[champion31337]

Hey, guys i have been reading alot on here lately and learned a lot of interesting stuff, seems to be you all know vastly more then me but i love learning and though it would be directly up my alley to join such a good forum
 
anyway i have been doing a tremendous amount of homework on purchasing a portable amp (looking at all fiio's and the new 1 i just read about cmoy)
 
my question is simply whether i will notice a significant sound quailty increase in my heaphones, i own Sennheiser HD428 32ohm, i play 320 kbps rips all music (now whether or not those rips are true or an unconverted 128 rip idk) and i play these on my iphone 4
 
believe it or not...i actually decided to go with these headphones after reading all the info about them here lol....problem is, when i got them, i think the placebo effect got me cause i was so excited to see them and hear them cause they looked oh so nice (best pair i have ever own) but after listening for hours on end i noticed that....well....there really was a tremendous amount of detail i expected to be here for such heaphones....missing....the bass is much lower then i though and playing heavy metal just seems like such lack in detail of the music
 
this is how many tastes are and always have been....i am alllll about performance and quality of sound i seriously could not care less about the looks the weight or anything at all about the amp or any device for that matter
 
my question i will restate first off is, woulf 1 of those portable amps i mentioned actually increase quality and bring out detail? now i DONT mean volume as i dont necessarily care about how loud it will go i already can turn them up loud enough to be comfortable i jsut want to bring out more detail sounding music in my sennheisers, thanks guys

 

[Eric_C]

With a 428 and a iPhone 4? Probably not.

 

[njgeek]

You will get more warmth and a bit more fullness on the mids and highs most likely. The FiiO E11 bass boost is also decent. If you're looking for more instrument separation or crisper sound, I doubt it.

Sorry, I am new to this and don't know the jargon. I'm sure my descriptions are a bit lacking.

 

[Eric_C]

^ no, he wouldn't. Amps aren't designed to colour the sound, just exert better control over the headphone drivers. This may lead to better bass, because bass reproduction is apparently the hardest thing for headphones to do (without sacrificing mids and highs), but that's still not a given.

Even then it depends on what amp we're talking about, and OP hasn't said which one in particular. Probably doesn't matter tho, because the 428 isn't hard known to be hard to drive and the iPhone 4 is known to be a good player anyway.

 

[milosolo]

probably not much with this setup.
 
"my question is simply whether i will notice a significant sound quailty increase in my heaphones, i own Sennheiser HD428 32ohm, i play 320 kbps rips all music (now whether or not those rips are true or an unconverted 128 rip idk) and i play these on my iphone 4"

 

[chef8489]

That's not entirely true. Each amp has its own sound it adds to the mix.
 
Quote:

^ no, he wouldn't. Amps aren't designed to colour the sound, just exert better control over the headphone drivers. This may lead to better bass, because bass reproduction is apparently the hardest thing for headphones to do (without sacrificing mids and highs), but that's still not a given.
Even then it depends on what amp we're talking about, and OP hasn't said which one in particular. Probably doesn't matter tho, because the 428 isn't hard known to be hard to drive and the iPhone 4 is known to be a good player anyway.

 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

^ no, he wouldn't. Amps aren't designed to colour the sound, just exert better control over the headphone drivers. This may lead to better bass, because bass reproduction is apparently the hardest thing for headphones to do (without sacrificing mids and highs), but that's still not a given.
Even then it depends on what amp we're talking about, and OP hasn't said which one in particular. Probably doesn't matter tho, because the 428 isn't hard known to be hard to drive and the iPhone 4 is known to be a good player anyway.

That depends on the amp. Certain amps are known to have some sort of coloration. Mid foward, bass heavy, treble monsters? Generally its better to have a neutral amp that doesn't color the sound but enhances it instead.

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

That's not entirely true. Each amp has its own sound it adds to the mix.

 
Quote:

That depends on the amp. Certain amps are known to have some sort of coloration. Mid foward, bass heavy, treble monsters? Generally its better to have a neutral amp that doesn't color the sound but enhances it instead.

 
Aye, I know what you guys are saying, but this is precisely what I wanted to avoid delving into for the sake of the OP, who seems like he's very, very green when it comes to audio.
Also wanted to avoid him being misled to thinking that all amps will help with mids and highs.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 

 
Aye, I know what you guys are saying, but this is precisely what I wanted to avoid delving into for the sake of the OP, who seems like he's very, very green when it comes to audio.
Also wanted to avoid him being misled to thinking that all amps will help with mids and highs.

Yeah it really depends. Its not an easy choice. Synergy can make or break a rig and I've seen it all to often.

 

[njgeek]

Sorry, I should have limited my response to the FiiO amps which he mentioned researching and I mentioned in my post. I wasn't clear that the results I was describing were specific to their portable line.

 

[champion31337]

ok, thank you for all the responses
 
are there any headphones you guys reccomend then in this case?
 
i have tried these 428's (lack of bass)
i have tried beats (terribly bass heavy but tolerable especially with EQ adjustment and they are POWERFUL as well which i liked but i have heard problems with them)
bose QC15 (noise cancelling is a bonus to me its not the primary factor in headphones im looking for and unfotunately it seems as if bose exerted every bit of their engineering into this cause i really heard no significant audible different in seperation of instruments with these in the mall)
 
i just need you guys to name me a pair of head phones/amp that would go together PERFECTLY for these music genres,
 
rock, soft rock, heavy metal, dubstep, trance, and very little rap
 
budget is $300, i would like to not have to use an amp just for the sake of 1 less device to lug around but i would not mind it at all if i had to if it improves sound quailty (for example really high impedance headphones) remember guys, quality, quality, quality, is the only factor here i want to be able to simply have the ability to listen to heavy metal or dubstep at high volume with barely audible or NO distortion durin all frequencies an di would be in HEAVEN
 
i have read many forums on here about how there are headphones that would destroy bose qc15/beats for half the price, and that bose and beats are priced that high because they need to pay for marketing and stuff and it was very interesting to read, makes sense, i have seen AKG, Grados, Shure and some others metioned
 
BTW im looking for over ear (covers) entirely too, i do not like any other kind blah lol just name some headphones guys i will looking at this all day long thanks a LOT guys

 

[lee730]

Denon 2000.
Quote:

ok, thank you for all the responses
 
are there any headphones you guys reccomend then in this case?
 
i have tried these 428's (lack of bass)
i have tried beats (terribly bass heavy but tolerable especially with EQ adjustment and they are POWERFUL as well which i liked but i have heard problems with them)
bose QC15 (noise cancelling is a bonus to me its not the primary factor in headphones im looking for and unfotunately it seems as if bose exerted every bit of their engineering into this cause i really heard no significant audible different in seperation of instruments with these in the mall)
 
i just need you guys to name me a pair of head phones/amp that would go together PERFECTLY for these music genres,
 
rock, soft rock, heavy metal, dubstep, trance, and very little rap
 
budget is $300, i would like to not have to use an amp just for the sake of 1 less device to lug around but i would not mind it at all if i had to if it improves sound quailty (for example really high impedance headphones) remember guys, quality, quality, quality, is the only factor here i want to be able to simply have the ability to listen to heavy metal or dubstep at high volume with barely audible or NO distortion durin all frequencies an di would be in HEAVEN
 
i have read many forums on here about how there are headphones that would destroy bose qc15/beats for half the price, and that bose and beats are priced that high because they need to pay for marketing and stuff and it was very interesting to read, makes sense, i have seen AKG, Grados, Shure and some others metioned
 
BTW im looking for over ear (covers) entirely too, i do not like any other kind blah lol just name some headphones guys i will looking at this all day long thanks a LOT guys

 

 

[champion31337]

Ok i looked up denon d2000 and saw a review of them on youtube, someone posted a question saying they currently have sennheiser hd 500 something and asking the reviewer if these were better and the guy answered, if you have any of the sennheiser hd series then no need to upgrade as they are no better lol
 
Whats your input? I will get the denons if they are truely better sounding
 
I would also like to have a few more headphoe make/models just to form a better selection to research on thanks guys

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Ok i looked up denon d2000 and saw a review of them on youtube, someone posted a question saying they currently have sennheiser hd 500 something and asking the reviewer if these were better and the guy answered, if you have any of the sennheiser hd series then no need to upgrade as they are no better lol
 
Whats your input? I will get the denons if they are truely better sounding
 
I would also like to have a few more headphoe make/models just to form a better selection to research on thanks guys

Its a matter of preference. But the Denons series would be more closely rated to the HD600 and 650 to be fair. So I doubt the HD500 is any better. And the Denons are easily modded (the open back mod destroys).

 

[champion31337]

now see, i dont know what a "mod" is, i guess i cant say im surprise that headphones can be modded since really anything in the world can be but i get a kick out of it lol
 
so just curious, has anyone on here tried the hd428's? just to be in the same balllpark as me and form an accurate opinion for comparing? i would like to hear an opinion from someone that has heard the hd428's as they would know what they sound like and what to reccomend especially if they agree with me about the music not sounding the best, of course i wouldnt be surprised if nobody here has owned a pair of headphones under $200 lol