+ Reply to Thread
Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 44

Thread: Headphone amps, are they bollocks?

  1. #21
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Valley of the Hazels

    Posts: 9,139
    I'm AMusicFanNotAnAudiophile.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by RMutt View Post
    Chris. I’ve got HD 700’s your are more than welcome to try for week or so if you wish.
    Thanks Andrew.
    I shall take you up on your kind offer.
    It will be most interesting if their response is more akin to that of my AKGs
    Chris



    Common sense isn't anymore!

  2. #22
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex

    Posts: 7,087
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Excellent explanation.

  3. #23
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Notts

    Posts: 2,741
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    To answer your question you need to consult an expert on big nuts: the Namibian Ground Squirrel

    These are bollocks!

    squirell nuts.jpg

    Geoff
    Last edited by Sherwood; 31-03-2018 at 17:30.

  4. #24
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Notts

    Posts: 2,741
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Stratmangler View Post
    The raucous bit is interesting.
    My friend with the NAD3020 has the HD-560s, and he hated them driven by the NAD. Said that they ripped his head off.
    We stuck a decent headphone amp in front of them (ie my Graham Slee Solo SRG II) and he was quite literally blown away - the grip and dynamics were something he'd never heard before, and the cans no longer made a sound to rip his head off.

    Just to pour a bit more petrol on the flames, I use AKG K702s, because they have a pretty flat response and sound right to me.
    The HD-650s on the other hand sounded as thought someone had dropped a blanket on them. To get any detail out of them in the high frequencies I had to turn them up, and then they were too loud and made my ears ring after listening to an album. Could be where the Sennheisers developed a reputation for needing a grippy stage.

    I had the opportunity to hear some HD-700s up at wee tee cee's place a few months back - I wish I'd given them a drive ....
    Did you ever find him again?

    Geoff

  5. #25
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Valley of the Hazels

    Posts: 9,139
    I'm AMusicFanNotAnAudiophile.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sherwood View Post
    Did you ever find him again?

    Geoff
    Eventually.
    He was under a bush down the bottom end of the garden
    Chris



    Common sense isn't anymore!

  6. #26
    Join Date: Jul 2009

    Location: Schleswig-Holstein (north sea coast), Germany

    Posts: 814
    I'm Werner.

    Default

    Steve,
    Quote Originally Posted by Floyddroid View Post
    the stand alone headphone amps I have listened to sound no better than on board headphone outputs. Starting to think there is a little snake oil in it all to be honest.
    this opinion has a lot of its own. I think the main target audience for headphone amplifiers probably has no typical stereo system (receiver and/or amplifier) available. Typical sources are laptops, tablets and smartphones, and there’s no doubt that stand-alone headphone amplifiers offer a much better performance than the built-in headphone jacks of these source devices.

    Werner.
    Mac OS X iTunes → Schiit Bifrost DAC → Yamaha AX-592 → Triangle Zays XS Grand Angle | AKG K712 Pro headphones | my last.fm profile

  7. #27
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Notts

    Posts: 2,741
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Werner Berghofer View Post
    Steve,this opinion has a lot of its own. I think the main target audience for headphone amplifiers probably has no typical stereo system (receiver and/or amplifier) available. Typical sources are laptops, tablets and smartphones, and there’s no doubt that stand-alone headphone amplifiers offer a much better performance than the built-in headphone jacks of these source devices.

    Werner.
    Other instances too where a headphone amp is useful. I have a good hifi setup and recently added a pair of Hifiman HE400i headphones. Irritatingly, they come with a 1.2m cable which required me to sit beside my DAC to use them. Just acquired a pre-owned budget headphone amp which allows me to use a long digital cable from my DAC to the headphone amp on the coffee table beside my listening chair. Problem sorted!

    Geoff

  8. #28
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: Troon

    Posts: 2,476
    I'm tony.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Stratmangler View Post
    Thanks Andrew.
    I shall take you up on your kind offer.
    It will be most interesting if their response is more akin to that of my AKGs
    Chris,
    I found with both 650s and 700s removing the inner foams make a significant difference.

    HPAs make a very real difference sonically-Stans Capella is fantastic in the ability to tune it to different cans for sensible money.

    Ive had several HPAs all sounded different but really helped to drive cans properly.

    Stans SEG has a variable gain switch behind the volume knob that lets you tune the output to your cans of choice.

    Let us know how you get on with 700s-they are a tremendous evolution of the 650s-worth every penny IMHO!

  9. #29
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sherwood View Post
    Other instances too where a headphone amp is useful. I have a good hifi setup and recently added a pair of Hifiman HE400i headphones. Irritatingly, they come with a 1.2m cable which required me to sit beside my DAC to use them. Just acquired a pre-owned budget headphone amp which allows me to use a long digital cable from my DAC to the headphone amp on the coffee table beside my listening chair. Problem sorted!

    Geoff
    like to get some hifiman cans to see if they are better than the oppos. anyone tried the he350 massdrop?
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  10. #30
    Join Date: Mar 2009

    Location: Hemel Hempstead

    Posts: 1,074
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    I wasn't convinced of the value of headphone amps until a) I bought my HD800s and b) my Chord Mojo turned up. Now I don't have to listen without because its totally portable.

    That said, some devices have half decent output stages, and some headphones are very easy to drive.
    Steve aka 'Twelvebears' (it's a long story)
    System: Technics 1210 Mk5, Jelco 750 arm, AT33EV via MF X-LP2 Phono Stage, Oyaide mat and record clamp. SB Touch via Marantz PM-11S1 amp and Wilson Benesch A.C.T. speakers. Mark Grant cables and PS Audio Power Plant Premier mains regenerator.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

+ Reply to Thread
Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •