[K3cT]

If it doesn't fit in my jeans pocket then it's not a portable system for me.

 

[Currawong]

I've given up on using a portable amp. Originally I bought one to use as a DAC, but didn't get any improvement over my MacBook Pro. About the only use I have for one now is when travelling, or for taking to the local electronics store to try the headphones out (instead of using the crap distributed listening rig there).

I imagine for someone with a cheap and nasty default sound card, a portable amp can be a significant improvement and later on a DAC for a better headphone amp, if using full-sized cans.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Portables sell because they're marketed towards new users as a "beginner" amp and there's a lot of echoes from people who haven't heard a real amp. If you want to see some interesting responses, go find the thread in the High End Fprum about the portable setups of those who own megabuck systems. You'll see that a significant portion don't bother with portables.

Exactly.

Portable amps are attractive to beginners since they are usually cheap and can be used on the move, and beginners usually come in with sources like ipods rather than good stationary sources like good DACs.

But truthfully, portable amps a) often lack the power to properly drive headphones that require full-size amps, like the HD650, and b) they also tend to color the signal and generally get in the way of good headphones that don't require the extra power, like custom-molded IEMs.

All they are good for, in effect, is to power the few headphones that are only slightly too demanding for mp3 players and general weak-output sources, or for using a line-out on a portable source when that line-out is substantially better than the built-in amplification and bypasses a lof subpar components in the first place (which line-outs often don't).

The money that you would spend on a portable amp is better off being spent on a better portable headphone. Yes, you could drop $350 or whatever on a Hornet together with your $300 full-size cans, but you're much better off getting some custom-molded IEMs for similar money which will outperform an under-driven hard to drive full-size headphone by a significant margin.

Yes, there are some portable amps that aren't bad. But they are usually ones that aren't very portable to begin with, and cost a lot, and in general are built for a very specific application.

Manufacuters like to push portable amps on people simply because of their appeal. But most of the time they're a waste of money IMO.

It's like going to a track day with a family car and then complaining that you can't pass anyone. Yeah, manufacturers would like you to think that your 4-cylinder family sedan has racing pedigree and is sporty, but the truth is: if you want to do well at the track, get a track-day car. And if you want good sound out of your full-size cans, don't waste your money and get a good full-size amp.

 

[boomana]

I agree with Uncle Erik and catscratch. Portable amps have a purpose, but that purpose is both limited and limiting, imo. Outside of powering portable headphones, and some do improve slightly, I think the only really useful purpose is that portable amps are a fun way to participate in the hobby side of things. Even top-dollar ones are inexpensive compared to decent home gear, are easy to buy, sell, ship, and drag around to meets, and they're fun to compare and play around with. They're also a great way to learn DIY. That said, I've owned some really nice portable amps, sold all but one, which I keep primarily for the dac, and almost never use it. I'd rather spend my money upgrading my home system, and/or on headphones that don't need an amp for travel and/or transportability, and what's nice about that is that there are really good ones available.

About a year or two ago, I started a thread about what I viewed as a disturbing trend of people recommending portable amps as good solutions for reference quality headphones, many of which are difficult to drive unless well matched with good home amps (I'll leave sources out of this for now). It's as if folks had magical thinking and were insisting that they should be able to have "best" headphones, hear the "best" qualities they were known for, and be able to drive them with battery-powered itty-bitty packets, just because they wanted it. The world doesn't work that way. If you suggested other, you were shouted down as being a snob or worse. It's nice to see that's changing somewhat around here, maybe because many of those folks actually started trying out home amps and heard what others were talking about. I don't know, but it's not nearly as bad as it had been.

Portable amps are fun, can be helpful meantime solutions while people are building a rig, and do make some portable headphones sound marginally better, but like others have said, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

 

[Emkayu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's because people are becoming completely pussified! So many people complain about the 2G iPhone being too bulky (now that they have 3G iPhone) that it's just ridiculous. Think old school! People regularly carried tape players and later CD players (and no, not those ultra-tiny 2mm wider than CD units, I mean the real ones!). Now it's all about "oh look at how tiny my iPod nano is, I can't imagine carrying anything larger". My idea of portable is "can take it with me" - which means usually iPod 5G (diyModded), sometimes small LOD, sometimes DIY V-Cap dock which is larger than iPod in all dimensions and about twice as wide and a nice portable amp on top of that. Yeah, I carry it in a bag, and it's more "transportable" than "portable". For ultra-portable, I just take the 2G Nano with decent headphones, but I miss out on a lot of the enjoyment of music, I don't hear what I expect and it makes me unhappy. I only do the latter when I absolutely must (like going for a run).

I ripped a hole in my blazer pocket once, I had my keys with 5+ keyrings, ipod 5.5g, 2.5inch hardrive enclosure and my sony erricson phone, i blame the excessive keyrings, so i got one big ring with keys now to prevent it happening again!

 

[twylight]

my favorite is have both front pockets full of electronic junk and then sitting down too fast and ripping a foot long hole along your ass in the middle of the day at work.

I think alot of this is driven by "I have tough to drive headphones, bring an amp!" syndrome. Consider using easy to drive headphones and the problem really goes away. At home - I want to see external DACs, a row of glowing tubes, and giant alien being wrapped around your head. at home.

 

[Uncle Erik]

About the size issue, I never carried a cellphone until the RAZR came out because it was the first easily pocketable phone. The iPhone is bulkier, but I prefer it because you can actually use it without digging through 15 layers of menus. IEMs and the iPod are a great combo - it's like you're not carrying anything at all.

As for beaches in Mexico, I hit a few there over New Year's with an iPod and Grados. Worked out pretty well.

 

[mbd2884]

Whatever the opinions, I just wish that people STOP asking for comparisons of the damn Pico to Desktop DACs and Amps. I have no idea or care how Pico started to be recommended as an alternative to other desktop solutions. And whenever I reply saying it's not a substitute, just get flamed with Pico is just as good.

Oh well... enjoy your portables and treat it as your desktop, home solution if it helps your ego.

 

[shirtaspants]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's because people are becoming completely pussified!

Are we all in middle school again?

I think too often in audio (on all levels), people are so hardcore about gear being "better" that they forget that this is all about personal enjoyment and entertainment. Ergonomics, usability, etc. play a large role in that. A DAP and a pair of portable headphones are so easy to use nowadays.

Combine that with just how good IEMs, other portable headphones, and DAPs have gotten now, and the difference between DAP + smaller headphone vs. DAP + amp + maybe fullsize headphone is just not that much. There's no night-and-day in this context, especially because you're limited by the backend, like others have said. It's not like you're stuck with iBuds if you don't go all extreme.

I can say with experience from other hobbies that when you go from lugging a lot of gear out and about to get the best "quality" (in my case, photography), and you "downgrade" to a simpler, lighter, more practical setup, it is such a relief.

FWIW, I do think a quality portable DAC for use with a laptop, etc., is worth it, depending on what your needs are.

 

[dhp]

i carry my mini^3 and it drives my headphones nicely (ER4S) Especially since I'm a student,
a) I have limited desk real estate
b) i like to study on campus a lot.

 

[lifesundeath]

I like to carry a car battery and large tube amp with me at all times, so people know how hard I am.

But no seriously, I have the Nuforce Icon mobile and the thing is tiny! If you can carry one ipod, another device that's even smaller should be no big deal. I think the most cumbersome things are the phones...the looks people give you when you bust out some AKGs...normal people aren't used to seeing things like that.

 

[uberburger101]

I can't say I've been in this hobby for very long, but I have learnt a thing or two since I started. One of the biggest reasons why portable amps are so popular nowadays is because this new younger generation is too used to seeing portable DAPs/iPods all over the place. It's so common to see at least 20-30 people walking around plugged into their iPods while on the street (at least over here).

Hence, the concept of having better music on-the-go with this younger generation is very intriguing. I remember I was VERY interested in it too, my first experience was hearing SF5Pro from EP-630. The jump to me was huge. After that, came the dabbling in portable amps, even with a portable Vcap dock for a period of time. It came to a point where I couldn't even change tracks without wrestling my rig out of my bag. Not fun.

After that, I came to realise how much of my music I'm actually hearing. With the background noise and distractions, you're not really absorbing much of your music especially the nuances and details in the background. No matter how much isolation your IEMs/cans give, there's bound to be some background noise.

Eventually I sold off my entire portable, just left with my IEMs and iPod. My ESW10JPN was bought on a whim and I've never brought them out, but I don't regret that purchase because they still sound awesome from my iPod and great when I want to lie down and listen to some tunes.

On hindsight, I can safely say that every portable amp I have tried has one downside or another. Be it price, battery life, physical size, or most importantly sound. Not really worth the trouble after my experience with them, if I go back I'm probably just going to go with a DIY alternative (Mini3). I'm now waiting for my home amp to come (shipped yesterday!) and I believe I'm fully going to enjoy that more, with the listening environment, source, and glowing tubes

.

On the other hand, there ARE people who simply do not have the time to listen to music at home, be it due to work or other commitments. For this group, portable audio might just be the only path they can venture into and all the money and physical bulk in that area is more justified. Price/performance is just not there.

Something I read (I believe it was here), IEMs and portable headphones were designed for DAPs. I don't believe any IEM/portable can manufacturer will make one that requires a portable amp. This point really struck me hard, and I realised all the money in my portable could very well go into better parts in my home rig.

Sorry for the long rant.

 

[IPodPJ]

I agree with the other senior members here. Portable amps are just unable to provide the power to drive reference headphones with the level of quality that home/desktop amps can. I started out with a portable rig (hence my user name) and it was a valuable experience for learning about this hobby and getting me involved in it.

I just bought an iPod Touch (with the iPeng app) as a controller for my Squeezebox. Out of curiosity I plugged my D5000 into it. I was frankly astonished at how good it sounded, and considering the tiny package the iPod Touch is, it is perfect for a portable solution if you don't require much storage space. I have listened to almost every generation of iPod and I strongly feel that the iPod Touch sounds better than any other one. Paired with some good custom IEMs, you can't go wrong.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have put my money initially towards my home rig. But like I said, my portable rig was a crucial stepping stone towards advancing my knowledge of audio equipment and this hobby. If you must get a portable amp, get one that serves a dual purpose, one with a good quality amp and DAC for you to use with your computer as well. The Pico would probably be your best option for this.