Portable headphone amplifier

[grubyhalo]

The Audio-Technica AD700 is a superb easy to drive headphone in the sub-100 dollar category. (about 91 dollars on amazon, or 6900 bucks on Shop in the US from India @ 20North - Millions of products, Thousands of brands including duty and air mail), should be easily superior to the HD555 and possibly able to duke it out with the HD595.

I'd second this. Also from what little I've used, the Grados are not the most comfortable cans for long term use and the sound is a tad grating to the ears if you listen to lot of low quality compressed music. From what I hear the Denon AD1000 should be a good contender in the price range...


Edit: Wow, 20North is an interesting site! Anyone here's bought stuff from them? Any comments?

 

[gopi]

kangarooman, What player you use is also very important. I would definitely not say that there was no mids in PX100. Its recessed for sure. Anyway, you would have liked HD201, but then higher models will be a lot better. Grado doesn't seem to be available here in India. SR60 and SR80 have been replaced by the corresponding SR60i/SR80i models. These should cost about 70 to 100 dollars. Probably the older models can be had for cheaper cost as well. You need to scout. If you are in chennai I can check if I can have someone get one for you. But they will charge an extra 2000 bucks atleast to get it from Singapore.
So, if you are getting costlier headphoned like Senn HD595 etc it makes sense this way, else not. I would say that even HD595 are better with headphone amps. But with all the research I finally settled upon A FutureSonics Atrio M5 - in ear headphone, doesnt require an amp, costed me around 9k, amazing bass, very good mids and slighty recessed highs, which goes well with my ipod. Using in ears blocks the noise , but is a bit uncomfortable and you have to get used to it a little.

 

[kangarooman]

2000 is too high, this money I saved it from my pocket money. Anyways there's a new model from Sennheiser its PX 200. You have any idea about this one ?

 

[gopi]

I am confused here on whats your budget. They charge 2000, but still its cheaper than here in India. Even if you request any site to ship directly they will charge you something. What you need to do is find the models in your price range and then see where you can get it cheaper. Are you now looking for headphones costing 8k or are you still thinking of splitting it between amp and headphone

 

[kangarooman]

Total budget is 11K Rs. What about PX 200

 

[psychotropic]

if you have a budget of 11k, why are you looking at a PX200??

If you want to stick with Sennheiser then for 11k (10,990) you can get the HD595 (on ebay India). (it costs about 9k equivalent in the US, if you buy from amazon, so it's not too much of a premium)

Else you can order the Audio Technica AD700 from 20north and pay 6900, and put the rest in your fund for a headphone amp, or buy a Fiio E5 from the ebay site that Jai linked to, for another 1000 bucks.....and enjoy

Either way, forget the PX200!

Total budget is 11K Rs. What about PX 200

 

[psychotropic]

I've been waiting to hear of someone's first hand experience as well. I think once my NAD C542 arrives, I am going to buy that HDCD Sampler from their site....I'll keep everyone posted.

Edit: Wow, 20North is an interesting site! Anyone here's bought stuff from them? Any comments?

 

[grubyhalo]

...

If you want to stick with Sennheiser then for 11k (10,990) you can get the HD595 (on ebay India). (it costs about 9k equivalent in the US, if you buy from amazon, so it's not too much of a premium)

Else you can order the Audio Technica AD700 from 20north and pay 6900, and put the rest in your fund for a headphone amp, or buy a Fiio E5 from the ebay site that Jai linked to, for another 1000 bucks.....and enjoy

...

What he said...

 

[kangarooman]

The frequency response of the Sennheiser HD595 is from 12-38500 Hz, what is the use as we humans can hear only up to 20000 Hz from 20 Hz. Is this some kind of marketing, the maximum frequency that can be distinguished is around 16000 Hz.

Can someone explain this ?

 

[psychotropic]

just because human beings can't hear sounds of particular frequencies doesn't mean the transducers in the headphones are not able to reproduce those frequencies in a way that can be measured. Another thing to remember is that auditory processing is only one way we can perceive sound waves, we can also, for instance, perceive low frequency sound waves by way of physical vibrations and so on (there is much more to this that I can't talk about since I am not a technical person, so I'll ask someone else to step in).

To cut a long story short, no it is not a marketing gimmick, these headphones can reproduce those frequencies, and to some extent such ability (beyond the 20 hz to 20khz range) makes a difference to the quality of the sound that we hear through them.

The frequency response of the Sennheiser HD595 is from 12-38500 Hz, what is the use as we humans can hear only up to 20000 Hz from 20 Hz. Is this some kind of marketing, the maximum frequency that can be distinguished is around 16000 Hz.

Can someone explain this ?

 

[kangarooman]

just because human beings can't hear sounds of particular frequencies doesn't mean the transducers in the headphones are not able to reproduce those frequencies in a way that can be measured. Another thing to remember is that auditory processing is only one way we can perceive sound waves, we can also, for instance, perceive low frequency sound waves by way of physical vibrations and so on (there is much more to this that I can't talk about since I am not a technical person, so I'll ask someone else to step in).

To cut a long story short, no it is not a marketing gimmick, these headphones can reproduce those frequencies, and to some extent such ability (beyond the 20 hz to 20khz range) makes a difference to the quality of the sound that we hear through them.

So we need special sensory organs to detect these high and low frequencies, I don't think that these headphones are capable of producing such low frequency vibrations that we can feel physically.

 

[gopi]

kangarooman, if it produces 12-20hz, you wont be vibrating neither would the headphones. Lets put this simply that the transducers are capable of that and they are not stopped abruptly to produce only what we can hear. I think now its becoming more commonly acceptable that 20-20khz limit for humans is an approximation. we can hear below 20 and we loose our hearing and most of us cannot hear till 20khz. anywy, for any headphones the range published is immaterial. on the other hand, the freq graph showing whether its flat or bumped at places is of more interest.

 

[psychotropic]

Like I said, what I said about perceiving sounds outside of the 20-20khz range is not technical, and I would be happy to hear a knowledgeable person's views on this aspect.

I am not even sure that the frequency range is immaterial, can someone with a better idea please enlighten us?

So we need special sensory organs to detect these high and low frequencies, I don't think that these headphones are capable of producing such low frequency vibrations that we can feel physically.