Topic: Portable headphone amps?

[olyrc]

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

[Gutbucket]

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 .

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.

 

[olyrc]

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.

[Jammin72]

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







If you had some sort of other budget in mind...

[Gutbucket]

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?

[Frank in JC]

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

[Jammin72]

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. 

[Gutbucket]

You might check the Head-fi Forums for the buzz on all things headphone related.

The site was down last I checked a couple months ago but is now back up.