[BlaneShelby]

I have been reading as much as I can about amplifiers and I'm a bit confused. As far as I can tell all an amplifier does is make the signal from a source stronger, is that right? Or in other words it makes the music louder? I just bought some Denon D2000 headphones and I think they sound fine and already get louder than I can stand, so why would I need an amplifier?

Also, the transparency of an amp refers to the amps ability to increase the signal without adding to or taking away frequencies from the original signal, is that right?

And what does warmth mean when referring to how an amp sounds? I just don't understand how a sound can be "warm" and if that is so, then wouldn't the amp be changing something in the signal and therefore lose its transparency?

Confused,

Blane

 

[Jodet]

Some amps don't sound better. I borrowed a Rega headamp from a local dealer and thought it sounded awful.

A good amp, though....it's a wonderful thing. You just have to hear one. It's hard to describe, but when you've heard a 'warm' amp and a 'cool' one, you'll know what people are talking about.

 

[Happy Camper]

Because we said so.





















j/k


All things have a signature. If you could remove all influence, you would hear the signal as it was recorded. But the material itself is colored by the mics, pickups, mixing boards, connectors, etc.

An amp will control your headphone's diaphragms. The more power it has to do this, the better the job. Same with the slew and dampening rates of the drivers. If the amp doesn't have enough voltage swing (signal amplification) or current to drive the diaphragms with solid control, the sound will be less focused. Bass response will be boomy and boring.

The micro-details in the signal will be brought out with the amplified signal. It takes less volume to hear them, reducing hearing fatigue. The quality of that signal is imperative if you go into high end amps as they reveal everything. Recording techniques, environmental noises, even the person's bodily noises can be heard on truly revealing systems. Headphones are a revealing instrument.

An amps ability to convey a believable 3D image is complex and needs quality components to perform the timing and sustaining energy required of material. I use organ music to test components to see how well an amp can sustain a load and how a headphone can present it and be able to convey the finer signals at the same time.

Lesser amps are compromised to meet a price/market point. So an amp, is not an amp.

Tubes add a bloom to the presentation that sounds smoother. Solid state amps can be tuned to sound warmer but generally sound clinical in presentation.

IMO

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Why organ music? Example of what you use?

 

[DoYouRight]

what is a good example of organ music to try?

 

[roker]

I have a pair of Grado 125s that I was satisfied with using on my headphone output of my macbook and iPhone, but the minute I hooked it up to a proper amp, the sound became a different beast. Mainly, the vocals came upfront and the bass became tighter and punchier.

It's well worth it and I swear you'll "see" the whole picture if you properly amp your headphones.

 

[Happy Camper]

Because of the sustained notes, the amp has to deliver instant and continuous current. How well an amp can maintain that sound without sagging tells how good the power supply is.

I like Holiday music for this. Christmas organ like Dr. Abbott, children's choirs with organ like The Mormon Tabernacle choir, TSO, etc.

 

[BlaneShelby]

I just hooked up my ipod and headphones to a friends amp that he is "building", (down the hall) and it made a lot of my music sound like its crackling in the bass or when the music itself gets louder. Jack Johnson sounds horrible with lots of crackling on "Better Together," but then all my Yo-Yo Ma sounds great, at least there is no crackling. Why does the amp make it crackle like that on some songs but others sound fine? Because it changes with different songs, I don't think its my headphones, but I guess it could be them as well, but they are brand new, with only about 100 hours on them.

 

[FallenAngel]

Without an amplifier, you would not hear anything. There MUST be an amplifier somewhere. You can choose to use the (generally crappy) built-in amplifier into some equipment, such as the iPod, or you can use the unamplified line-level signal and use a better one (higher voltage, higher current output, less noisy - higher SNR, lower THD, etc).

 

[BlaneShelby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaneShelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just hooked up my ipod and headphones to a friends amp that he is "building", (down the hall) and it made a lot of my music sound like its crackling in the bass or when the music itself gets louder. Jack Johnson sounds horrible with lots of crackling on "Better Together," but then all my Yo-Yo Ma sounds great, at least there is no crackling. Why does the amp make it crackle like that on some songs but others sound fine? Because it changes with different songs, I don't think its my headphones, but I guess it could be them as well, but they are brand new, with only about 100 hours on them.

I'm still wondering about this - any thoughts?

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaneShelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just hooked up my ipod and headphones to a friends amp that he is "building", (down the hall) and it made a lot of my music sound like its crackling in the bass or when the music itself gets louder. Jack Johnson sounds horrible with lots of crackling on "Better Together," but then all my Yo-Yo Ma sounds great, at least there is no crackling. Why does the amp make it crackle like that on some songs but others sound fine? Because it changes with different songs, I don't think its my headphones, but I guess it could be them as well, but they are brand new, with only about 100 hours on them.

I assume your friend is building a little portable amp (maybe something like a cmoy) and that you are using your Denon D2000.

The D2000 is a low impedance full size headphone and needs an amp that can supply enough power in the form of current (the engineers are going to nitpick that explanation). The D2000 needs current and some portables just can't do it. You'll end up with the sound shrinking, compressing, or crackling. I have a cheap portable DigiZoid Zax amp. It is capable of powering my 300 ohm HD600 headphones but crackles and sounds really bad with my 25 ohm Denon D2000. The amp just can't deliver the current. It's a battery powered amp and is stingy with power (it's able to run well over 100 hours on two AA batteries). The Denon D2000 is more suited for a desktop amp that is powered from a wall outlet. Desktop amps don't have to concern themselves with being stingy with the power draw from batteries so they are typically able to give the headphones more of what they need.

 

[LeftyGorilla]

Well, I think there isn't any hard scientific factual type things anyone can say that you would believe and it would sway your thinking if you don't already believe having looked at the numbers.

But here is an anecdote.

Few weeks ago I come into my office and they guy sitting next to me is wearing a pair of Grado 325s. I did a little double-take as I walked by. I didn't know he was into that sort of thing. So I talked to him a little. He said he had read reviews, etc, etc, and even visited Head-Fi before picking up the 325s and he was running them directly out of his laptop and ipod. He thought this place was crazy. But, he said, they just weren't as amazing as he wanted them to be. Try them, he says.

So I tried them. I had been listening for a few weeks now to 225s through a little dot I+ via gamma y1 dac out my laptop. So I had a good feel for that signature and I really like it. I thought I was done for a while with the upgraditis. Well, ****. I plugged the 325s in and about 4 seconds into a track I knew pretty well (something off Bon Iver's album) I was just floored at how mellow and smooth everything was compared to my 225s. I immediately started looking at used 325s. I liked them that much. I decided, in the end, that right now next 30% improvement is not worth ~$125 to me. One day it will be. But why were the 325s just not that great for my friend?

Well, to try to answer that I gave him my icon mobile USB DAC/amp and an IC, telling him that he might find the sound cleaner out of his laptop with an external DAC and probably there would be an improvement over the amp in his ipod. Okay, he tried it for a few days and agreed that it was an improvement and that it was a big surprise to him that a little amp could add that much to the experience.

So...next level. I tell him he should try my desktop amp. I set him up with the Little Dot and go back around to my side of the cubicle wall. After a few minutes I hear the opening chords of some music (open cans) and "Wow" from my co-worker. Just Wow. The Icon Mobile, yeah, there was some improvement. But a low-end desktop tube amp moved him from "meh" to "wow".

Now, I have not listened to my 225s through anything but my Little Dot I+. I'm getting a 1/4 -> 1/8 adapter in a few days. Maybe I'll have another anecdote.



As to the variable response of your music to amplification, what bitrate are these songs ripped at?

 

[pabbi1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif what is a good example of organ music to try?

Virgil Fox - 'The Digital Fox'. Lots of Bach, someone that really understood a honkin pipe organ.

 

[Spareribs]

I think it's a waste if someone buys a high end headphone or speaker and uses a cheap low end amp. It's like getting a high end sports car and using a cheap weak engine.

A good amp will make your headphones sound fuller with more tone and body. Don't worry about warmth. It's more about a better tone that sounds more real.

With a high quality amp, the drums for example will resonate the wood more. With a weak amp, the drums will sound more "plastic" in tone.

 

[DoYouRight]

about that spareribs, if you get top notch cans, and burn them in with an ipod or laptop only, are they ruined from this so even when you get an amp they are already geared for flawed power conditions?