Well, actually you do need one, to provide sufficient power to the headphone/s.
I’ve heard these (headphones) on the iPod before (and some others, Creative Zen, etc) and I just don’t get the volume I want out of the player itself. Even at full/100% volume, it’s not nearly enough. Most (all?) mp3 players simply don’t have a large power supply so an amp simply boosts the power.
Like i said above, if you have efficient head phones you DON’T need a amplifier. However you have non-efficient ones BOO HISS…
You could build one, or buy a nice one for pretty cheap. Ive seen them around i built one for a guy with all SMD part’s. It was pretty nice. I only used it once then he bought it.
Yea, but, any headphones are only as good as the power-source backing them (as is the case with speakers). And with consumer mp3 players, it’s just not sufficient. It’s like pairing 5,000 dollar speakers with a 100 dollar amp, otherwise.
I first heard of headphone amps when I phoned Virgin Records, Vancouver, and complained about “just not getting the volume I want out of the (or any) player, even at max volume…” at which point he suggested a headphone amplifier.
shrugs
Thanks, too!
Edited: Oh, also, the ideal player need not play/store/etc anything other than mp3. I don’t need video, photo or other types of media. However, if all players essentially have this capability, it’s fine. But it’s just not a determining factor, for me. Just mp3. hehe
Not sure, frankly. I mean, when I listen with these headphones on my PC (Soundblaster Audigy2 soundcard), using Winamp, at approx~ 50% volume, it’s about as loud as I seek.
When I’ve heard these same headphones on several portable mp3 players, it’s akin to keeping the volume at about 12-20% here (Winamp). So essentially, doubling the volume I’ve heard on these players would rock. Make sense?
Yes I hear ya. However the Audigy2 has a nice opamp to power those head phones. Most “Comercial” headphone amps are cheap shit and just mass-produced to garbage. Look on Diyaudio.com where i am every day, i bet you can fine one for cheap that will work with your mp3 player, the trick is to have a decent audio player keep it at 40-50% volume then let the amplifier do the work, if you don’t then your basically amplifying the portable mp3 players distorted output.
I recommend the Apple Ipod 30-60 gig ones. They rock. I have one. Head Phones are important, but buying the right ones for the right application helps. Having big head phones not always good. My advice look for a few mp3 players and start loooking for amplifiers. If you need help let me know, im always into helping people with audio.
on my samsung i had to download a firmware to it to get a 5 band equalizer … not surprising it was under its capabilities on normal and i mean … it came like this? i was disappointed till i found out what it could really do with that equalizer … nvr know somethin dumb like this could be happening to any of you as you read this
