Headphone Amps

[damonrpayne]

So, this is for Klipsch people (Prof Thump and Others) and anyone else with an opinion:

What is your opinion of headphone amps in general? What type of system was most of the testing of the new line of headphones done with? Headphone jack on the stereo? Discman? Ipod? Headphone jack on the laptop?

I'm writing a review of a headphone amp for my website, which will lead nicely into my review of the Custom 3 when available. So far, I think the headphone amp is a very noticeable improvement over plugging the headphones directly into my laptop. I started out the first few hours thinking "Different, yes, better, I'm not sure" and moving into "Definately better, moving closer to the detail and dynamics of my cornwalls but still a ways to go and still lacking good bass."

I work on a computer and I listen to headphones at least 20 hours per week with a pair of Senheiser HD-280. I'd like to think I unquestioningly know how my headphones sound but I'm extremely paranoid about reviewer bias and psyching myself out to expect better sound. I promised myself I would live with these for a week before posting the review, and take some notes each day. Once I get a day this week where work is less insane I should be able to do some back to back (no amp/amp/no amp/amp) critical listening with some music I know excrutiatingly well to satisfy myself a little better.

[DrWho]

Are you sending your normal laptop output into the amplifier?

If you're worried about the placebo effect, then one thing you might try is listening only to the amp for like a week or however long it takes for you to grow accustomed to the sound (to the point where you're not thinking about the sound, but just listening to music). Heck, it might only take a few hours too, but I would do at least a few days. Once your mind is outta that critique mode, switch back to without the headphone amp and see how identical the music sounds. I've found that concentrating on sameness reveals differences more readily than trying to concentrate on differences. I think it's because when expecting it to be the same and it is the same that you hear it as being the same, but when it is different and you expect it to be the same it really throws you off - to the point that you know it's different. Basically it gets beyond the issue of the same thing sounding different because that will always happen.

[damonrpayne]

Yeah, the way these work is you send the output directly into the amp, then to the phones. It seems like amplifying an already amplified signal could be all sorts of problems but I know next to nothing about that realm of electronics. I'm doing the back to back listening today with my demo disc, after that I'm just going to live with the amp for a while.

[kaiser SET say]

Damon, I do a lot of portable listening these days and am a member over at Head-Fi also. You are correct in your thoughts about amplifying and already amped signal. The is why I use one of these http://aloaudio.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=55 from my iPods dock port (this brings my signal straight off the units hard drive bypassing the iPod headphone/jack altogether) to the input of my amp http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/tomahawk and then out to my phones http://www.westone.com/content/216.html.

This is my current reference portable rig, my U2 30GB iPod resides in here http://www.yotank.com/itankvideo.html which is then strapped via a velcro strap and the whole setup fits nicely in my case logic digital/instamatic camera case around my neck and wheighs hardly a thing. I've lost 2/3 of my capacity in my pod because I've downlaoded nothing but iTunes Lossless recordings on to this pod for maximum DAP performance and I'm quite pleased.

I'm looking forward to the release of the Custom 3's hoping that they take the top spot in my IEM lineup[]

[mas]

I suspect that more Crown D-75x's have been used to drive headphones than any other single model of amplifier.

[kaiser SET say]

I assume your speaking of musicians mas? Excellent point indeed.

Damon, for the office PC rig a nice sound card and a Benchmark DAC1 USB is a very nice setup, if that's a little steep you could try something like one of these which doubles as a portable amp (although lager than a lot of portables) for your DAP[] http://www.ibasso.com/ShowNews.aspx?ID=60

I have a higher end (at least in price, $940.00 w/Pod) portable rig but really nice[8] Far superior rigs (http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/custom-1.aspx ; http://aloaudio.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=55 ; http://www.headb.com/box_plus/index.html) to the iPod headphone out can be had for as little as $293.50 + shipping. Far less distortion on your ears than the headphone amps within the DAP's which do not always have the omph to dive cans efficiently[] A rig like this with lossless recordings is just about like sitting in your listening room[H]

[Professor Thump]

Headphone amps do make a difference... I wish I could say otherwise but this is the case. Of course there are varying degrees of performance primarily due to the impedance of the load. I have found competitive headphones that are sensitive to the output resistance of the amp. Some of these are expensive headphone in excess of $400. There are a lot of good amps out there. I have used several preamps which are both inexpensive and expensive. I have experimented with several computers, although not as many as one could. Most of my testing though was done with Nano, Classic and 30 gig iPods because I am assuming that 99% of the owners of Klipsch headphones will be on the go, without portable amps. I also listened to everything between 128 k sample rate and wave files, but most of my critical listening tests for voicing products was done on 192 k or higher.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

You didnt mention whether you are interested in a portable amp or not.

If it is a portable amp, then I have heard good things from the Tomahawk and Hornet. You can see them at this website:

http://raysamuelsaudio.com/products/tomahawk

Headroom also has a nice array of amps also that you should look at.

For home headphone amps your options are almost endless. Just look for something with a good power supply and low noise. Tube amps can be nice and warm also. Rolls make a reasonable amp if you are on a budget. I plan on looking at the Grace amps. I have had people use Crown amps, which are a nice option although the output power is a tad high on a power amp for a headphone so please dont try to burn in headphones with a large amp unless you are sure that your power level is within the range of that headphone. Remember if it is distorting, you are playing it too loud or you have a crappy source. The critical thing in your system is your headphones and of course your ears.

[damonrpayne]

Sorry I should have been more clear. I already own a headphone amp that I am reviewing, I'm not looking for something portable. I was just starting a discussion on this topic now that Klipsch offers headphones.

The amp is the entry-level offering from Headroom, I should have the review up next week.

[kaiser SET say]

My fault Damon, with this area being Klipsch headphones I saw your thread and thinking of IEM amps is why I posted in the first place. I'm currently having my nervosa attack in the portable hi-Fi world and basically I'm building about three different rigs with predominent sound signatures in all three camps, mids, lows & highs[] Did not mean to derail your thread and I'm looking forward to your Airhead review (I'm assuming)[Y]

Prof., excellent post above[] I think it will help a lot who want to upgrade their portable sound. I'm pretty sure all of the Klipsch IEM's would run on low gain on my Tomahawk. Will know more once the Custom 3's are released[] with drool!