Headphone amps

[Reid]

ADR (bless him) recommended a headphone amp, but I can't remember which one he recommended. Anyone have any recommendations?

I have a beat up Sony disc player. Would it be wiser to spend my money on getting a better cd player?

[Chazro]

Wazzup Reid!

There's alot of variables to take into account, the 1st being what kind of 'phones do you have? The price range for a headphone amp goes from the low 100's to over a thousand but I wouldn't recommend buying an expensive amp if your 'phones aren't of equal quality. Check out Audiogon.com (like the Ebay of audio equipment), punch in 'headphone amp' and a whole range of product will appear. Coincidentally, I'm waiting on delivery of a new headphone right now (Sennheiser HD600's) that I was able to get for less than HALF of what you'd pay in the store so I know that my next step will be a new cable for the 'phones and a dedicated headphone amp. This hobby is like being caught up in a never-ending whirlpool!!;)

[Reid]

Yo Chaz,

I know what you mean about "whirlpool". The problem is that I don't the funds from drowing, if you get my drift. Maybe I shouldn't pursue this topic. :)

I have grado sr-80s.

[Tanager]

Originally posted by Reid
Yo Chaz,

I know what you mean about "whirlpool". The problem is that I don't the funds from drowing, if you get my drift. Maybe I shouldn't pursue this topic. :)

I have grado sr-80s.

From what I've heard, the Grados are pretty easy to drive and shouldn't require a dedicated headphone amp.

[Reid]

Tanager,

ADR said the same thing, but he also said that a headphone amp would improve the sound. Maybe I'm just getting greedy. Then again, I'm wondering if the sound quality is not as good as it could be because my cd player is not in good shape.

[Tanager]

Originally posted by Reid
Tanager,

ADR said the same thing, but he also said that a headphone amp would improve the sound. Maybe I'm just getting greedy. Then again, I'm wondering if the sound quality is not as good as it could be because my cd player is not in good shape.

I can't speak to that, but many of my colleagues have the SR-80s, which they use with their laptops, and they all praise them. I'd also wonder, like you, if this isn't "garbage in, garbage out."

[ADR]

Reid:

The best entry level headphone amp at the moment is something called the META42. It is a DIY (do it yourself) headphone amp designed by some of the headphone geeks at Headfi.com and Headwize.com. If you spend sometime hanging out at the Headfi.com website, you can find out everything you would want to know about the META42.

There's a great guy at Headfi.com who goes by the screen name of "JMT" who makes META42 and other headphone amps for folks as a hobby. If you tell him the headphones and cd player you will be using the amp with - he will even tailor the amp so it will work best with your system. I can't tell you exactly what he charges for amps (he makes you promise to keep his prices a secret if he builds one for you). However, I can tell you that for $100-$150 you could get a META42 headphone amp that would provide provide a nice sound upgrade with your Grado SR-80s and would give you as good a headphone amp as you would get spending 2-3 times that amount on a commercial headphone amp.

If you have any other questions - let me know in this thread or email me (I don't check in here at JC as much as I used to, or as much as I would like to).

ADR

[ADR]

Reid:

The JMT guy I was telling you about now has his own website for ordering headphone amps. Check it out at jmtaudio.com


ADR

[Reid]

ADR,

Once again, thanks for your help. I guess, I have to work out a price with the guy. But do you think I would be better off buying another cd player. I have a portable (cheap) sony player (can't remember the model number right now). I don't know if this happens, but it seems like the sound, when using the grados, have gotten worse. I suspect the plug in area on the cd player is the problem because some time I have to move the plug to get a better reception.

[ADR]

Reid:

Once you get the headphone amplifier you won't be using the headphone jack on the Sony cd player anymore - you will be using the line out. So even if the headphone jack is shot - it doesn't mean you can't use it anymore with an amp. You will need a cable that connects the line-out jack on the cd player to the headphone amp. Most Sony portable players have good line-outs so once you get the headphone amp. - I would advise trying it out with your current cd player before investing in a new one.

One other thing - if your Sony portable cd player has some sort of shock protection - make sure it is turned off. The shock protection on most cd players is accomplished by compressing the data from the cd being played and this results in a degradation of the sound quality. When I first started using the SR-80s with a Sony portable cd player without an amp several years ago - I noticed distortion on certain cds (for instance - whenever Miles would hit a sustained note on the trumpet) and at first I thought maybe the SR-80s were defective. A few months later I read about anti-shock and compression and I turned off the anti-shock on my cd player and: Bingo! - no more distortion. Check your owner's manual on how to turn off the anti-shock. On my Sony player you had to open the lid of the player and manually flip a switch inside the player to turn off the anti-shock.

ADR

[Chris D]

That last is great advice; the improvement when you take off the shock feature is incredible.
You'll think you went to heaven.

[Chazro]

Wazzup All!

Well, I went ahead and picked up a dedicated headphone amp, a Musical Fidelity XCan V2 tube amp. What can I say? It's fantastic. The thing about headphone amps that should be taken into consideration is this; the standard headphone jack on your reciever/cd player is usually an afterthought on the designers part. If a piece of equipment is being made to a certain price point it stands to reason that the cheapest of the cheap will make up the parts structure of the headphone outlet, not to mention brainpower, the designers are not focusing on the headphone jack in a reciever, trust me. A headphone amp is a piece of equipment dedicated to audio playback through headphones, usually using high quality components. Bottom line is this: buying a good pair of headphones plus a headphone amp is the absoplutely cheapest way to experience High-End sound reproduction. I've said it before and it bears repeating, if you love music, any music, you owe it to yourself to experience it as it was meant to be experienced. The musicians spend all this money on state of the art instruments and equipment, record their music in the best studios using the best talent possible, engineers, producers. To me, listening to music on sub-standard playback equipment doesn't make sense. The problem is and always will be the preconception that good-sounding equipment is megabucks expensive, just 'tain't so!! It certainly can be but my headphones (top of the line Sennheiser 600's) cost $400+ new, I got 'em for less than $200 on Ebay. I've seen the amp for $465, I got it for $160 at audiogon. So for less than $400 bucks I've got a killa creme de la creme playback system that satisfies me immensly, no small feat considering my main rig (my baby) cost over 20K!!!;)

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Chazro
I've said it before and it bears repeating, if you love music, any music, you owe it to yourself to experience it as it was meant to be experienced.

How much music was meant to be experienced through headphones?

[Chazro]

Wazzup P!

You're a pissa! I guess as much as music is supposed to be experienced through boxes and cables and silver discs and vinyl and tape and...........