Budget amplifier recommendations?

I

insane111

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
196
(meant to say headphone amps)
I see lots of people recommend the E11, but I'm wondering what opinions here are in the sub-$100 range.

The thing is I don't *need* the amp to be portable, so if there are better non-portable options I'd like to hear them.

edit- I'll mention that I'm planning on trying out V-MODA M-100 headphones, and my sound card is an Xonar DX
 
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Thanks

I'll mention that I'm planning on trying out V-MODA M-100 headphones(actually don't have them yet), and my sound card is an Xonar DX
 
Any idea what op amp that Xonar DX has? I did a quick Google but didn't see it. Is it a 4558 or something? It is probably decent and I would just try it first. If it gives you enough volume without getting into distortion, honestly I'd say stick with the card and don't bother with the headphone amp. Some sound cards are good enough for some people with some headphones. In those cases, an amplifier wouldn't help.

Worst case scenario: you try it with the card, it doesn't have enough volume without distortion, and you deal with lower-quality audio for a few days while you wait for the amp to arrive.

Generally amplifiers aren't that important - you either have what you need or you don't. Yes, they can still vary in quality because you might be running one amplifier at 2% THD at the volume you want while another might be capable of the same output with only 0.05% THD. But generally this should be audible and you should be able to tell. Amplifiers really aren't voodoo. If you run an amplifier at significantly higher output than it is good for, you can hit 10% THD or even more. That would definitely be audible. And some amplifiers just won't work well with certain impedance loads at basically any output level - but again that is generally audible since distortion would be high and high distortion is audible. Think of when you've got a cell phone cranked up to max volume playing music. You can clearly hear the distortion. If the distortion is low enough that you can't hear it, then the amp is a wasted purchase.

Another thing you could do is buy it from a source where you can easily return it if it doesn't end up improving your sound quality enough for you to want to keep it.
 
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dandragonrage said:
Any idea what op amp that Xonar DX has? I did a quick Google but didn't see it. Is it a 4558 or something? It is probably decent and I would just try it first. If it gives you enough volume without getting into distortion, honestly I'd say stick with the card and don't bother with the headphone amp. Some sound cards are good enough for some people with some headphones. In those cases, an amplifier wouldn't help.

Worst case scenario: you try it with the card, it doesn't have enough volume without distortion, and you deal with lower-quality audio for a few days while you wait for the amp to arrive.

Generally amplifiers aren't that important - you either have what you need or you don't. Yes, they can still vary in quality because you might be running one amplifier at 2% THD at the volume you want while another might be capable of the same output with only 0.05% THD. But generally this should be audible and you should be able to tell. Amplifiers really aren't voodoo. If you run an amplifier at significantly higher output than it is good for, you can hit 10% THD or even more. That would definitely be audible. And some amplifiers just won't work well with certain impedance loads at basically any output level - but again that is generally audible since distortion would be high and high distortion is audible. Think of when you've got a cell phone cranked up to max volume playing music. You can clearly hear the distortion. If the distortion is low enough that you can't hear it, then the amp is a wasted purchase.

Another thing you could do is buy it from a source where you can easily return it if it doesn't end up improving your sound quality enough for you to want to keep it.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the DX has, but I can say it could get the HD 598 "~50 ohm" headphones to quite a high volume, but fell just a little bit short of my loudest listening level at 100% on the 598's.

The M-100's are 32 ohm, but I'm clueless as to how much of a difference that ~28 ohms makes. If that makes the difference, then I would probably be good with just the card.
 
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It depends on more than just the impedance - another huge factor is the sensitivity/efficiency (not the same but directly correlated) of the headphones. The more sensitive, the less power they need to get a certain amount of volume, which means the amplifier needs to do less work. But on the other hand, the more sensitive the headphones are, the easier you hear noise (poor SNR) in the signal.
 
SMSL SD793-II I think it offered just as much as the Monoprice DAC/amp combo but at only about ~$60. The only 'downside' to this is that it only uses an optical connection and not USB. As long as you can live with that, this is probably your best bet under $100.

You are right to look elsewhere besides the Fiio E11, there's many more options that I personally think are better.
 
Thanks, I've looked at reviews of all of them and if I end up needing one I'll come bacto sort through them to pick one.

I actually didn't realize I sort of have an amp sitting right in front of me inside my Audionegine A5's haha. But I'm not sure how that would work out, I'd have to use RCA ports which disable the external volume control knob.
 
I would spend the money on a creative z series personally. The headphone out does a really nice job with low impedance phones like the moda. Plus the z has the best headphone gaming sound going ATM. I had a xonar dx1. My creative z kicks its ass for gaming. About the same for music though.
 
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