[roymail]

I don't have any experience with headphone amps, so I'm just going to ask a question that shows my inexperience.

Why do I need a headphone amp if my ipod drives my Audio-Technica phones to substantial volume and sounds very good?

Is an amp to provide volume, drive, quality of sound, etc to phones for proper matching?  Or, is it something else?

Thanks for the help. 

[santacore]

I don't have any experience with headphone amps, so I'm just going to ask a question that shows my inexperience.

Why do I need a headphone amp if my ipod drives my Audio-Technica phones to substantial volume and sounds very good?

Is an amp to provide volume, drive, quality of sound, etc to phones for proper matching?  Or, is it something else?

Thanks for the help. 

Yes, exactly.

[saisunil]

An ipod has
- a very cheap (probably $1 in parts)
- small (size of a penny) and
- poor quality headphone amp

You by-pass the internal amp by using line-out cable into a portable headphone amp
Any line-out cable and external amp would be an improvement over stock ipod sound ...
You can go fancy with a very high quality components for an ipod - an external dac, and amp ... but that requires an all assault in-ear  or full size headphone rig   

[ecramer]

 :lol:wow what a loaded question  Sound quality that would be a good part of it. Are your Audio-Technica phones ear buds / iem or headphones? Headphones usually benefit from amp. I find that an amp provides more head room.  you can make a major step up in sound with an ipod by getting lod  and avoid the ipods amp section a dac amp combo if you get a line out doc that provides digital out. 

[charmerci]

.

[milford3]

Not to be lost here is the Ohm rating of headphones.  Most cans are rated at 30 to 50 Ohms.  Any higher rating above 50 Ohms will benefit from a headphone amp. 

[kenreau]

Thanks for the post.  I'm not familiar with those Fiio products and really like the look / small form factor of that FiiO E5 Headphone Amplifier.  At $25 +/-, it's reasonably priced as well.  Are these modest cost products really a sonic improvement?  I would be using them with my Etymotic's. 

Thx
Kenreau

An ipod has
- a very cheap (probably $1 in parts)
- small (size of a penny) and
- poor quality headphone amp

You by-pass the internal amp by using line-out cable into a portable headphone amp
Any line-out cable and external amp would be an improvement over stock ipod sound ...
You can go fancy with a very high quality components for an ipod - an external dac, and amp ... but that requires an all assault in-ear  or full size headphone rig

[roymail]

Audio-Technica ATH-M30, 65 ohms, plenty of volume using ipod Touch.

Like anything else in audio, I guess there's always something that sounds better than what you have.

Thanks for the opinions and advice.

[ajzepp]

An ipod has
- a very cheap (probably $1 in parts)
- small (size of a penny) and
- poor quality headphone amp

You by-pass the internal amp by using line-out cable into a portable headphone amp
Any line-out cable and external amp would be an improvement over stock ipod sound ...
You can go fancy with a very high quality components for an ipod - an external dac, and amp ... but that requires an all assault in-ear  or full size headphone rig

I have an ALO cable and like it very much. I'm not sure I get how that Algo Rhythm cable works, though. It says it's bit perfect and it's two parts, an interconnect and a usb/iPod dock cable? Is the usb end for a DAC, and then you use the IC between the DAC and the amp?

[Netdewt]

I have Grado 125's, and I've never felt the need for an amp. I would like a DAC though.

[eclein]

Kenreau- My first HP amp was an E5 and it all around improved the sound. They are now separates so you loose all the noise an ipod makes when you give the amp duty to another piece. I sat with my ipod touch last night in fact and while I was screwing around with something and using the headphone output only I noticed so much noise in the background, wifi radio adds noise, opening and closing windows etc... just with the little E5 you'll notice how much background noise is gone. The volume control is now in the E5 so be careful not to blow your ears out...check all connections and slowly toggle the volume on the E5 until you get used to it...just a caution not an issue!!
 Check it out, like you say its cheap, but wait until you hear the difference.......clearer, cleaner

[roymail]

I noticed so much noise in the background, wifi radio adds noise, opening and closing windows etc... just with the little E5 you'll notice how much background noise is gone.

I've never heard any noise like you're describing on my ipod.

[dB Cooper]

Sometimes the easiest solution is to try it. Check out user feedback, return policies etc, then buy one and try it out. For awhile- don't rely on snap judgments, sometimes differences with electronics don't jump out at you the way differences between transducers often do.

IEMs are the least likely to benefit imho; they tend to be easy to drive. Full size cans often 'open up' with a good amp. Again, listen to familiar, high quality source material for awhile. Then your ears- the only judge that matters- will tell you whether an amp is for you.

[roymail]

dB, thanks for the good advice.  I probably will try one.  Appreciate the replies.

[ajzepp]

I love my iPod but I hate the headphone jack. I have a line out dock cable-to-analog RCAs that I use as a source quite often and it sounds frickin amazing. I use my iPOd in this manner more than any other way. But the crappy amp in the thing just doesn't mate well at all with my etymotic IEMs. I have yet to try it, but I have no doubt that using a line out dock cable to mini-jack into an amp would sound MUCH better than the headphone jack. Or, using the cable like I have into a headamp would sound great, too...and I'm banking on that now that I'm about to finally order my Meier Corda Jazz! 

[dBel84]

as with all things related to the audio hobby, it is all about personal experience. If you are content with the sound from your headphones and ipod, don't mess with it until you start asking yourself if there is more to personal audio than what you have. Most of us started out at this point and for some it has been a journey of more powerful amps and the latest headphone fotm. I have never used an amp with iems but then I don't own difficult to drive creations from Jerry Harvey. There are very few full size headphones that to my ears have not benefited from some form of electronics between the source and headphone, either amplifier or current buffer. The best is to try things out , attending local meetings arranged through headfi or other forum is a sure way to get a wide range of experience. my first amp was a "cmoy" and it quickly became an addictive hobby which has culminated in me owning Cavalli Audio's Liquid Fire and Audeze's LCD3 .

..dB

[ajzepp]

Very well said, dB 

[saisunil]

I think it is less about money but more about finding yourself exploring in the rabbit hole that gets depper and more interesting and rather expensive very quickly

I think, one tweak all audiophile must do on their portables and it is free ... choose your favorite album and load a lossless version (ideally a wma) of a song and compare it with a lossy MP3 version - just do an A/B and hear for yourself the improvement between the two versions ...

My friends have been consistently amazed whenever they heard any of my portable rigs - the improvement an outboard amp and everything else down the road that goes with it are clear, audible and desirable ...

Allegedly the best portable player on earth is    ...
HM 801 from head-direct
DAC function: Coaxial (44.1kHz, 96 kHz) , USB DAC (16bit, 48kHz)DAC Chip: Burr-Brown PCM1704U-K (for Player, Coaxial and USB) ; Op-Amp: OPA627 [/]

[Bear]

Read this guys blog:  http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/

Lots of info.,  He has electrical engineering background at the very least, has access to high quality testing equipement and appears to know how to use it.  You will learn a lot from this blog.

I have his O2 amp design with some high sensitivity IEM's....there is NO noise from the amp and ipod vs amp sound quality is quite discernible.  His next project is a DAC.

Hope this helps

Shane

[mix4fix]

A proper headphone amplifier & headphones is the equivilant to a proper amplifier & speaker when we are dealing with higher end sound; the goal is to have it not sound like an MP3 player's earbuds.