[badhomaks]

From what I gathered, amps make the sound louder without making the sound worse and might add bass or treble if need be. But if I like to listen to my current headphones at volume <50% most of the time and have a built in EQ with my onboard sound card to reduce or increase specific frequencies if need be, will I really benefit from an amp?
 
Audiophile level: Can tell a difference between mono and stereo and almost all the time between 64 vs 128 kb. When it comes to 126 vs 320 there's a small chance that I might be able to detect that one small sound for 1ms sounded a bit different maybe if I concentrate like my life depended on it. (maybe my song selection wasn't good but I used mp3ornot .com to test that)
 
I do enjoy my koss even if they are a little uncomfortable and many people say that a small amp such as Fiio E5 (which is the max I am willing to pay for an amp) can make it sounds loads better. So if I would most definitely benefit from an amp, what's a good choice? (cMoy BB and A2V2 are way out of budget so no point in recommending those [Canadian prices please]). Thanks.

 

[badhomaks]

Ba-bump. Don't want to waste $30 if I'm not gonna benefit from it.

 

[marcookie]

Quote:

From what I gathered, amps make the sound louder without making the sound worse and might add bass or treble if need be. But if I like to listen to my current headphones at volume <50% most of the time and have a built in EQ with my onboard sound card to reduce or increase specific frequencies if need be, will I really benefit from an amp?
 
Audiophile level: Can tell a difference between mono and stereo and almost all the time between 64 vs 128 kb. When it comes to 126 vs 320 there's a small chance that I might be able to detect that one small sound for 1ms sounded a bit different maybe if I concentrate like my life depended on it. (maybe my song selection wasn't good but I used mp3ornot .com to test that)
 
I do enjoy my koss even if they are a little uncomfortable and many people say that a small amp such as Fiio E5 (which is the max I am willing to pay for an amp) can make it sounds loads better. So if I would most definitely benefit from an amp, what's a good choice? (cMoy BB and A2V2 are way out of budget so no point in recommending those [Canadian prices please]). Thanks.

I think you would not benefit from an amp, if you don't need more power. You may need a better DAC (a better sound card, both internal or external, that deliver sound better). My laptop sound card is pretty awful compared to my samsung galaxy S3 or to any apple device. I'm quite a novel audiophile too but I can tell that difference clearly. I think there are some external very small USB DACs for 30-40$.

 

[badhomaks]

Quote:

I think you would not benefit from an amp, if you don't need more power. You may need a better DAC (a better sound card, both internal or external, that deliver sound better). My laptop sound card is pretty awful compared to my samsung galaxy S3 or to any apple device. I'm quite a novel audiophile too but I can tell that difference clearly. I think there are some external very small USB DACs for 30-40$.

What about asus xonar dg? I see the dolby headphone as a major plus with it. I have the Altek 898 onboard sound if that matters.

 

[bowei006]

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwVIrRPoDCloYcM0xVP0dWn7gJ2CScTYf
 
This is my custom playlist on beginner questions.