[Lucabeer]

I have the Sennheiser HD-595: when I bought them I directly connected them to my PC output (Asus integrated sound card) and they sounded a little weak and muffled.

Then I recycled a 15 year old stereo amplifier from Pioneer, and connected to it my Denon DVD/CD/SACD 1930 player AND my PC to use is both as amp and as source switcher. This, and some hours of break-in (which truly IS important), made for a much better sound. Loud enough (I can't go past 1/3 or 1/2 of the volume knob or my ears would start to hurt), good bass, good clarity. So, not exactly a dedicated headphone amp, just an ordinary (but better-than-PC-card) phone output... and it drives them very very well.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif D1001, excellent bang for the buck! Sounds great unamped from my MacBook and iPod Touch. Even better amped, though...

It does need an amp imo.

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I does need an amp imo.

I'm to be contrary and say "Nope." At least not out of a MacBook and first gen. iPod Touch. The Fiio does nothing for it, and my 2Move mostly only widens the soundstage. It's perfectly fine unamped.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm to be contrary and say "Nope." At least not out of a MacBook and first gen. iPod Touch. The Fiio does nothing for it, and my 2Move mostly only widens the soundstage. It's perfectly fine unamped.

well good for u..but i wasnt satisfied with it performance off iPod Touch or 5.5G ipod.

it was enjoyable but left a lot to desire since i have heard it with amps

 

[lucky]

Lots of interesting responses so far. It's nice to see some new names instead of the same two or three phones over and over again.

 

[tintin47]

RS-1 from memory, though my experience with it was fleeting.

 

[CJ Scudworth]

Grado SR 225. I hope these are going to be my last cans for a whle...

 

[BigTony]

I don't think the manufacturers of headphones expect them to be driven by dedicated amps. Think you'll find that pretty much all headphones will be fine from 'unamped'' sources, you might eeck out 5-10% sound improvement. I've just listened to my HD 650 straight out of a Sansa Fuze, sounded great.

 

[Uncle Erik]

The Grado RS-1. I take it on every vacation with just the iPod. Always surpises me how much it rocks with almost nothing driving it. Still prefer it on tubes, but it's amazing with the iPod.

 

[Antony L]

my hfi 780s sound lush unamped but sound even better with that extra push from the e5 and i find myself lurking in the portable amps forum more and more ,the sound is so good its getting addictive

 

[Sutton]

I have been using HD650's from my iPod Touch, still sounds great to me. I'm sure they are probably 10x better with a good amp but its still really enjoyable to listen to.

 

[aerowing]

Senn HD590 for sure. From both comfort and sound!

 

[Beyerfan70]

Dt880!
Perfect sound from my denon receiver,really perfect.

 

[plonter]

my hd595 are the best unamped cans i heard so far.

 

[Whenesday]

I'll second the Denon D1001 as a favourite full-size cans unamped, followed maybe by Audio Technica's A700/A900.

Both are perfectly good sounding and amping them only gives the final 10% and tweaked to the flavour of your choice.