[maverickronin]

Quote:

It's so unsustainable. If you buy an amp that rolls off the treble and boosts the bass because the headphones you just bought have too little bass for you and too little treble, it means a set of headphones that would have been absolutely perfect for you will now sound bad on your system. Congrats.
 
Just EQ it, or accept that if they don't sound good with basically flat equipment, then you have to keep looking.

 
It sustains the sponsors.  

 

[wind016]

You guys are amazing. You know that? =)

 

[Confispect]

Quote:

 A whole lot of them reject the idea outright for reasons that could best be described as dogma.  Their reasons don't make any sense, complaining about things that don't affect any decent implementation of a modern EQ or going on about signal "purity" while at the same time choosing DACs and amps that either replicate a mild EQ or do far worse things to the integrity of the signal.
 
 

I would say your deserve a award but I ate it.
 
Anyhow, I agree.
 
 

 

[revolink24]

I totally disagree about amp synergy, from an engineering perspective. The amp that is good for a K1000 simply won't be the best for Grados, the amp that is best for Orthos (generally) won't be the best for Senns. Each headphone is uniquely challenging to amplify, issues like gain and output impedence determine whether any amp will work well with any given headphone. As all headphone specs are different, so should the specs for every amplifier.

This is the same reason I hate the term "unamped." Nothing, ever, in audio, is unamplified. Ever.

 

[EddieE]

Revolink, normally when I make that point I include the disclaimer that I am not talking about issues where the demands of the phones are in question, usually using the specific examples of the K1000 and HE6 to make my point. I thought in the way I phrased my point it was implicit and didn't need spelling out.
 
The point at which the amp in question is capable of driving the headphones in question is the starting point I am talking from.

 

[Confispect]

I like balanced. 
 
Followed by posting a analytical IEM with highs that punch your face.

 

[Sil3nce]

IMHO

 

[Confispect]

Not to derail the thread but.......
 
Here is graph to explain it all.
 
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

I totally disagree about amp synergy, from an engineering perspective. The amp that is good for a K1000 simply won't be the best for Grados, the amp that is best for Orthos (generally) won't be the best for Senns. Each headphone is uniquely challenging to amplify, issues like gain and output impedence determine whether any amp will work well with any given headphone. As all headphone specs are different, so should the specs for every amplifier.

Why wouldn't something with near zero output impedance and plenty of power be good for pretty much everything?  You can even add a high Z socket for those oddballs that are designed to run from a 120 ohm Z out.
 
On the cheap end, there are what you could call "synergy" issues but they're mostly straightforward current and voltage issues which boil down to, "does it go loud enough without sounding like crap."  About the most esoteric it gets would be damping factor if you use high efficiency and low Z 'phones on an OTL tube amp.  Neither of those is what I was talking about.
 
I meant things along the lines of intentionally altered frequency response, something tuned for euphonics (euphony for the designer at least...), and other sorts of things that are usually just different for the sake of being different.

 

[revolink24]

I agree about an amp with an altered frequency response, but to me an amp that cannot even achieve a flat frequency response is not a question of synergy, it is simply a bad amp.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

I agree about an amp with an altered frequency response, but to me an amp that cannot even achieve a flat frequency response is not a question of synergy, it is simply a bad amp.

That's the use of "synergy" I'm objecting to.

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

I agree about an amp with an altered frequency response, but to me an amp that cannot even achieve a flat frequency response is not a question of synergy, it is simply a bad amp.

My position exactly.
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

"First time posting, but I've been a long time lurker."
 
 
 I'm guilty of this one.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

"What is the BEST ...?"
 
 

 

[Permagrin]

"What is the BEST ...?"
 
 

Can I change my vote to this? Thanks.