp would beat the 8511's integrated one.
Unfortunately, I was very wrong about this. I guess it's a matter of power supply...hard for a 9.5V battery to compete with a 110V wall socket. The SMM can drive the 240Ms to much higher volume than my iHP-140 can by itself, but still nowhere near as loudly as the Onkyo integrated jack does. Worse, while these phones sound lush and spacious and fairly detailed with the Onkyo, with the SMM they just sound flat and soupy. This isn't a huge deal, after all I did get the SMM primarily for my on-the-way 770-80s, but it does go to show that a dedicated headphone amp won't always beat an integrated one.
Now on to the pleasant surprise...after being a bit bummed about the SMM just not having the juice to power the 240Ms, I decided to try it out with my E2s. I wasn't really planning on using the SMM with the E2s...they're meant for my minimalist summer setup. But holy crap! The SMM really makes the E2s sing...in fact, I currently have a pair of E5s which I have been listening to for the past week, and I feel that in some ways, the E2 + SMM combination compares *very* favorably to unamped E5s. The bass really tightens up but also goes lower, sibilance is reduced substantially, and the soundstage is 10x better with amped E2s than it is with unamped E2s. I was really surprised by this since the E2s are almost always mentioned as an unamped-only sort of phone.
Anyway, all-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with my new toy...I have a feeling that it's going to make my 770-80s sound really great, and my ears will be nice and comfy warm to boot.
