[thetargetarcher]

Hi All,

My first post so please go easy on me

I am rather new to high quality headphones and would be grateful if you could offer me some help with the following:

I usually listen to my mp3 player with a set of Creative EP-630 earphones.

For watching Dvds I use my home cinema set-up which consists of:

Celestion F series Centre Speaker
Yamaha DSP-A5 AV Amp,
Eltax Bi-Polar rear speakers
Eltax Symphony 6.2 front speakers
Gale 3080 Subwoofer
Lafayette LFDV971D DVD player

However, I have just bought and received a pair of Sennheisser HD-595 (50 Ohms) headphones and the Creative HQ2300D (Dolby headphone adapter – bought for £39.99 brand new inc. delivery), so I can watch films in the evenings with full DD and DTS sound without irritating the neighbours and the other people in the house!

What cheap headphone amplifier would be best suited for using with the Sennheiser HD595s and the Creative Dolby Headphone adapter?

I have been looking at:

PA2V2 ($56 delivered with lifetime servicing)

Little micro dot + (~$81)

XM4 Headphone Amplifier (~$140)

CMoy Amp from Ebay such as ID 140089770020 or ID 250087180422

Boostaroo Revolution (~ £30)

Xenos 0HA-REP-B (~$108)

Zero Audiocraft (~$62.50)

The PA2V2 seems good as it uses AA batteries and has a frequency range of 5Hz to 40KHz.

I think I would prefer one that has a DC connection and/or uses AA batteries. 9V batteries seem a bit of pain to use as they take ages to charge. But which of the above would you suggest I invest in?

Is there any other amps around the £30 to £50 range that would be better suited?

I may well use the headphone amp connected to the AV amp via the tape loop for evening music listening as well as the headphone amp connected to my mp3 player.

Sorry for the long post but I have tried to cover as much useful information as I can think of, to aid your advice.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[MaloS]

hd595 should be better if you use the cable straight out of the dvd players jack than if you add a cheap amp in the chain.

 

[thetargetarcher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaloS /img/forum/go_quote.gif hd595 should be better if you use the cable straight out of the dvd players jack than if you add a cheap amp in the chain.

Thanks for your reply.

I was planning on using a Pro Optical lead + HQ 3.5mm optical connector from the DVD player to the Creative Dolby Headphone adapter. Then running PC-OFC cable from the Creative to a 3.5mm to 3.5mm connector and then the 6.3mm to 3.5mm Sennheiser connector into that. Finally plugging the Headphone cable into the 6.3mm socket.

I had read that the HD-595 sound is enhanced when used with a headphone amp. It is a bit confusing as to what is suitable for the HD595 as quite a few reviews I have read have tested amps with the HD600 or HD650.

I will use the headphones with a portable mp3 player and possibly a portable Cd player too.

 

[MaloS]

well few users here, myself included, came to a conclusion that hd595 benefits most from tube amplification, and mid-ranged amplification at that. I have not found any of the amps I used (in the $200 range) to introduce any serious difference, but my current monstrosity gave me plenty of good. Also, keep in mind, your DVD player might have a very nice headphone amp built-into the headphone out that would drive things better than the amplifiers you mentioned.