headphone amps

[fistfulofmetal]

anyone know anything about headphone amps? specifically like... what are some good ones for portable use?

been using my sennheiser hd650's for awhile and they're great but i could go for a bit more bass to them. apparently an amp would help with that. i guess. i dunno.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

just buy an Altoids amp off eBay ("headphone amp diy")

[Cormacaroni]

I got an earlier version of this:
http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/headroom-total-airhead.php

Cheap and cheerful, about the same size as a classic iPod and very light.

It really helps with high-end ear buds but will likely make big open cans WORSE. Try before you buy. I did not like it at all for use with Senn HD600s, but it was great with Etymotics.

[G The Resurrected]

THIS!!!!
http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=Amplifiers&ProductId=MC275LimitedEdition

Got up close and personal with one a few weeks back. OMG it was better than listening to music live. Tubes go out pretty quick though.

[Don Flamenco]

i have this for my grado sr80i's + PS3.  It does the job and it's cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E5-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B001P9EQH8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323784853&sr=8-1

[fistfulofmetal]

i have this for my grado sr80i's + PS3.  It does the job and it's cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E5-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B001P9EQH8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323784853&sr=8-1

interesting. i looked up the headphones you use, they look somewhat high end. i'm wondering if the amp is ..."good" enough(?) for my headphones. no offense to yours obviously.

[Don Flamenco]

i have this for my grado sr80i's + PS3.  It does the job and it's cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E5-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B001P9EQH8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323784853&sr=8-1

interesting. i looked up the headphones you use, they look somewhat high end. i'm wondering if the amp is ..."good" enough(?) for my headphones. no offense to yours obviously.

I wouldn't call them "high end" by any means, but they're certainly solid and accepted to be a cut above most stuff in the $100 range, as well as overpriced "high end" stuff like Bose and Dr. Dre Beats and other fronting, expensive brands. 

The amp I got was purely for volume adjusting purposes and I'm not sure how much it actually processes and equalizes the sound.  It does have a "bass boost" option, but that's basically a little equalizer setting inside the amp.

I guess what I'm saying is that bass is an equalizer problem and not something a headphone amp will necessarily take care of in an efficient way (like, efficient enough to buy a whole new piece of equipment to carry around.)   if you're happy with volume but not bass, instead of investing in a headphone amp, look up some custom equalizer settings for your portable player to get it to sound the way you want. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with the amps pre-set idea of "bass boost" which may suck.  On the one I linked, it doesn't suck, but it's just not a big boost.  and a headphone amp with full equalizer control might not be portable enough and will probably be expensive.  so if your player doesn't have custom equalizer settings, i'd just get a new player instead of trying out a portable post-processing solution.

[fistfulofmetal]

thanks for the info. my mp3 player does have equalizer settings but i don't mess around with them typically because i don't really know much about it.

if an amp is just going to get me a volume boost than i guess i won't bother since the volume is more than antiquate.

[Don Flamenco]

That's all the one I have does, aside from the cheapo bass boost. I'm sure they get more feature packed depending on how much you wanna drop.  But when it comes to treble/bass/mids etc., I don't think there's a lot more any amp can do for you that the equalizer can't, because it's pretty much all the same shit = an equalizer that controls those qualities. 

The reason why the bass is not so hot is because players default to "flat" equalization...everything equal and at the middle setting so people don't blow out their ears or think it sounds like shit out of the box. Past that, I don't know shit about equalizer adjustment, but there are probably tons of guides.  or just check out a preset. 

[Cormacaroni]

thanks for the info. my mp3 player does have equalizer settings but i don't mess around with them typically because i don't really know much about it.

if an amp is just going to get me a volume boost than i guess i won't bother since the volume is more than antiquate.

Amps don't even necessarily supply a volume boost. What I got out of it was increased detail, range and clarity. Basically you need to try before you buy.

Switching to flac over standard mp3s will provide as big a difference in many cases.

[Smooth Groove]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YULONG-D100-D-100-DAC-Headphone-AMP-amplifier-2010NEW-/120644872192?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c16fea800

This one is supposedly great value for the price, according to head-fi.  Still not cheap, but since you can afford 650s, I'm guessing it's in your range.