Which headphone amp to buy?

J

jesusfr3ak4evr

Gawd
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
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Well, the other day I was at the piano and plugged my headphones into a cd player to do some ear training by listening to various songs and transcribing them onto piano. This was the first time I'd ever plugged my headphones into something other than my pc (I have Sennheiser HD 212 Pros), and WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I actually heard some pretty awesome bass I'd never heard before. So now, instead of just upgrading to a better pair of headphones (which I will probably ask for as a graduation present from a sibling), I'd like to purchase a decent amp to bring out the potential in my headphones. I read in a previous thread about finding a PA2V2 portable headphone amp on eBay for ~$60 shipped, which is true. There are currently 6 auctions up for those. That looks good, especially considering most other amps I've seen cost way more!

Well, I'm currently an elementary audiophile, so what are some other good options for amps? I'm willing to pay whatever for an amp within reason. I'd like something that won't leave me asking, "is there another amp I'd be happier using?" Thanks for the help.
 
I built myself a STEPS and a PPA V2 board in February. It was a fun project, though I think it might be beyond your budget; I probably spent a total of $300 on parts. But it is a great amplifier, and you can customize some stuff and add whatever options you'd like.

The same website has a few designs, and they're almost all cheaper than the PPA V2.
 
I currently have a Meta 42 amp that I've been using as my main headphone amplifier for about a year now, which was built for me. It has pretty good tight bass and sounds quite clear, a huge upgrade from my z-5500 output or sound card (I'm currently pushing HD-650's at 300 ohms) It runs on a single 9 volt battery ( I would recommend getting NiMH rechargables ) and the battery life I would say is 12-18 hours at moderate volume. It has an 1/8th input, volume knob, 1/8th output, and on/off switch, in a black box that's about 5 inches by 2 inches by 3/4th inches. Overall it's a nice portable amp which can fit in your pocket and still sound good. I'm currently planning on selling it for 80 dollars, due to the fact that I only listen to headphones at home, and don't want to worry about batteries anymore. If you're interested let me know.
 
Well currently I'm almost hooked on the PA2V2 portable headphone amplifier. Unless I see something that shows a distinct improvement over those, I think I'll buy the PA2V2s for $60 shipped. That fits my budget very nicely, and it looks to be able to do justice to any headphones I throw at em. The design seems prettymuch flawless. In fact, I think I want to buy one just to take it apart :D I plan to major in Computer Engineering starting next fall at University of Maryland, so this type of stuff would be interesting to look at.
 
I would reccomend that you skip the PA2V2 thing and build yourself a Cmoy.
 
jesusfr3ak4evr said:
The design seems prettymuch flawless. In fact, I think I want to buy one just to take it apart :D I plan to major in Computer Engineering starting next fall at University of Maryland, so this type of stuff would be interesting to look at.
Click to expand...

Save your money because just about everything you need to know about that amp can be found here--->
http://www.national.com/ds.cgi/LM/LM4881.pdf
 
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