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Are Headphone amps worth the expense?

I have a Mac tube amp and grado phones. Would I benefit from a headphone amp? How are they hooked up? Thanks for any thoughts.
drpat
bdhgon
10 posts
 
Oh, and you'd do better to look on head-fi for headphone info.
travis's avatar
travis
239 posts
 
I would get a headphone amp on trial for comparison. Grados are easy to drive and it's possible you will not hear a worth-your-money difference. Your dealer should be able to help you with hook up.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
Are you into DIY?

Try building a CMOY headphone amp. Strictly low cost and fun. The good news is you can than 'roll opamps' and test the different ones available.

I use OPA2134s as a good compromise.

Very good amp when properly built. Not as good as the 'best' but no more than 5% of the cost.

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/
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kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,449 posts
 
Some specialized headphone amplifiers simulate crosstalk between channels making sound appear in front and not inside of the head. It cross-feeds portion of delayed sound to the other ear - the same way that it happens when listening to speakers. I had sound card with this option and it was great. It is also possible in analog domain - I have link to Headphone Amp project with cross-feed somewhere. I remember seeing headphones that have built in crosstalk (tube) from one cup to another - but don't remember the name.

I found the link: http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/projects/meier_prj.htm
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