Hi, so I'm making a Headphone amplifier thread after receiving my iBasso P2 and loving it. It's small, but it sounds BIG, and those awesome Chinese guys who made it shipped it fast all the way from fucking HongKong. It was pretty cheap as portable amps go, and sounds much bigger than it actually is.
Anyway, I recommend these iBasso guys to anyone in the market for inexpensive headphone amps, although I've only tried the P2.
There, now that my viral marketing is over, what are your thoughts on headphone amps, and what are the best for the moneys?
For a long time I was tempted by the full-sized tube amps, like the little Dot ii++, but it was a little expensive, and I have no experience with tube amps. They look fragile and hot.
Even if they offer superior quality, I can't get over the seeming silliness of plugging in an amplifier for a little thing that goes on my head.
Speaker amps, I could understand. Headphone amps?
I dunno, there's some sociological (not technological) reason why I can't see myself getting one. Like, sitting around at home by myself listening to audiophile-quality music just seems pathetic somehow. I don't wanna help myself be alone, I guess that's it.
What made you decide that a headphone amp was necessary?
Well for anyone who uses their computer as a media station, headphones make sense. For the price, they can offer better sound, and in some cases, better sound positioning for games, they block out computer-noise better, and keep the sound private, which is useful if you're like me and listen to Touhou music.
But open-ear headphones offer better sound than closed for the price. Closed headphones will cost 2-3 times as much for equivalent quality.