headphone (pre)amplifiers? help please

[SlasherDNA]

hello.

ill get straight to the point. i dont know nothing about amplifiers, i only heard you get more boost out of your headphones if you got them hooked on amp. i was looking at http://www.headamp.com/ for some products, but got lost. there are preamplifiers and amplifiers (anyone wanna spare a few words on whats the difference, please?).

i got sennheiser HD595 headphones. im planning on buying an amplifier, but im totally lost. im using the front panel of X-Fi Platinum sound card. is this any good?

can you people help me with that to choose, and why?

thanks

 

[Fryguy8]

http://www.electric-avenues.com/audio8.html

if you want an amp check that out.

 

[towert7]

...there are preamplifiers and amplifiers

As strage as it sounds, a preamp is the piece of equipment before the amp (drum roll, cymbal tap).

No, in all honestly, here is the difference.

The traditional applications are this:
A preamp is a device which takes many different sources as input, outputs only one signal at a time which would then goto the amp. A preamp can also modify each source by it's preamp electronis (Ex: tubes, circuitry, etc). A preamp also usually has volume control, whereas the amp does not have volume control.

Now the amp takes one source as input, amps it, and sends it as output to eaither speakers or headphones.

Most of your budget headphone amps are just that, an amp for a headphone. Some of the bigger and more expensive ones can actually take several sources as input, thus it also acts as a preamp and amp all in one (in the audio world, its called in integrated amp, although in the headphone world we still call it just an amp with preamp function).

If your looking at headamp.com the Gilmore Lite amp is a headphone amp. His more expensive things are just differnt types of amps.

Fryguy8 linked to a budget amp, geared toward portable use.

~Hope this helps, and welcome to the world of high end audio

 

[towert7]

i was looking at these two http://www.electric-avenues.com/audio8.html and http://www.headamp.com/home_amps/lite/index.htm (Gilmore Lite Headphone Amp).
the first one is portable, meaning i can take it anywhere with me, right? and the second one, gilmores lite amp is for house use?

correct

it would be nice to have both. the thing is, im a sucker for nice stuff. like the gilmors lite amp. but id like to have the portable one too. the money isnt that much of a problem. would you say, that i should buy both? or only one? if so, which one, and why?

The PA2v2 is a nice amp for the price, and its an excelent porrtable amp due to its very small size, light weight, sturdy build quality, and long battery life. For 60$us, you get the amp, a small mini to mini cable, the power adapter, and I belive free international shipping (he is from Canada). The person who makes these is Gary, and he owns that website ( http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplifiers.html ). Gary is a pleasure to deal with. He responds to e-mails quickly and is always willing to help. If you want to buy his PA2v2, just e-mail him and he will charge 60$. You can also bid on his amps on e-bay, but those usually always go above 60$.

Now, the HeadAmp Gilmore lite is regarded as a very good amp, espeically for the price. It's extreamly neutral and revealing of the source (it doesn't color the sound). It's also quite small, and the build quality is top notch. Justin (who owns HeadAmp) is a busy person making all the amps, and he sometimes takes a day or two to respond to e-mails. He also takes a while to build the things. His Gilmore Lite may take 4-5 weeks from payment to the ship date. He can build the amp in either a 120v version, or a 230v version.

Personally, I have never heard anyone complain about these two people. Although they are pretty much just "one man operations", countless people have ordered things from them without a problem.

I personally have ordered from both, and am very happy. I have a PA2v2 and a Gilmore Lite with Dedicated power supply.

Both of these amps are bargins at what they cost.
If you want more info, feel free to check out head-fi.org
It's a great forum for headphone related stuff, such as headphones, and amps.

Now, what should you do? Hm... If you have a need for both a portable setup and a home setup, than you could either get a desktop amp and a portable amp, or you could try and look for a higher quality portable amp that can take the place of both. Careful though, to get a portalbe amp at the quality of the G-lite, you may be paying more then a G-Lite + PA2v2.

~Hope this helps

 

[Pinipig523]

Basically, the preamp comes before the amp... all if not most of the time, the preamp has the volume control. The preamp basically modulates the mV information coming from the source and delegates it to the amp.

The HeadAmp GS-1 (what I had) has a preamp section built in. It has nothing to do with it being a headphone amp, it's preamp section exists so it could be used as a solo preamp when sending info to speaker amps.

Joey

 

[Gatticus]

I've been looking for a headphone amp too and from what I have read the PA2v2 may be a good portable amp but I read it also colorizes the sound. I want a neutral amp and what looks like may be for me is the Meier Corda Aria but it is more than I want to spend. Know of any that are of similar quality to this one but less money?

 

[Jodiuh]

Mister X still building Pimetas? He took care of me just fine.

 

[towert7]

The Gilmore Lite was quite balanced from what I heard. It sells for 300$us new.

 

[killernoodle]

I can't wait for my millett hybrid board to come in so I can start building