Would an Amp Help?

R

RtbChief

n00b
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
23
Sorry if this is a totally lame question but I'm a total noob to this and was wondering if it is even worth it to add an amp to my system. I'm using Icemat Syberia cans and a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card. I was thinking about trying to build a CMoy but if it would not make any difference then what's the point. I'm pretty much just using it for gaming.
On another note, my motherboard has Soundstorm built in (NF7-S rev.2). Do you think the Santa Cruz is any better than that?
On one last note, is Mister X still building CMoys for other people?
 
I wouldn't consider an amp until you get into hi-fi. I don't know about the Icemat Siberia from personal experience, but I don't think that's at the standard where head-fi would consider it hi-fi. Really, I would never recommend an amp to anyone with headphones under $200. It's not that price means everything, but aside from a few exceptions, most headphones below there don't seem to benefit enough from amps (I did say a few exceptions though).

I also don't want to make it sound like head-fi is an elite council or anything where all decisions should be based on them, but they are a pretty knowledgeable community, with both experienced and less experienced members. Reading comments from everyone there helps you gauge what is good and in my opinion, you have no need for an amp.
 
I would not recommend a Santa Cruise at this point for games since it's only EAX 1-2 capable and driver support has been gone for some time now. As far as an amp goes yes it can make a big difference, but more than anything the how efficient your cans are (what the OHM's are rated for) coupled with the type/sound card you use i what's important. You can get very inefficient cans for well under $200.00 that would require a decent amp to get loud enough volume and clarity depending on your sound card/source. If you carefully select headphones that will match your soundcard's OHM rating usually an amp is not needed - depending. I still use an Audigy 2ZS unamped with Grada 60's and they sound very nice. I also have another unit with ALC 658 and i used a bustaroo cheap amp to get around the fairly inefficient cheaper sony cans - give it about 20-30% more volume and punch as opposed to being unamped.
 
Well a lot of recommendations for phones under $200:

Alessandro MS-1
Grado SR-60
HD555/595/580
KSC-75
Beyer DT770
A500/A900
Various IEMs

I wouldn't get an amp for most of those (with a few exceptions). There are also many other cans that I haven't listed...but the real question is about the Siberia Icemat.

Edit: He also already has his Santa Cruz...so recommending it to him or not is besides the point.
 
Thanks for the responses. Yeah, I kind of figured that an amp wouldn't help but I just thought I'd ask some people who actually knew something about this stuff. I guess I'll just have to go spend some money. I'm asuming from some of the other threads that the X-Fi comes pretty highly recommended. Is there a big difference between the xtreme music and the platinum? Again it is pretty much just for gaming with some occassional music. Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top