Headphone amps do they really work?

M

Monkey_feces

Gawd
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Jun 27, 2006
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I mean if they did work, why aren't they being manufactured, marketed and sold by retailers? Since everyone with one claims that they are essential, why do I have to buy a bootlegged altoids case for $60 on ebay?

Are our capitalists just too stupid to see a gold mine, or do amps just not make any difference? If that's the case, are all the headphone enthusiasts just fat losers whose only barrier from suicide is the fact that their ears are superior because their candy makes headphones sound really good?
 
because it likely isnt a market big enough for a company to bother, as opposed to simply selling receivers instead.

let see, sell a $200 crap receiver and make big profit
sell some cheap little amp for $50 and make less profit and have to make all new plants or hire new people to do it.
 
Monkey_feces said:
I mean if they did work, why aren't they being manufactured, marketed and sold by retailers? Since everyone with one claims that they are essential, why do I have to buy a bootlegged altoids case for $60 on ebay?

Are our capitalists just too stupid to see a gold mine, or do amps just not make any difference? If that's the case, are all the headphone enthusiasts just fat losers whose only barrier from suicide is the fact that their ears are superior because their candy makes headphones sound really good?
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Wow, you seem incredibly bitter at the world. What's the deal :confused:

They do make a difference. However, the majority of consumers want Home Theater set-ups and speakers so that more than one person can listen at a time. Are you familiar with the term "Niche Markets"? That's exactly the situation here, and why there isn't as large amount of companies as you're expecting.
 
Everyone has headphones, though. Every time someone wants to buy a nice set of headphones for their ipod, everyone says "that needs an amp, or it will be like sticking dog shit into both of your ears".

Hell, with more ipods/ iphones selling out on release, portable audio dhingies looks like a bigger market than midget porn.

The manufacturing costs argument is pretty nill because I always see little boxes of candy being hailed as god's gift to mankind.
 
I think it comes down to what people want or expect from something.
Many people who buy an iPod (or any MP3 player) just wants a simple on the go setup that they can listen to while doing daily tasks such as work, working out, or just relaxing. Getting into the depths of more advance listening people are afraid of "messing" with what they have already and what works well for their standards.

Heck I am sure you can ask many people on this forum what they had before they found this forum and what they have evolved to over time from spending time here. People just do not feel the need or want to spend time to advance something that they feel just works and delivers the quality they feel fine with.
 
Monkey_feces said:
Everyone has headphones, though. Every time someone wants to buy a nice set of headphones for their ipod, everyone says "that needs an amp, or it will be like sticking dog shit into both of your ears".

Hell, with more ipods/ iphones selling out on release, portable audio dhingies looks like a bigger market than midget porn.

The manufacturing costs argument is pretty nill because I always see little boxes of candy being hailed as god's gift to mankind.
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It all goes back to what I said about niche markets. When someone says they want better headphones and everyone recommends an amp, where are you? Are you here on the [H]? head-fi.org? The majority of the consumer market thinks that Bose + an iPod = the best sound in the world.

Sure everyone has headphones, but many people are quite content with the sound the included headphones/earbuds provide.
 
Monkey_feces said:
I mean if they did work, why aren't they being manufactured, marketed and sold by retailers? Since everyone with one claims that they are essential, why do I have to buy a bootlegged altoids case for $60 on ebay?

Are our capitalists just too stupid to see a gold mine, or do amps just not make any difference? If that's the case, are all the headphone enthusiasts just fat losers whose only barrier from suicide is the fact that their ears are superior because their candy makes headphones sound really good?
Click to expand...

There are lots of good headphone amps available from reliable companies, I don't know what you're going on about your not restricted to buy a "bootleg" or DIY amp as you suggested. Headphones that need amplification are rare, which is why you'll never see a, let's say, onkyo headphone amp. The money isn't there, there just aren't enough people with headphones like the HD-650 that need amplification. As for a difference try the headphone I just noted in an A/B amped/no amp/receiver and you'll see headphone amps are far from snake oil
 
look at how many people have a pair of speakers but won't go shell out 2 grand on an amp same reason with headphone amps

or look at how many people have computers but don't have full water or phasechange systems or sli'd gpu's


products geared towards enthusiasts often sell lower volumes than those that arn't
 
The market for headphone amps has grown by leaps and bounds. For proof, just look at how many people occupy Headfi, versus how many were there back in 2002, or even 2004.

(when the god damned thing is actually up :mad:)

Many 32 OHM phones dont need an amp, but still benefit greatly with one.
 
of course this depends on your set up, and it is hard to "trial it at home."

For home listening off a computer I always recommend listening to the headphones straight out of the computer. If you like the sound (esp the bass) then leave it be. If you feel like something is lacking, then go for the amp.

No matter what, you can not make something that smells like crap to smell like roses. It will smell less offensive, but still crap.

The last 10% of sound quality is in the niche market products. People claim it is a night and day difference? I doubt they have ever seen a sun rise.;)
 
headphone amps are the real deal, but you see the most improvement with high impedance headphones. you don't need an amp for a pair of crappy earbuds or streetphones, that wouldn't help at all. headphone amps exist for the same reason as speaker amps - give more power to something that needs it.


however, a dedicated headphone amp is generally much much better than the amp included on a soundcard.
 
I owned a pretty sweet headphone set up about 2 years ago which consisted of the Sennheiser HD650 and the HeadAmp GS-1 amp. It's a very popular combo on headfi and I think towert has this similar set up nowadays.

In my opinion, the amp does make a difference. There's a good sense of improvement when you go unamped from the soundcard to the amp (or even a receiver's headphone out to the standalone amp). I remember doing a single-blind A/B comparison between the two and I was able to tell the difference as long as both were level-matched 10/10 times.

Now, are the differences "night/day"... that one I'm not exactly sure I can back up. I would say there's a good 20-25% improvement with the amp.

Just my 2cents.
 
Headphone amps dont have a big market because most people with a hifi or computer sound system can plug the headphones into the main amp (headphone socket), no need to plug the headphones directly into the computer.

Most people already have a headphone amp on their sound system.
 
Monkey_feces said:
Everyone has headphones, though. Every time someone wants to buy a nice set of headphones for their ipod, everyone says "that needs an amp, or it will be like sticking dog shit into both of your ears".

Hell, with more ipods/ iphones selling out on release, portable audio dhingies looks like a bigger market than midget porn.

The manufacturing costs argument is pretty nill because I always see little boxes of candy being hailed as god's gift to mankind.
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manf. cost arent nill for a company, they wont use reccycled candy boxes, they need to get equipment to make said parts, employee people for assembly if needed, packaging, marketing......


also, what do you consider NICE headphones? if you buying headphone for an IPOD, you dont need an amp, and shouldnt bother with nice headphones anyways. Alot of people say you need a 1000W PSU to run a GTX, doesnt mean it is true.... alot of people claim "you need an amp, you need an amp" cause they want to justify why they just dropped $40 on part for their shit $10 headphones and claim they sound better cause now they are so cooool!

to me nice headpgones are my Sein. 595's or my previous 590 precisions, those are the type that need good amps and power to trulely get good sound from them.

In ear headphones and cheap $50 ones, dont need amps.
 
Monkey_feces said:
Everyone has headphones, though. Every time someone wants to buy a nice set of headphones for their ipod, everyone says "that needs an amp, or it will be like sticking dog shit into both of your ears".

Hell, with more ipods/ iphones selling out on release, portable audio dhingies looks like a bigger market than midget porn.

The manufacturing costs argument is pretty nill because I always see little boxes of candy being hailed as god's gift to mankind.
Click to expand...

people that say certain headphones are looking at expensive headphones, not koss brand or earbuds. these certain expensive headphones are rarely made for ipods because you would look silly wearing walking around with these huge cans on your head.:D

higher impedance headphones require an amp, or your sound card will not have the power to push them and make them sound good. 64ohm headphones don't need an amp, 300ohm headphones do.

think of it like car subwoofers. you just dont hook them up to your deck without an amp, or its going to sound like crap. its the same analogy.
 
Pinipig523 said:
I would say there's a good 20-25% improvement with the amp.
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Given my experiences, I'd say that's about right. It depends upon the headphones, of course, but a solid amp should deliver a better experience than a sound card's outputs in most cases. Lower impedance headphones may see small or minimal benefit, while high impedance cans might benefit greatly, causing them to "open up", yielding better or more pleasing frequency response and possibly improving dynamics. But the amp will rarely, if never, yield a so-called "night and day" difference. That'd really just be an unrealistic expectation.

I must admit, though, that I'm not actually sure the OP wanted serious responses to his bizarrely-pessimistic way of phrasing his question. Oh well...
 
I've always been tempted to buy one from MisterX. I've been using my receiver (I know I know) and I have always wanted to test if there was a distinct difference. One of these days...
 
I'm curious, I have Audio Techinca ATH-AD900 headphones that I plug directly into the computer (on board sound). They have an impedance of 35ohms. Would a headphone amp make a noticeable difference for me?
 
no

if you go through a nice dac and amp you will hear a reduction in back ground noise but thats about it.
 
Why wouldn't an amp help? This past weekend at the NY Head-fi meet, I was trying out a pair of L3000's. They're rated at 48 ohm impedance and there was a huge difference between the LD2+ and Apache. What you're saying is that between those 2 amps, his AD900 will sound the same except for maybe a blacker background?
 
Depends on how good the soundcard is but if you step up to a good amp I would think there should be a noticeable improvement. The two things you are most likely to notice are:

1) Less noise. The high current load that lower impedance phones place on an opamp leads to it hissing more. If you get a good headphone amp with a solid current stage you should notice less noise as a result.

2) Better bass. One of the things that tends to suffer when an opamp is loaded with a low impedance load is the bass response. It's weaker and not as tight as it should be. Again a good amp will fix that.

As to how much of an improvement it'll be I can't say. Some soundcards have surprisingly good output stages for headphones and thus benefit less from an amp. Also it depends on the quality and kind of amp you choose. Some might not be a whole lot better than the soundcard and as such not do a bunch for you.

My guess is that a good amp would probably be worth while.
 
snowboardingTobi said:
I'm curious, I have Audio Techinca ATH-AD900 headphones that I plug directly into the computer (on board sound). They have an impedance of 35ohms. Would a headphone amp make a noticeable difference for me?
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Not enough to justify the cost. I had some a900s (closed) for a while and tried them with a couple amps. Any difference I might have heard, i doubt i could tell through a/b testing.

My MS-1s though, respond very well to amping and they are also an lower impedance headphone. Just remember that impedance isn't the be all and end all of needing an amp (I think i've seen misterX rant about this a number of times (and correctly)).
 
Thanks all for the responses. It gives me something to think about. Just wish I knew someone near me that had a headphone amp I could test my headphones against.
 
snowboardingTobi said:
Thanks all for the responses. It gives me something to think about. Just wish I knew someone near me that had a headphone amp I could test my headphones against.
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If your friends have a hifi on their PC's, plug your headphones into the amp, the effect will be similar.
 
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