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mini portable amp for - in ear earphone type?


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There are many you can buy from cheap and cheerful $20 CMOY kits in a breathmint tin to high end ones that cost several hundred dollars.

 

The thing to remember about headphone amps is that its not really down to how much you spend but what you like sound wise.

 

There are not many components needed so the main cost is probably the case. Grado make a very expensive headphone amp box out of wood but inside are about $20 worth of electronics.

 

Do a search on CMOY (Ebay/Google) and go from there. Initially dont spend much ($50 or less or build it yourself from a kit) and enjoy the fact that you can boost the output and quality from a iPod or suchlike for very little cost. You 'll then be introduced the world of OPAMPS and how they affect sound. Its fun stuff.

 

I have a small amp I got from Ebay for about $40. It has a Burr-Brown OPA227 OPAMP in it and it sounds superb.

 

Here is the big resource - http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/

 

But be careful...loads of info there. It can be addictive, the world of headphone amps.

 

Meridian 551 amp / Meridian 507 CD / Zune Mk1

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As Daglesj said 'Headfi' is the place to go for a read. But, watch your wallet once you start on that forum!!

 

I've used several headphone amps over the years (portable & home rigs). There's some great sounding kit around but its hard to get any demo's.

It depends on what headphones your using & trying to find an amp to match. Not all 'cans' benifit the same from one amp.

If your using an ipod? a line out dock to the amp will provide a worthwhile improvement too.

 

But the Headphones you use are the most important bit!! IMO.

For portable use i get great results from the Sleek sa6 IEM's. Amped or not they sound great, i tend to use them unamped though, because once you start to carry amps, Lod's etc your portable rig gets less portable!

 

PC/Mac > Dac > Headphone amp > Headphones can sound awesome & give speaker set-ups a good run for the money though, but i guess thats a whole new thread!

 

 

www.TurnMeUp.org - Bringing Dynamics Back To Music.

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Here are some pics of mine. Its from Silverkey Audio. They sell batches on Ebay from time to time.

 

The sound is very punchy and really gives a major boost. The build quality is very good -

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/daglesj/IMG_0544.jpg

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/daglesj/IMG_0545.jpg

 

and then with my gear -

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/daglesj/IMG_0559.jpg

 

Meridian 551 amp / Meridian 507 CD / Zune Mk1

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I'd highly recommend -51 Mustang from Ray Samuels Audio. Here's a link: http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/p-51 $375 new.

 

P-51__Mustang_048.jpg

 

Best quality built and soundwise, and it's very small. You can read some reviews and comments

here

 

Or this one: http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/tomahawk - it's a bit cheaper but also great little amp.

 

Color_Tomahawk3.jpg

 

No association, just very happy customer and user :)

 

 

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x2 for the RSA products.

I have used the Tomahawk with my IEM & it does sound very very good. Even though it was designed for IEM It will drive most headphones very well. I have also listened to the predator but never owned one (also includes a good usb Dac). I have not had the pleasure of the Mustang but its reported to be RSA's best portable amp yet!

RSA products do have their own sound though but so do all the portable amps that i have used.

Some other brands worth looking at are Meier-Audio, iBasso, HeadAmp (Pico- best portable i owned) & thats just a few.

But don't discount a CMOY great SQ for what it would cost you to build or even to buy pre-built (Quite a few on ebay). Alot of the above cost £200-300+ So good headphones are where you should start.

Headfi.org has a good trade section & some great prices if 2nd hand is ok. Mostly sold us only though.

 

 

www.TurnMeUp.org - Bringing Dynamics Back To Music.

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Yes i have heard the RSA Predator. it is infact a very good amp! I only had a short demo at a mini meet & only using my iPod, it drove my Sleek & shure IEM's very well & was a good match for my HD600. So i have have no experiance of the Dac but it is very well regarded on the Headfi forum. I did own a RSA Tomahawk which was designed for IEM but also drove my HD600 very well.

I did also own a HeadAmp Pico for several months though & that is an equally well regarded headphone amp. I found both Dac & amp very good. the dac uses a wolfson 24bit WM8740 chip. the sound was slightly more neautral to the predator IMO.

 

www.TurnMeUp.org - Bringing Dynamics Back To Music.

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Thanks alfie.

 

i had read about the Pico on headfi forum.

( honestly, and no criticism intended in any way,

the folks on that forum kind of scared me -- all

that talk about 'rolling op-amps' -- whatever that means. :-) )

 

so the Pico is more neutral, as you, and many others have

suggested at headfi.

 

next steps ... it's probably important to match these thoughts

with the headphones in use, yes?

 

i've been reading about the AKG K701, and their

successors, along with the other usual suspects.

 

anyone have any thoughts about headphones in that

value/price range? moreover, assuming a Mac, and

need for phones and DAC/headphone amp, any thoughts

generally? eg: if one wanted to do this

close to 'very very good' and keep costs under $1000,

not including the Mac ... ?

 

 

 

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Headfi can be a bit intimidating! But i've met some real nice people there. it is a great resource for all things headphone.

 

I would start with the headphones.

I'm not sure where you live, but if possible go & listen to a few pairs in your budget.

Headphones have a greater tonal variation than speakers that is easy to notice when comparing models. Just compare Senn's to Grado to Beyer's!

I think its due to them not having a flat frequency response. Because some frequencies get accentuated when the speaker is very close to the eardrum headphones have a more tailored response.

So you need to find one that suits you!

Also there is differences in open & closed back designs & you need to consider this also. (Isolation from the outside world for you or anyone else in the room)

Also comfort factor can play its part. How they sit on the head, over the ear, around the ear.

The music you listen to will also play its part!

All this makes Headphones quite personal so its hard to give recomendations!

 

I enjoy my Beyer 770pro's, HD600's at home & sleek sa6 on the move but they may not do it for you!

the AKG k701's i have no experiance with but is supposed to be very airy with a great soundstage, very revealing, slightly bass light but with liquid mids & sparkly highs. Very nice! but the best thing is for you to listen!

 

Then when you have your headphones or a shortlist look for an amp/Dac, The Predator, Pico, iBasso's are nice portable Dac/Amps. Or you could get larger form seperate dac & Headphone amp (there's a whole load of Chinese stuff thats well regarded. SS & tube gear) You could check back at Headfi for peoples reccomdations of what gear might suit your favourite headphones.

You should be able to put together a real nice system with your budget.

 

Oh & op-amp rolling is just swapping op-amps to get a better sound or a better amp headphone match. the chip or chips just plugs into a socket (not dissimilar to a cpu just a lot less pins)

 

 

www.TurnMeUp.org - Bringing Dynamics Back To Music.

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IBasso products are intriguing me. I have a set of Senheisser HD555 headphones and love them. Just wondering if these products would improve my experience. I would probably get a new set someday (not soon or anything). The sub 200$ ones seem pretty nice (I am in Canada). They look nice and simple (1/8" headphone out? or...can't quite tell) and at a reasonable price. Can someone give me a rundown of my options, and how they'd affect my HD555's

 

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