[gary]

One of my concerns when I bought an iPod and sent it to Vinnie was that I still wanted to be able to use it with headphones. My solution was buying this amp, which is a modified version of the CMoy amp. It's battery-powered, costs $80, comes in a mint-tin, and includes a free cable to connect it to the iPod. I figured I couldn't pass it up so I ordered it, and today it came.

Turns out it's a very sweet little amp, and it has surprisingly little background noise (as long as you don't use inefficient headphones and turn it up too loud). I just wanted to pass this on in case anyone had the same concerns I did about headphone use, because I think this is a great way to go.

Oh, and my Koss earbuds were outclassed by the iPod & amp, so I had to upgrade. I picked up a pair of Ultimate ears Super.fi 3 Studio headphones at Guitar Center for $99. Man do these things ever kick ass, IMO they're substantially better than the Shure's & Etymotic's that I've previously heard, and those were way more expensive. The three of these components together have some great synergy, and it makes for one killer little portable headphone rig that doesn't break the bank.

Gary

[Charles D.]

Another option on the headphone amp is one of the portable models from HeadRoom: http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-mobile-line/

They also offer some headphone amp/usb DAC combination amps that look interesting. They provide a lot of technical details in the FAQ section, and their amps seem to be on par with the CMoy amp in the parts their using inside (at almost twice the price for the base model).

Hope this helps.

I have an older "Total Airhead" model from HeadRoom that works nicely driving my Sennheiser HD600 headphones from the line out of a stock iPod.

I would love to hear the CMoy in comparison (just out of curiosity).

-Charlie