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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: olyrc on January 08, 2008, 06:44:07 PM
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Anybody have any recommendations? Something small & battery powered to drag with me from home, to the office and to the college library.
My 'phones:
Sennheiser HD280
Audio Technica D40
Sennheiser HD555
AKG K240S
Thanks,
Ryan
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I've got a little Total Airhead from Headroom that I bought 10yrs ago to drive Etymotic ER4S in-ears.
I was looking for a good sounding but small headphone rig for traveling that was decent enough to use all the time. I ended up going with Etymotic ER4S in-ears that are great sounding phones but need more juice to drive than amps built-in to most equipment provide. I bought them from HeadRoom and they gave me a package price for the phones & amp within my cost constraint (can't remember what I paid, something like $350 for the package). It's a small 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 1" unit that runs on 3 AAA's, and is strong enough to drive the 4S's well for everything but monitoring while recording really loud music. It works perfectly for what use it for & I just wrap the Ety's and a 12" input cable around it and store it all in a zip lock sandwich bag. It includes HeadRoom's switchable HRTF circuit that can improve the soundstage of alot of pan potted stuff but never sounds good to me for live recordings. I actually tend to use that more as a tone control since it seems to pad the high treble and boost the bass when switched in. It sounds very good for it's price, but I do have the 'Total' version that came with upgraded components. The volume pot is scratchy sounding when adjusting it but has held up for 10 years. I only wish it had a low battery / clipping indicator. It sold for around $100 then.. I'm sure it wouldn't compete with a $1k headphone amp, but I've never heard a $1k headphone amp and I'm half scared I'd be spoiled for life afterwards if I do :P.
They added a second headphone jack a few years later & I think they still make something similar in a slightly different housing. I think they also make one now with a built-in USB DAC.
If your a DIY type there are plenty of plans & a few kits for rolling your own in a candy tin.
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I was looking at that one. The price is still right about $100. Think it is down to that and a Xenos 0HA-REP somebody's got for sale over on head-fi. I don't know, I think I'll look around a bit and will probably end up upgrading from whatever I get in 6 months anyway. Since I haven't had time to tape lately I've caught the (personal) playback bug. I don't have the scratch to upgrade my home stereo setup, but headphones & amps are closer to fitting in my old show/taping budget.
Thanks & +t.
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iBasso D1 is a great choice. USB input to run from your PC, plenty of juice to run many types of cans, and socketed opAmps for rolling if you want to tweak your sound.
$249
Great choice for not a lot of $$
http://www.ibasso.com/ShowNews.aspx?ID=60 (http://www.ibasso.com/ShowNews.aspx?ID=60)
(http://www.ibasso.com/Product/D1%2001.jpg)
(http://www.ibasso.com/Product/D1%2002.jpg)
If you had some sort of other budget in mind...
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Hard to beat the cost/performance of a good pair of headphones. To get the same class of sound with amps & speakers you'd need to spend more than 10x as much.
That iBasso looks nice, I'd like one with a USB input like that. Why don't they make it use standard removable batteries?! Manufacturers don't want to have to include battery doors?
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Here are two to look at it. I own the Tomahawk and it drives the Shure SE530s and Etymotic ER-4s extremely well. It also drives my Grados with no problem, but is intended to be an in-ear monitor amp. I'm not sure about your cans though... but if the Tomahawk can't drive them, the Hornet definitely will.
http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/tomahawk
http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/hornet
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Hard to beat the cost/performance of a good pair of headphones. To get the same class of sound with amps & speakers you'd need to spend more than 10x as much.
That iBasso looks nice, I'd like one with a USB input like that. Why don't they make it use standard removable batteries?! Manufacturers don't want to have to include battery doors?
It actually has a fairly good battery life with the internal rechargeables. If you need longer times just use a Wall-Wart.
With this box I think it had more to do with the battery shape and internal real-estate. Using a consumer type battery bay takes up space, on portables that can get hairy.
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/jamato88/top-internal-D1.jpg?t=1187493142)
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You might check the Head-fi Forums (http://www.head-fi.org) for the buzz on all things headphone related.
The site was down last I checked a couple months ago but is now back up.