Headphone Amps - Needed?

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techie_007

Galvanizer
Hello All,

I recently got a pair of Audio Technica AD300 open-back headphones, and have noticed that while they are decent when connected to my laptop/desktop, connecting them to my phone/iPad2 etc seems to produce very low sound. Basically the volume is very low no matter how high I crank the player.

Does this mean that I need a headphone amp? What are the options available in a <5k budget? - the lower the better :ashamed:
 
I think your laptop/desktop/iphone/ipad should be able to drive the AD300 to a good level. Prolly your used to listening to music too loud or in a really noisy environment.
Personally I would advice you to not crank up that volume to much, its not required cuz a headphone like the AD300 should provide good detailing at even 50% volume that your listening at.
If you still feel the need for an amp, have a look at the Fiio lineup. They would suit your needs and they are good vfm especially the E9.
 
If you are going for a amp dont go for anything below the E7 , the ad700 did not benefit much from e5 so i guess even the ad300 wont , if interested in a DAC the UDAC did a pretty good job in raising the volumes , and yeah on a onboard card i felt the sound was pretty low at full volume also for ad700 with the sound card its good enough.
 
Get a DAC with a built in headphone amp. Anything cheap will do like a Fiio E10. It costs around $69 and it will bypass your soundcard providing you will an upgrade in SQ and will also provide more power to your headphones. :)
 
Thats strange, I have an AD-700 and full volume on a clip+ is easy to bust the eardrums :S
 
Sunnyboi, my experience is also the same. Clip+, Samsung Galaxy s etc are more than enough to drive the ad700s to very loud levels. Is the ad300 less sensitive?
 
Correction needed :ashamed: I went and listened to the AD300s again, and I think there may have been too much noise around the last time I used then, or perhaps an issue with the video I was trying to watch :P The sound seems enough that I dont think I need to burn money on an amp :)

Thanks for the suggestions all.
 
Just curious, where can i buy amp for earphones? I mean are they available with itwares or prime? Or do i need to look for a specific shop?

Also, does the attached amp eats battery straight from our cellphone or does it have its own cell battery?

M noob to this so dont mind for any silly questions.:ashamed:
 
You will have to order them online. Almost all portable amps need to be recharged as they have their own power unit/ battery and do not take power from your source.

What headphone/iem r u using?
 
An Amp won't help, it will just boost the volume for your pl-11. What I mean is the pl11 are easy to drive and won't benefit from amplification. It won't improve the sound quality.

Perhaps you should upgrade your iem.

You can start a separate thread and mention your source and your qualms with the pl11. Lotta ppl on TE would help gladly.
 
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