I mean the guy might be partially right, but the way he was trying to assert (and call me stupid at the same time
) that adding a portable amp (no matter what kind!?) in the mix is just plain bad for IEM's was kinda outrageous. To think that he was a mod for that forum just made me go (insert good facepalm img)
Well here's the whole quote from him for anyone who's curious.
POST1:
You had: Device -> Headphones
You now have: Device -> Amp -> Headphones
Was the amp really necessary? You're gaining no audio quality from it. Amping IEMs might even damage them or your ears. They're designed to run with very little electricity, as you'd expect for something that is inserted into the ear canal.
POST2:
QUOTE (zeitfliesst @ Jun 20 2012, 16:48)
I've seen plenty of people on head-fi using IEM's with portable amps, and I don't want to argue about whether there's a benefit in doing that or not.
So go back to Head-fi and ask this. We're going to call you out on the problems you're facing. Just because there are idiots doesn't magically make idiots right.
There is no point to this additional amplification. The amp provides nothing more than additional distortion and non-linearity. It's not like it can wave a magic wand and magically restore fidelity from your original source. It does nothing whatsoever except decrease overall fidelity and increase gain. Expecting people to pass over obvious, glaring, objective faults in your setup, especially when over-amplification is your whole problem is asinine.
Instead of using iPod line out, why not just use your iPod headphone out? It's pretty high-powered, has its own gain control, and is not an intermediate step causing further loss of fidelity.
What's more, as the whole damn thing is a portable audio setup, this restores actual portability, instead of carrying some half-baked headphone amp around that does nothing but give you problems. Don't be a stupid hipster.
