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amp question

X

Xorg

n00b
Joined
Feb 20, 2006
Messages
23
I'm new to computer audio, and while purchasing headphones, I have seen on various sites that an amp can improve the headphone's sound quality. I'm wondering how an amp works and how it connects to your computer, and if it would be better to buy an amp or a sound card for the headphones?
 
I'd say that most would say the answer would be "both".

As far as the amp goes, usually they connect in line with your headphone cable. They will commonly have a 9volt battery or an AC plugin to get their power from.

If you have some high quality headphones, the amp can definately make them sound better. If you use those small little things similar to what you get for free with an mp3 player, don't bother.

I don't personally use a headphone amp.

As far as the sound card vs. none, it depends on your hardware. For music purposes there really is very very very little reason to say that a sound card will process a CD or an MP3 better than most modern onboard sound devices. There is a whole lot of rumour and half-truths said on this forum about soundcards and onboard sound that don't automatically apply.

Headphone amp will be much cheaper between the two, and if it's MUSIC you're more concerned about, it will definately be a better way to go. If you play a lot of video games and that is why you are asking, a sound card might be recommended. Certain games make very good use of sound codecs such as EAX, and in a lot of games being able to have a larger number of sounds going off at the same time (known as a hardware voice) can be a definate advantage. But this is not because it is putting out better sounds, it's because it is allowing more sounds to be played. As I mentioned before, in music, this is absolutely not a concern.
 
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