Why do people buy headphone amplifiers?

I have to admit I am not well versed in headphone amps having always used the phone jack on the front of my receiver, integrated, cd player or tape deck with resonably nice results.

I was shopping for new headphones a couple years ago and bought the Grado SR-80i which I thought sounded pretty nice using the gear standard outputs. I remember asking the sales guy what the next best headphone would be and he said the Grado 125 (hoping I got that right) but that I would need a headphone amp to drive them nicely.

Well I was not prepared to do that so I bought the 80i's and lived happily ever after.

My question to you guys....

Do folks buy the outboard amps because some headphones require more power - or do people buy them because they just sound better in general being dedicated and puposely designed and so forth?? Or is it for both reasons?

I sure would love to hear some nice suggestions for an amp and headphone setup as well because I am thinking of gifting myself this xmas (I know it's expensive for good phones and an amp).
I have read many threads here on best amps best phones etc...and liked the reading - good stuff! But I might be missing the real point of the amp to begin with. Not at all opposed I am just trying to learn.

Thanks!

Ron

Edit: just to clarify a little -Do we even bother with an external amp for the Grado SR-80i and Koss Pro-4AA for any reason I am unaware of? Is it all personal preference? Or is the amp just for those hard to drive high quality phones?

 

I believe both is the correct answer. Most headphone amps in receivers and integrated amps are an after thought and don't allow you to enjoy the full potential of good headphones. I use a Beresford 7510 DAC/headphone amp with my Grado 225's and when I am using a portable device with the phones I use a little portable PA2v2 amp made by a guy who is well known on Head-Fi. I have read some posts by others on this forum suggesting their portable device or laptop sound good with no amp, but that has not been my experience. I have used a lot of different laptops and MP3 players, Apple and non Apple, and they have all been improved even with the little portable amp.

 

Times have changed, headphones become more popular and better/more comfy over the years because of the iPod/iRiver use outdoors. At the same time many integrated amps have no more headphone outputs and Phono amps built in...
Your ears are very sensitive and the signal from a headphone reaches your ear drums from a very short distance; so any distortion becomes audible - so a clean, nice sound is important. That is where headphone amps come into play - it does not matter if the headphone amp is inside the amp, CD Player or DAC - but chances amps with the one purpose do a better job.

 

Unless you are planning a separate headphone set-up, you would have to consider how your existing gear compares.

Some years ago I bought an Audiolab 8000A integrated amp (cost around £600) which was recommended to me partly because the dealer knew that it had a pretty good headphone amp inside and I had said I liked headphone listening occasionally. My dealer was right. So it's possible some gear have decent phones output.

Did you try your Halo P3 with the Grados?

The higher you go up the headphone ladder the more likely you will benefit from a headphone amp, and the key is matching them.

I have Sennheiser HD800s and for various reasons I've been listening to them through a £200 DAC phones jack (TEAC UD-H01). They sound very nice this way. I tried them on a £100 Meier headphone amp and they weren't so nice. I'm sure a decent headphone amp would make them sound even better and I hope to do that but I can live with this TEAC sound.

In other words, the right headphone amp should benefit but don't discount integrated or pre amp phone jacks without a good listen.

 

Excellent thread. I'm also interested in this myself. At present I'm quite happy plugging my cans directly into either my Sansui 2000X or my Lafayette LR-9090 receivers. I'm using a simple pair of Monoprice 8323s. I'm going to buy a better pair of cans in the near future and then I will decide if a headphone amp is necessary. I'm curious to learn more on this subject.

 

Yes I did try the mini jack output on the P3 and it sounded quite good with the Grado phones however the level was lower than I liked. I seem to remember this but it was a couple years ago and I was not focused on any kind of evaluation. I was taping and needed to use Tape Monitor so I was actually on the deck's phone output which was quite nice.
I need to revisit that and evaluate again.

 

The difference between the headphone output of say my Byrston BP-26 preamp and the dedicated Rudistor RPX33mk2 headphone amp is subtle.
Primarily way more detail with the headamp, greater clarity.
(should be with a $2,000 dedicated device vs a small $20 part in a preamp.)
With cheaper headphones I don't think the difference would be enough to spend money on the headamp.
I use Sennheiser HD800.

 

I think one of the benefits of a headphone amp is to allow a dedicated headphone-only listening rig that sounds really good for not a ton of money. If you plan to set up a headphone rig in a room where there will be no speakers, where space is at a premium, where you don't need a tuner because you won't be listening to radio, then a small, compact headphone amp will fit the bill nicely.

The compact size - and usually price - of a headphone amp can allow you to set up 2 0r 3 in the same space a standard amp/receiver/tuner would occupy. It allows you to mix and match 'phones/amps, and compare them easily.

Do I think dedicated headphone amps are a necessity? No. However, they do give you the opportunity to compare/contrast them for yourself to see if you can discern a difference in sound. And if that difference is substantial - in a positive way - then dedicated headphone amps are well worth it, and that's why we're glad they exist.

 

When I'm using either my Heathkit, Fisher or Eico amps with my Dynaco or Heathkit pre's, I need my Decware CSP2 headphone amp because there are no headphone options with those pre's. However, when using my Fisher X-101-C integrated or 400 receiver, I always use those headphone jacks. Both sound incredible. Listening to headphones powered by either 7591 or 7868 tubes is pure sonic bliss.

 

Ron. You will find all the answers at Head-fi.org

 

This is interesting because I had not even decided where I would be using the amp. It also just came to me all of my preamp outputs are in use including my tape outputs!

I do understand the benefit of a dedicated location and a headamp being key to it's use, however, I really was not thinking of another system when I started the thread, just the advantage/disadvantage of using the headamp and why we may need one if using certain higher end phones. This perspective, that being a dedicated listening area, is a very interesting suggestion.

I guess I am working up an idea for a nicer set of phones and a headamp to accompany them. But I'm here because it is one area I am not up on.

 

Thanks I will check it out. While I'm at it I will do some extensive research on the web to see what people say.

I did not hesitate to ask here though as there always seems to be so many varied and informed responses to questions like mine. I will however redirect...

Thanks for your help.
Ron.

 

From what I'm hearing we should post elsewhere on this topic. I do share your interest though. Good luck!

 

Ron, I hope you're considering posting elsewhere in addition to this thread, and not in place of it. While Head-Fi will have a lot of detailed information on 'phones and 'phone amps, I'm interested in hearing what other SHMF members have to say on the subject right here in this very thread.

 

Go for broke then!




If you must keep to the real world, the Sennheiser HD-600 is an excellent headphone that is used by classical recording engineers, many forum members (with a wide variety of headphone amps. at a wide variety of prices) and does not break the bank (approx. $300). If you want to invest more, you could consider Sennheiser's HD-800 model, or you could get the Stax bug (and I'm not talking the record label!). With headphones, personal preference is everything, especially with regard to fit/comfort.

 

I was asked to go to another forum on this so I will. I don't want to add redundancy to this forum.
Thanks...

 

No need to do that. Plenty of headphone threads here in Hardware.

 

Agreed. Unless it was a Gort who told you to take the discussion elsewhere, Ron, this subject is perfectly on-point and welcome here in Hardware.

 

That's why I started the thread. I was fascinated by the idea and I like the knowledge base here and members quite a bit.

 

Absolutely beautiful. Now that's the spirit!

 

To go back to topic, even the smallest thing can make all the difference in the world. For instance, I have an old PreSonus Audiobox for desktop recording and hasn't been seeing much use lately. So, I plugged it into my work computer and now it acts as an off-board headphone amp. I can definitely say it's worlds better than the old laptop soundcard. Plus, knobs on the front! I love tweaking knobs. But I digress...

 

Thank you...
Sounds more welcome to me!

Anyway, this could cost as much as high end speakers do unless of course I listen carefully to you guys.

 

One of the things that a headphone amp can provide is low output impedance, which improves the damping factor of the headphone (makes the bass tighter). A good rule of thumb is that the output impedence should be no greater than 1/8 of the headphone impedance for best results in terms of damping, and the headphone jacks of many amps have an output impedance in the hundreds of ohms.

 

I can connect the amp directly to the headphone jack on my gear?

 

You should run it off the tape (or mini disc) out if your big amp is equipped with one, as the headphone jack is not a line level out (you'll possibly get some strange double amping effects).