Would headphone amp improve iPod video + Grado SR60e headphones?
Oct 6, 2014 at 11:17 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11

AaronStewart

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Hi,
 
I have an iPod Video (5.5g enhanced) and have just bought a pair of Grado SR60e headphones. I've read that these headphones don't need an amp but nevertheless I was wondering would a good headphone amp improve the sound quality at all? And if so, should I use the headphone jack or a line out dock?
 
If anyone could give me some advice on this I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 11:26 AM Post #2 of 11
  Hi,
 
I have an iPod Video (5.5g enhanced) and have just bought a pair of Grado SR60e headphones. I've read that these headphones don't need an amp but nevertheless I was wondering would a good headphone amp improve the sound quality at all? And if so, should I use the headphone jack or a line out dock?
 
If anyone could give me some advice on this I would greatly appreciate it.

 
If you used a separate headphone amplifier with your iPod, you would want to use the LOD port on the iPod, to connect to the line-input on the amplifier.
As the LOD port provides a slightly cleaner analog audio signal to the amplifier.
 
The 32-Ohm Grados are very easy to drive, so the iPod can easily drive them.
Is it possible for a headphone amplifier, like the FiiO E11K ($60), connected to the iPod, improve the audio quality of the Grado headphones ??????
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 12:05 PM Post #3 of 11
I had a CMOY with a 5g and 5.5g before, and it helped the dynamic range and bass response of the SR225, so I suppose it can help the SR60 too. No need to spend a lot though - a $30 CMOY already does a lot.

Note though that in some ways it was probably some bass boost on the part of the amp as much as the current performance - the same CMOY made my HD600 sound dark as heck (although that could also be its distortion characteristic when the volume is pushed that far, given how little power it makes at 300ohm).
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 12:35 PM Post #4 of 11
  I had a CMOY with a 5g and 5.5g before, and it helped the dynamic range and bass response of the SR225, so I suppose it can help the SR60 too. No need to spend a lot though - a $30 CMOY already does a lot.

Note though that in some ways it was probably some bass boost on the part of the amp as much as the current performance - the same CMOY made my HD600 sound dark as heck (although that could also be its distortion characteristic when the volume is pushed that far, given how little power it makes at 300ohm).

Thanks for the info.
 
I would expect the SR225 to require an amp though. The sr60e is far less powerful so I'm not sure the amp would have the same effect?
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 12:42 PM Post #5 of 11
By the way I would like 24 bit apple lossless files on my iPod. Do I need to use a DAC or a headphone amp through the dock connector in order to hear it at 24/48?

Or will it play 24/48 through the heaphone jack?
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 12:53 PM Post #6 of 11
 
I would expect the SR225 to require an amp though. The sr60e is far less powerful so I'm not sure the amp would have the same effect?

 
It's not the headphone that is "powerful," that's a characteristic of the amp. It's a question of whether a headphone requires such an amp. The SR80 benefited well enough from my Cantate.2 (which is really more suited for the K7xx and HD6x0 cans, so it's basically overkill; I just borrowed my brother's Grado to try it out), which is also why I would guess that practically any dedicated amp is already better than the iPod on its own, but huge amps are not necessary.
 
 
  By the way I would like 24 bit apple lossless files on my iPod. Do I need to use a DAC or a headphone amp through the dock connector in order to hear it at 24/48?

Or will it play 24/48 through the heaphone jack?

 
I don't think the iPod can even read 24bit files, regardless of whether it goes through the headphone output or the line out. At best its DAC will downsample it but I don't even know if its processor will do that.
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 1:24 PM Post #7 of 11

   
It's not the headphone that is "powerful," that's a characteristic of the amp. It's a question of whether a headphone requires such an amp. The SR80 benefited well enough from my Cantate.2 (which is really more suited for the K7xx and HD6x0 cans, so it's basically overkill; I just borrowed my brother's Grado to try it out), which is also why I would guess that practically any dedicated amp is already better than the iPod on its own, but huge amps are not necessary.
 
 
 
I don't think the iPod can even read 24bit files, regardless of whether it goes through the headphone output or the line out. At best its DAC will downsample it but I don't even know if its processor will do that.

I've read that the iPod can play 24 bit files at 48 khz, but not through the headphone jack as it downsamples to 16 bit through the headphone jack. I'm not sure if this is true though.
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 2:24 PM Post #8 of 11
  I've read that the iPod can play 24 bit files at 48 khz, but not through the headphone jack as it downsamples to 16 bit through the headphone jack. I'm not sure if this is true though.

 
The headphone amplifier (which is analog) has no idea if an audio file is 16-bit or 24-bit, once the digital audio signal goes thru the DAC, it's a (wave) analog audio signal
The audio signal coming out the LOD port is analog.
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 7:04 PM Post #10 of 11
  So are you saying the iPod can't play 24-bit files?

 
I have no idea (known fact) if the iPod can play 24-bit files, but the headphone amplifier would not be a limiting factor, I would think the DAC chip is what would dictate any 24-bit limit.
And I'm guessing any modern DAC chip could be designed to work with 24-bit files.
I would be very surprised if any modern Apple product could not play 24-bit files.
 
Oct 6, 2014 at 10:54 PM Post #11 of 11
  I've read that the iPod can play 24 bit files at 48 khz, but not through the headphone jack as it downsamples to 16 bit through the headphone jack. I'm not sure if this is true though.

 
Where did you read that? The earphone output and the line out don't care what the heck the signal is, they work on the analog signal. Digital audio passes through some kind of processor like a DSP, or even a more basic processor (which can also apply DSP effects, but in the case of a player, the chip does a bunch of other things as well), then goes into the DAC - the digital to analogue converter - where the 1's and 0's of digital code gets transformed into an analog waveform, which gets passed on to the amp (whether it's inside the player itself, or through some kind of analog output stage going out to another DAC).
 
In the case of the iPod, you have an integrated audio chip that has both the DAC and the headphone amplifier chip. It's not even a "real" line out in the same sense as stand-alone DACs/DAC-HPamps/CDPs/other digital sources, because for the most part it just takes the signal from the DAC and (AFAIK) bypasses the section for the headphone amp and disables the volume control (in a way, that's actually better, as some analog output stages not just amplify the signal, but color it). The thing is, the iPod uses a 16bit/44.1khz to 48khz DAC. There is no way for it to play 24bit files - if that were the case then people on Head-Fi would have waited for Apple to kill the iPod before buying the DX50 and X3.
 
Now, if someone has managed to play "iTunes 24bit" on it, iTunes could have downsampled the files on the fly during syncing (assuming iTunes recognized the files - I wasn't even aware that they sell high res tracks), the same way that you can use Apple Lossless in your computer then automatically set it to compress the files when syncing a device into any MP3 bitrate you want. Also, if whoever that was who claimed the iPod plays 24bit and probably (based on your wanting to do the same thing) noticed any difference, the improvements are caused more by better recording and mastering than the bit depth and sampling rate. Let me put it this way: what albums are you statistically more likely to run into being sold in 24bit (also vinyl), and what tracks are topping iTunes download sales? This is like Janes Monheit, Norah Jones, Dream Theater, and Coltrane vs the second group with Nicki Minaj singing about giant snakes that like bread (figuratively speaking), where even the 16bit copies of the first group are recorded and mastered better.
 

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