Headphone amp for sen hd 555

brandondanger · 30-06-2009, 7:51 PM

hi all.
i havnt posted on here for ages but now i have a question which i havnt a clue about...and i dont know where to start..
right, ive decided to go down the headphone route and bought some senheiser hd555's, but i think i want to get the best possible out of them so im gonna invest in a headphone amp. trouble is i havnt got a clue! any advice would be greatly appreciated! cheers in advance... bran

Drubbing · 01-07-2009, 5:25 AM

You shouldn't need an amp with those, and amps don't add SQ, they amplify signals and make things louder. If your source is poor, an amp may only make your phones sound worse, as higher volumes can reveal the card's limits.

If you're running the phones from onboard sound on a PC, then consider putting the money in a decent sound card instead. Although this might be a poor investment for those phones.

brandondanger · 01-07-2009, 10:01 AM

cheers to the reply drubbin...
im running a sony fe370 stereo amp. its only for bedroom use really and not any sort of portable device. as for the source, im gonna be running my ps3 with 320kb ripped albums so that wont sound too bad. i was under the impression that a headphone amp would be of higher quality than the ones in normal amplifiers as they are kind of an afterthought and use the cheapest components available.....

Drubbing · 01-07-2009, 12:04 PM

I don't have one, but reports are the PS3, Xboxes etc are probably the worst sources for audio, as they were designed mainly for video. No matter ho high you rip your mp3s, this will limit the SQ.

It's probably arguable that a good quality integrated amp is better than a basic headphone amp. Pound for pound, the headphone amp will be better for headphones as all the components have this use in mind. But the integrated will probably run speakers better.

The main let down with integrateds can be the headphone out; quality is highly variable.

AS I already suggested, with a low end phone like the 555, there really isn't that much to be gained for the outlay. If you want better sound, I go for better headphones, and use your int amp with a good source. You're stuck as far as the PS3 goes, as you can't upgrade the sound-card in these.

brandondanger · 01-07-2009, 8:15 PM

cheers... im stuck with all my equipment, my music is stored on my ps3 and i cant afford an new amp. i could have maybe spent a bit on a headphone amp but as you say, if my quality is limited by my source and my low end headphones then i might just run with what ive got... save a few quid in the process too..

Drubbing · 02-07-2009, 1:05 AM

A suggestion for you, if you can be bothered...

Migrate your music to a PC and spend the money on a soundcard upgrade for it. Then, if you ever decide to get more up market phones, you'll have a decent source to run them from - as there are lots of very good phones out there that don't need amping.

brandondanger · 03-07-2009, 7:57 AM

unfortunatly my pc is a laptop so i cant change any of the componants.. they just arrived actually and they sound light years ahead of anything else ive owned so im happy with them for now.. might try and tweek a few things, import music at 320kbs, only burn from discs instead of online, that sort of thing, but they sound amazing... cheers for the advice though,.

brandondanger · 18-07-2009, 4:05 PM

ive realised my budget stereo amp has a buzzing sound when my headphones are connected so im definatly thinking of getting a headphone amp.. dont want to spend too much though just want a fair sound quality with no background noise.. when hooked up to my archos or laptop my headphones sound great so it is my budget stereo amp thats to blame.. please???

HiFi Headphones · 18-07-2009, 4:52 PM

The Project headphone amp range are good replacements for a dodgy headphone output. I find it incredible that so many integrated amps (even expensive ones) have such poor quality headphone outs.

The Project amps are very well made and will drive Sennheiser HD555's with no issue, but will not really be up to driving higher impedance headphones (HD650's) with any authority. The Head Box SE II has a higher power output and is a much better amp in opinion (although What HiFi? really didn't seem to like it much!).

Shaun

brandondanger · 18-07-2009, 4:58 PM

cheers for the reply... cant really stretch to 90quid though... been looking at the behringer ha400 but i havnt found any reviews on it yet...