Topic: Headphones Amplifier for my HD-595 *help*

[iNx.13arney]

pls help. I just bought my HD-595 sennheiser headphones. 120 ohms
and some people say that i need amps to get better sounds. im pretty much going to use the headphones for gaming(PC). so here are my question.
#1 do i need amps eventhough the PC's have their own soundcards?
#2 do i really need amps for my HD-595 (120 ohms)? if so
#3 can u guys suggest what amps are good for my headpshones? PORTABLE amps would be great because i will be bringing my headphones to LANs(comp.shops). and also pls dont suggest expensive amps. can you guys also post here on where i can locate and be able to test the amps?

tnx so much.

[rascal101]

you can build your portable amp

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/index.php

[s2kov]

This is what i'm using with my sennheiser eh2200!

[iNx.13arney]

woah. are these parts available here in the phils? where?
hmmm... this looks very complicated do u know anyone u can build one? and maybe sell them to me? 
i posted a thread before. at head-fi.org

tnx for the links.

[onedown]

whether you need a head amp or not, it's a matter of preference.

building a cmoy isn't that difficult. if you can understand diagrams and can solder, building one is not a problem.

cmoy parts are available here. try searching for the url of rs philippines. with the exception of the opamp, the other parts can also be bought from centrise, a store in edsa near guadalupe. i'm not sure how much the opamp costs, but what i can tell you is that the cost of the cmoy is much less than the cost of your cans.

[av_phile1]

pls help. I just bought my HD-595 sennheiser headphones. 120 ohms
and some people say that i need amps to get better sounds. im pretty much going to use the headphones for gaming(PC). so here are my question.
#1 do i need amps eventhough the PC's have their own soundcard?
#2 do i really need amps for my HD-595 (120 ohms)? if so
#3 can u guys suggest what amps are good for my headpshones? PORTABLE amps would be great because i will be bringing my headphones to LANs(comp.shops). and also pls dont suggest expensive amps. can you guys also post here on where i can locate and be able to test the amps?

tnx so much.

First of all, have you tried using your headphones on your PC soundcards?  120 ohms is not unique in headphones.  Is it too soft for your requirement?

[markmlists]

you can build your portable amp

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/index.php

Rascal, the sites you mentioned leads to other very useful links. Thanks for this!

[iceman90a]

This is what i'm using with my sennheiser eh2200!

this is an excellent head amp

[iNx.13arney]

onedown: its nice to know that it would actually cost me less. cuz when i tried searching for cans the prices wer from 16k-28k.    but whats your estimate in building a cmoy?

av_phile1 : they're ok with my soundcard. im not sure what model the soundcard im using but im sure its creative. anyway.. it runs great and very satisfied, what im worried about is that, i recall reading somewhere that the 120ohms can get damage in time( *hissing sound* etc etc) if u keep using it w/out an amp? especially if u use it in "mp3/cD/Pc players"

the HD-595's had 2 diff. kinds of units. the 120ohm(older version) 50 ohms(newer) apparently i got the 120 ohms. but still not bad cuz they each have their pros and cons.

last thing. have u guys heard of this "V-tube color red -700w -2 inch" is it any good? how much is the price for these amps?

tnx guys i really appreciate it. 

[wraith]

Hi iNx.13arney,

I have an HD590, which is 120ohms as well.  This should roughly have the same characteristics as yours in terms of sound and power requirement.  Based on my experience, the soundcard on my laptop can drive it more than adequetely.  In this case, adding an inline amplifier will only add more distortion to the signal path.  So if power is the issue, I suggest not using an amp.

Unless of course tube harmonics ang habol mo, then its a different story. Tube is the way to go.

[onedown]

iNx.13arney,

as i mentioned in my previous post, i'm not sure how much opamps costs. but a good cmoy would probably cost less than 5k.

 

[MAtZTER]

Hi guys, mga how much ang typical price for these audiophile headphones? I also want to explore this area of our hobby  .

[onedown]

matzter,

i'm not sure how you define "audiophile" headphones, but this thread might help: Headphone Advice

quite a long thread, but lots of discussions.

depending on how you define "audiophile" headphones, decent entry level phones can be bought for a little over 3k.

[iNx.13arney]

sonic boom: basically im just worried about damaging my headphones internally.basically im only going to use it for gaming.i chose this headphones cuz alot of international players use it. but they got the 50 ohms version. and as u can see. i got the 120ohms.  but thanks for the tip

[s2kov]

nag enjoy ka ba?

this is an excellent head amp

[iceman90a]

nag enjoy ka ba?

nag enjoy

nag eenjoy

at mag eenjoy pa

[ccc]

Hi guys, mga how much ang typical price for these audiophile headphones? I also want to explore this area of our hobby  .

Piece of advise - Once you have started exploring this area, your regular gear might pale in comparison!

Although they are completely different listening experiences, and is not a direct replacement of your regular speakers/gear, good headphones (matched with a good headphone driver - whether dedicated or thru the headjack of some amps) may reproduce the material of your choice better than thru your speakers.  Primarily because the inherent acoustics of your room will no longer be a factor. Secondarily because a lot of the external noise will be muted, if not totally disappear. 

Moreover, although there is no soundstage or imaging to speak of, there seems to be more detail, specially for dense or complex material where a lot of itsy bitsy details are buried in the mix.  This maybe because the tiny (but capable) drivers are much easier to drive and are located very close to your ear.

Did I mention that you can listen at loud levels no matter how late it is. Be careful though as it is easy to get carried away. There is a tendency to listen at more than necessary levels. Tinnitus is painful and hearing loss can be permanent. In fact, an ear doctor once said that most hearing losses are not caused by one-big-bang but by accumulated exposure to loud sounds.

All this at a fraction of the cost of setting up "regular" systems.

Although I've had headphones for quite some time, I was "forced" to rediscover them lately as I couldn't play music at "healthy" levels because of a baby amidst.  But once I got used to it, I listened (while using the computer) through headphones more and more.  There seems to be better dynamics and transparency.

For a below P5T budget, you may want to check out the under rated Philipps HP890, the Grado SR60 (c/o Pican of Wiredstate) and the Sennheisser PX100 (great for portable use) to begin with.

For amplification, you may use your current amplifier for starters.  If it doesn't have headjacks, I believe JojoD may be able to retrofit your amp or make you a very simple speaker-out-to-headphone adaptor.    As an aside, I've noticed that the older amplifiers with headphone jacks seem to be able to feed hard-to-drive cans better than the newer ones.  Seems that they tap from the speaker terminals rather than have a dedicated headphone circuit (which may have a deliberately capped output for liability management purposes). 

Once you start shopping for dedicated headphone amps, it would be like choosing your 1st amp the second time around (SS v Tubed, Price/Performance Ratio, yada yada yada). US200 seems to be the entry point. US5000 is not unheard of for higher end stuff. Grados, MF X-Can, Creeks, ASL are the usual (branded) suspects.  If you want homebrew, there is also a running DIY tubed headphone project at wiredstate and the early reviews seem to be very favorable. Hypertriode and AMX makes them on orders as well. Go check them out.

For portable stuff, CMOY amps (also c/o JojoD) are reputed to be very good at very reasonable cost.  Others include the Headroom products (headphone.com), Meier Audio, Ray Samuel's Emmaline etc and an internet-full of pocket amps.

 
Enjoy! [/b]