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Headphone Amps

T

Tricky

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
171
Hey guys,

Trying to figure out if I need a headphone amp or not. I just picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD-555's and I love them to death but I'm not sure if I'm not using them at their full potential or not. That and if I need to buy a headphone amp do I have to spend 200 bucks to get a Bithead amp or would a $30 from thinkgeek work?

Up till now I've only used cheap headphones and this is my first jump into real quality audio, so far it's a dream come true.
 
You will possibly benefit from an amp. I have the same headphones (great aren't they?) and I purchased a Mint Vibe from here:
www.headsave.com

Norm builds them by hand, and the improvement was easily audible. I will probably upgrade to his Classic amp soon.

But you also need to make sure your source is decent. A good inexpensive choice is the Chaintech AV-710, $24 at Newegg. And then configure it according to the following guide:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75655

Your ears will love you!
 
What is your source unit? I dont know about the new 555s, but both the 570s and 580s benifit from an amp. If you want a good amp, there is a very good builder that is a mod here. Also, visit the head-fi.org fs/ft forum. There are usually some great deals there. I havent heard either of the amps you mentioned, but I have an Audio Technica that is decent. I cant find it for sale anywhere online though.
 
Right now I have them plugged directly into my Audigy gamer. I'll take at look at the amps posted so far. Anyone have any other hints/tips/really cool stuff to listen to on awesome headphones? :)

Thanks
 
Mister X the moderator of this forum makes headphone amps =P, in fact i have several from him, they range from moderately cheap ~$100, less for lower end units to ~$500-600

i have tried just about every amp that he makes =D, and they all sound great.
 
Tricky said:
Hey guys,

Trying to figure out if I need a headphone amp or not. I just picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD-555's and I love them to death but I'm not sure if I'm not using them at their full potential or not. That and if I need to buy a headphone amp do I have to spend 200 bucks to get a Bithead amp or would a $30 from thinkgeek work?

Up till now I've only used cheap headphones and this is my first jump into real quality audio, so far it's a dream come true.
Click to expand...

Bitheads suck. The thinkgeek.com amp surely sux. Go PM X86dude or send him an AIM at X86 Inside. He is the resident forum headphone amp builder. My advice is to at least get a Pimeta amp, if not a PPA amp. Your money will be spent a lot better than buying a Shithead...er Bithead.
 
Harkamus said:
Bitheads suck. The thinkgeek.com amp surely sux. Go PM X86dude or send him an AIM at X86 Inside. He is the resident forum headphone amp builder. My advice is to at least get a Pimeta amp, if not a PPA amp. Your money will be spent a lot better than buying a Shithead...er Bithead.
Click to expand...

It's Mister X now :p And yes, I reccomend him also

I doubt that a good amp would make a worthwhile difference with those headphones/source however
 
I have a Pimeta from Mister X and it's phenomenal. When paired with a Sennheisser HD590 and a Revo, nothing in my house could touch it, even the Home Theater system downstairs. You really should have a chat with Mister X, he won't eat you, I promise...
 
You really should have a chat with Mister X, he won't eat you, I promise...
Click to expand...
yes he will....I've had a few chunks taken out of my hide from him....jerk.

contact him for an AMP!!! DO IT!!! They're the best darned amps around....and...

You will possibly benefit from an amp. I have the same headphones (great aren't they?) and I purchased a Mint Vibe from here:
www.headsave.com
Click to expand...
isn't $60 a little much for a cmoy type amp?

-Z
 
Zemo said:
isn't $60 a little much for a cmoy type amp?
-Z
Click to expand...
Not for a good one. Cheap cmoys are well, cheaper. I've heard he used better parts.
 
I've build a CMoy for < 40$ Canadian. Google for a tutorial, it's really easy. Just substitute the batteries for a wall wart and your set. BTW - you could also mabey check outwww.head-fi.com - its a really awesome forum with some really valuable resources.
 
Irons82 said:
You really should have a chat with Mister X, he won't eat you, I promise...
Click to expand...

Are you kidding? The man is a monster. I paid him in live kittens for my pimeta. He said they were tasty.

Seriously, though. The man knows his way around a board w/ a soldering iron. It's a fine product for the money (or kittens).
 
Don't really see the point in a $200 headphone amp when you can get a reciever for less.
 
agentzero9 said:
Don't really see the point in a $200 headphone amp when you can get a reciever for less.
Click to expand...

Typical, uneducated response. :rolleyes:

If you have some shitty headphones, I guess a receiver would suffice.

GodsMadClown said:
Are you kidding? The man is a monster. I paid him in live kittens for my pimeta. He said they were tasty.

Seriously, though. The man knows his way around a board w/ a soldering iron. It's a fine product for the money (or kittens).
Click to expand...

Kittens...blah. I had to pay my left testicle. I liked my right one more.
 
A reciever amplifies the signal so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone.



Are you saying the headphone jack on a reciever is low quality?
 
agentzero9 said:
Are you saying the headphone jack on a reciever is low quality?
Click to expand...
Yes. Most are. Manufacturers cut corners, and since a lot of people dont even use the headphone jack, they can save money by using cheaper parts. There are some good recievers, Nad, Marantz, McIntosh, Sunfire come to mind.
 
The headphone jack on my reciever blows away the qualiy I got when my headphones were plugged directly into the versajack on the TBSC, which was considered a top of the line headphone input for its time (just 1-2 years ago). I doubt even the M-Audio Rev has as much of an increase in SQ (if any) from the TBSC. Certainly it would not provide the jump that my reciever does.
 
agentzero9 said:
The headphone jack on my reciever blows away the qualiy I got when my headphones were plugged directly into the versajack on the TBSC, which was considered a top of the line headphone input for its time (just 1-2 years ago). I doubt even the M-Audio Rev has as much of an increase in SQ (if any) from the TBSC. Certainly it would not provide the jump that my reciever does.
Click to expand...
OK, at first you were talking about headphone amps and them being a waste since you could get a receiver; now you talk about a sound card. Of course the sound card is nothing compared to a receiver. But compared to most headphone amps, the receiver doesn't hold a candle. Simply put(like already has been stated) most people don't even use the headphone out. Headphones as it stands are a niche market(at least the good ones).

There is a reason why these amps are otherwise called dedicated headphone amps. The best would be to plug the headphones into a dedicated amp, and the amp into the receiver.
 
I've got a Marantz SR8200 for a receiver, which, when I got it, was about $1600 new. The headphone jack on that was pretty damn nice, but I went overkill and bought a standalone headphone amp [another 600 new] , and that edges out the Marantz output by a bit. This is all probably massive overkill for most people though, my headphone junk alone cost about 1100$.

I've got my headphone amp hooked to the analog out of my Emu 1212M, and the receiver is hooked to the same card via digital coax. The DACs on the receiver might be a bit better than the emu's, but I haven't really fooled much with that yet [cause I'm cheap and don't want to buy another set of RCA cables, even if they cost 30$]
 
BO(V)BZ said:
I've got a Marantz SR8200 for a receiver, which, when I got it, was about $1600 new. The headphone jack on that was pretty damn nice, but I went overkill and bought a standalone headphone amp [another 600 new] , and that edges out the Marantz output by a bit. This is all probably massive overkill for most people though, my headphone junk alone cost about 1100$.

I've got my headphone amp hooked to the analog out of my Emu 1212M, and the receiver is hooked to the same card via digital coax. The DACs on the receiver might be a bit better than the emu's, but I haven't really fooled much with that yet [cause I'm cheap and don't want to buy another set of RCA cables, even if they cost 30$]
Click to expand...


first you plunk down $3300 down in audio, then you won't buy a $30 cable?! :eek: :D i can relate though, it's so friggin' easy to spend dough on audio stuff. gotta love it!
 
Most receivers have pretty crappy headphone outputs. Sound cards are even worse and just suck for amplifying hard to drive headphones.

First you plunk down $3300 down in audio, then you won't buy a $30 cable?!
Click to expand...

Heh, that sounds like something I would do.
 
Ok, I havn't messaged him yet but I will go with Mister X once I get some money saved up again. Also, some of you have said that the Audigy is not really that good of a source. If that is the case should I be thinking of getting an Audigy2 ZS or Chaintech AV-710 or something to that matter?
 
DatHak512 said:
first you plunk down $3300 down in audio, then you won't buy a $30 cable?! :eek: :D i can relate though, it's so friggin' easy to spend dough on audio stuff. gotta love it!
Click to expand...

Well, before I did a lot of research, I busted 130$ buying a 'nice' pair of interconnects, and that's a mistake I don't plan to do again. And if you're curious, right now my audio purchases now total about $5700, plus shipping, and the only thing that I bought new were my HD650's and my sub =] I just got my Onix Ref 2's, which are damn nice. I'll get some pictures of those tonight, if my roomie will bring home the digicam.
 
..........


lol, i want your life.
i should have some Audio-Technica ATH-A900 headphones as soon as fedex does its thing. i can't wait to get those over my ears as it will be my first pair of good headphones. can't wait :D :D

<edit: fixed my crappy spelling -_- >
 
Dat,

Give us some impressions and comparisons if you can, those are always nice to have.

My life isn't that fantastic, I'm just a college student with a good job who doesn't eat too much food [which helps a lot for saving up money =]
 
BO(V)BZ said:
Give us some impressions and comparisons if you can, those are always nice to have.
Click to expand...


i'd love to let you all know what they end up sounding like. apparently they're not comming today, as it's almost 4:00 as i make this post =/ ...i'll be sure to let everyone here know as soon as they come in, and of course how they sound.
 
Tricky said:
Ok, I havn't messaged him yet but I will go with Mister X once I get some money saved up again. Also, some of you have said that the Audigy is not really that good of a source. If that is the case should I be thinking of getting an Audigy2 ZS or Chaintech AV-710 or something to that matter?
Click to expand...

Audigy 2 ZS is fine. Just order one and ship it to Mister X so that he can upgrade the op-amps.
 
Hark, any idea what he charges for such an operation? Also, any idea if he'd mod a 1212M for me? One can always hope you know =]
 
Irons82 said:
I would imagine sending Mister X a PM or IM message would get you faster and more accurate response?

http://www.hardforum.com/member.php?u=40953
Click to expand...

Yea, I know, but it would be nice for everyone to see prices, assuming he doesn't mind them being posted. I don't have crap for soldering skills, and I'm willing to pay somebody a reasonable amount of money to upgrade my stuff, and I think that a lot of other people are.

However, I can certainly understand that he doesn't want to be bypassing analog stages and upgrading output caps all day too =]
 
Well, let me help you out there then..... Posting prices in the open forum = advertising. Which = A violation of the forum rules.
Which = me modding my own posts
Which = not gonna happen.
Understand?
 
Never mind getting them to mod my card, the price they quote is two and half times as much as the card cost...seems a little high when all the have to do is desolder and resolder a few components.
 
Funny cause I am starting think it may be worth it..... all I get is clip clip clip out of my dac with this card. :(
 
Doesn't someone on head-fi do mods for the EMU? (Would it be against the TOS if I named the person?)
 
hey Mister X i've asked around this forum a couple of times if a dedicated amp would help me out with my sen HD580's and the usual answers were yes. i have almost made the jump to getting a $250.00 amp before. i think it was the creek something but decided not to.

i'm currently using the updated jack from my klipsch's v4.1 for my headphones and use it exclusively for this. would it surffice to say if i got a premade amp how much of a difference would i see?

if u'd like i'll pm you.
 
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