I recently invested in another set of headphones from http://www.headphone.com , who I can recommend unreservedly. Great service, great site, great prices. I would list the model but I've been accused by Jason Cross of needing validation for my purchases, so I won't do it. Hell, here I was, enjoying sharing my enthusiasm for a product with other people. New rule: screw that shit, homey!

If you don't have a nice set of "cans", it's one of the best investments you can make. They really aren't exaggerating when they explain that a nice pair of headphones can sound as good as a $3000-$5000 set of speakers. The difference between your generic/basic $30 headphones and these models.. it's like night and day. It really is.

Anyway. On that site they go on and on about how important it is to have a headphone amp. And they're *EXPENSIVE*. As in starting at $159 for a cheesy battery powered model. Some of the nicer headphones supposedly require an external amp to produce the sound they're capable of. Is this so? The logic is sound, but.. dizamn. $250 for a headphone amp? Does anyone either A) have sources for realistically priced headphone amplifiers, or B) have a testimonial that yes, it's worth doubling one's investment for the improvement in sound?

Anyway. While I'm on the topic of audio. Recent album purchases:

Sparks - Ultimate Collection
Cameo, Gap Band, Kool and the Gang - the 12" singles
New Wave Hits of the 80's (Rhino) - set
Soundtrack - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Soundtrack - Tropico
Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts
The Clash on Broadway
Wendy Carlos - Switched on Bach Box

The depth and quality of the Rhino stuff is just amazing. Half the stuff I've purchased recently-- all through recommendations and prior experience-- is Rhino.

I run a pair of high quality German headphones through my SBLive occasionally and have never needed an amp ?

On most occasions I have to turn the volume down because it is too loud. Do you need the amp for sound fidelity ?

"On most occasions I have to turn the volume down because it is too loud. Do you need the amp for sound fidelity ?"

I _think_ it's a bass issue, primarily. Driving bass takes a lot of power on these nicer headphones. But this is just a guess on my part. Check the http://www.headphone.com site for lots of detail.

"I _think_ it's a bass issue, primarily."

So you like to spend lots of money and don't even know why you're doing it?

I don't know anything about headphones. I'll just say that the fancy $60 pair I bought is much better than the $10 cheapies I used to get.

Off Topic: Where did you get the Wendy Carlos box set, and how much was it?? I love her music, but I've only got the Clockwork Orange soundtrack and Tales of Heaven and Hell.

-Trevor

"So you like to spend lots of money and don't even know why you're doing it?"

Not necessarily. That's why I posted here. Who uses headphone amps? And are they really all that and a bag o' chips?

OTOH, I can definitely tell you guys from personal experience that investing in a nice pair of headphones is money VERY well spent, and it produces sound equivalent to speakers costing many many times more.

"Where did you get the Wendy Carlos box set,"

Just off Amazon, as I recall. I forgot to mention Al Green and Otis Redding, which I picked up collections of. I really liked "My Lover's Prayer" from the Sopranos "Peppers and Eggs".

Don't go to headphones.com. You'll be tempted to spend your gaming budget on a headphone amp. Now I know why my AKG K240M headphones don't get very loud: their 600 ohm impedence makes it difficult for soundcards to drive them. I NEED AN AMP YES I NEEEED ONEEEE HEEEELP!!!!

I'm surprised there is so little information on this topic (headphone amps, sources, why we need them, testimonials, etc) on the 'net.. ! Is it really that esoteric?

Go to groups.google.com. Search for "headphone amp." Read the zillion posts that match (after closing that goddamn flag banner ad).

>I'm surprised there is so little information on this topic (headphone amps, sources, why we need them, testimonials, etc) on the 'net.. ! Is it really that esoteric?

No, it's just really easy to grab your headphones, some of your favorite test CDs, and head to the local Hi-Fi shop to audition their amps for yourself (provided you live in an area where the things are sold). I'd never buy expensive audio equipment without trying it out first or getting it from a place with a generous return policy.

I reviewed a ton of headphones for a GameSpot roundup a while back and found that the puny amp powering my Klipsch speaker's headphone jack was decent enough to drive most of them properly. In a nutshell, Grado headphones sound much better with a headphone amp, while most Koss, Sennheiser, and Sony products worked fine with the headphone jack in the speaker. Grado phones sound phenomenal with the right equipment, but tend to have weak bass response on the average gaming setup.

I personally recommend Koss's SportaPro and PortaPro to all my gaming friends looking for a decent set of cans at an affordable price. They lack some of the detail of the more expensive stuff, but have deep bass that is all out of proportion to their size, are easily driven, and do an excellent job of handling game audio. They also have the virtues of being dirt cheap and portable enough to tote around with a Game Boy Advance.

Most people are better off getting a cheaper set of cans that their equipment can actually handle than buying an expensive audiophile-quality pair that requires all sorts of extra equipment to achieve its full potential.

"I reviewed a ton of headphones for a GameSpot roundup a while back and found that the puny amp powering my Klipsch speaker's headphone jack was decent enough to drive most of them properly. In a nutshell, Grado headphones sound much better with a headphone amp, while most Koss, Sennheiser, and Sony products worked fine with the headphone jack in the speaker. Grado phones sound phenomenal with the right equipment, but tend to have weak bass response on the average gaming setup."

Link??

"Most people are better off getting a cheaper set of cans that their equipment can actually handle than buying an expensive audiophile-quality pair that requires all sorts of extra equipment to achieve its full potential."

I agree. Thanks for the input.

Ah, yes -- their archived articles are a little hard to dig up:

http://gamespot.com/gshw/stories/flat/0,12880,2792240,00.html

Another point I discovered while reviewing products for this article that most people don't consider: The best headphones can actually make all your MP3s and games sound WORSE because they reproduce all the compression and other artifacts associated with these types of audio. They also bring out every failing of your audio card, headphone jack, and other equipment. Cheaper headphones lack just enough detail to mask many of these flaws.

Great article Tracy. Definitely recommended reading for anyone interested in sound!

"Go to groups.google.com. Search for "headphone amp." Read the zillion posts that match (after closing that goddamn flag banner ad)."

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>I'm looking for a headphone amp, that's somewhat less than $100. Its for RCA
>line output, although it would be nice if it could be used with a portable
>CD player. It will be driving a Grado SR-125.
>
>I find it strange that there is no product between the built-in
>respectable-sounding amplifiers that probably cost the manufacturers $4.00,
>and the $150.00+ audiophile ones.

The thing is, the Audiophole ones really get started at $200-300, and
go way, WAY up from there. The Creek OBH-11 at $199 (and less if you
can find one used) is a really a pretty good buy, and a damned nice
amp.

Try http://www.headphone.com, though, they have some portable
ones that are pretty reasonable, though I can't speak for the sound,
not having heard one:

http://www.headphone.com/ProductsAmplifiers/TheAirhead.asp ($99)
http://www.headphone.com/ProductsAmplifiers/TheTotalAirhead.asp ($159)

I've heard generally good things about Headroom 'phone amps, so these
are worth a checkout.

-Karl

---

Urgh. Looks like I'm SOL! I think I'll try driving the headphones with regular speaker outs and then maybe drag my sorry ass to a hifi place and try one of their headphone amps to see if it's really worth all that (additional) cash.