[Uri Cohen]

Yes I know there's plenty of them, but I'm still undecided if I need an amp for real.

I'm running my SR225i on the laptop via the Musiland Monitor 02 US DAC (which has headphone jacks so I guess you can also call it an amp) and it more than enough to drive my SR225i to high volumes. I was thinking do I really need an amp? I was thinking of a tube amp. My local hi-fi shop is offering me $439 for the Musical Fidelity X-Canv8P but I'm not impressed with the built-in DAC and personally that's too much for just a tube amp for my budget. I was thinking $200 max for an amp but don't mind going up a little more if it's worth it.

I know the whole point of an amp is to drive headphones to be loud but I herd it can improve bass and stuff like that.

So yeah, do you think I need a tube amp? If so which one?

My music listen really varies but if an amp can improve the mids-highs with a tighter bass then that would be great!

 

[the_equalizer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperDuel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I know there's plenty of them, but I'm still undecided if I need an amp for real. I'm running my SR225i on the laptop via the Musiland Monitor 02 US DAC (which has headphone jacks so I guess you can also call it an amp) and it more than enough to drive my SR225i to high volumes. I was thinking do I really need an amp? I was thinking of a tube amp. My local hi-fi shop is offering me $439 for the Musical Fidelity X-Canv8P but I'm not impressed with the built-in DAC and personally that's too much for just a tube amp for my budget. I was thinking $200 max for an amp but don't mind going up a little more if it's worth it. I know the whole point of an amp is to drive headphones to be loud but I herd it can improve bass and stuff like that. So yeah, do you think I need a tube amp? If so which one? My music listen really varies but if an amp can improve the mids-highs with a tighter bass then that would be great!

Actually the main point of a headphone amplifier is not loudness, at least not in your case; since you mention above that your laptop is capable of driving the SR-225i's to high volumes.

The point is better sound. The built-in headphone amplifiers you find in iPods and laptops are not usually good enough to drive high quality headphones with a good signal, because of the load the headphones represent (electrically) for the amp.

A good headphone amp will present a high impedance load to your laptop or iPod headphone output, so that it does not represent a heavy load to the amp pushing it into distortion. Then it'll also have high voltage/high current output so that it can drive the headphones without getting loaded down.

As to the SR-225i's I can say that driving them directly from my iPod produces dark, muffled sound. Using my Millet "Starving Student" Hybrid on the other hand, they sound rich and powerful. Your experience may be different of course, in case your laptop's headphone out is able to drive them properly.

So, if at all possible, try the headphone amp with your laptop and your 'phones, you may find it improves the sound greatly and that will answer your question

cheers!

 

[Uri Cohen]

The question is which one is great for the 225i? My DAC does a great job outputting the sound after all, but I want to put it up a little more.

 

[the_equalizer]

Given your budget, I'd venture two suggestions:

Little Dot I+
Head-Direct HiFiMan EF2


cheers!