which particular amp for newbie

[paingod84 0]

hi guys.. just joined few days back. didnt realise there's actualli a local site dedicated for us audiophiles.. this is cool..

 

well.. im using a creative nomad jb zen xtra and a cheap pair of ($50) sony mdr-033s (the street style clip-ons type - i couldnt find a link... they've discontinued this series anyway) but u guys can prbly gauge the specifications i guess.

 

so... the question is, would any headamp actualli make much of a diff?

 

1) shd i save up and invest in a better headphone first.. and if so, what do i look out for.. (i tried in vain to find some info on the net regd freq range, impedance, they all basically sound like machine code to me)

 

2) a headamp is still quite viable.. and then the next question would be, which type of amp prbly suits my need. cmoy/cmoy2/a47?

 

i just picked up a book off the library to learn more about electronics.. hopefully things will start to make more sense. maybe once im more experienced i'll post out some of this theory, it'll prbly help alot of noobs like me get started wif the terminology.

 

and lastly, wat's the deal wif the gain. well.. i sort of figured that its related to the impedance of your 'phones. meaning the higher range of 'phones will prbly need a gain of abt 7-11...something like dat? well then... based on my current setup.. how much gain do i need? and how do i adjust this in terms of the circuitry? put more voltage across the op-amp?

 

phew. i hope i made sense.

[RonTheMan 0]

A headamp would make a difference for sure. But whether the difference would be big depends on several factors, notably your phones and you. My take in this case would be for you to upgrade your phones first then maybe add an amp later. Most higher end phones would benefit most from amping, although this is the general rule and may not hold true for all cases.

 

Perhaps you could list down the genre of music you listen to? Whether you like a bassy kind of sound as in like your sound preference? Your budget if any? What birate are your music encoded?

[Absolute0 0]

If you're using a creative nomad jb zen xtra as the source, which IIRC has no line-out, a headamp might not be all that helpful as the signal still passes through the internal amp. For now, better headphones should be your priority if you are looking at a substantial improvement in sound quality, and you can decide which amp to pair with your headphones thereafter, though this is not a "must" if you're already satisfied with the sound.

 

Last but not least, do not be unduely worried about the specs (freq range, impedance, etc.) of headphones as they do not determine a can's worth. It should be fine as long as the headphones can be driven well enough by your source, where impedance might come in.

[jasonhanjk 0]

I too recommend a good headphone or earphone first. Once you like that phone then you try to build an amp.

 

The cheapest to build is the Cmoy.

The hardest to build is the A47.

The easiest to build is Cmoy 2 but it is the most ex.

 

Try not to rush so fast, take your time.

So are you studying poly?

[paingod84 0]

jasonhanjk: haha. thats the whole prb. nahh. i just orded. jobless. and here's where the problem of buying a new set of 'phones lies. heh. but im realli interested in the amps. guess i'll just give e cmoy a try first. moreover.. according to wat i've read up on the cmoys.. u can prbly adjust the value of R5 later rite.. as in... when i get better 'phones i can just bump down that output impedance resistor, i mean, the purpose of it is just to get rid of e damned hiss anyway rite...? sorta like a noise removal..?

 

rontheman: i listen to metal, yeah i prefer heavy, crisp bass, yet still not drown out the muted hihats and cymbals and stuff.. bitrate.. most of em are at least 160kbits, even for e vbrs.

 

absolute0: hmm.. i dun quite get u.. then like dat.. don't all portable players/discmans/etc haf internal amps? so then wats e whole purpose of headamps den?

(and to sidetrack... can i make a variant amp which would prbly be able to drive my normal hifi spkrs? they're rated 8ohms supposedly.. i thought they should be higher since they're... well... bigger?? how much gain shd i look at... i suppose i can prbly read up on other forums and find a specific amp suited for this, but i just thought i'd ask to gain a better understanding on the whole issue.. hope u dun mind..)

 

and... btw... thanks alot guys. realli appreciate this.

[Absolute0 0]

absolute0: hmm.. i dun quite get u.. then like dat.. don't all portable players/discmans/etc haf internal amps? so then wats e whole purpose of headamps den?

Some portables have line-outs, which bypass the internal amp, thereby allowing the external headamp to amplify the signal directly.

[Firefox 0]

hi guys.. just joined few days back. didnt realise there's actualli a local site dedicated for us audiophiles.. this is cool..

 

well.. im using a creative nomad jb zen xtra and a cheap pair of ($50) sony mdr-033s (the street style clip-ons type - i couldnt find a link... they've discontinued this series anyway) but u guys can prbly gauge the specifications i guess.

 

so... the question is, would any headamp actualli make much of a diff?

 

1) shd i save up and invest in a better headphone first.. and if so, what do i look out for.. (i tried in vain to find some info on the net regd freq range, impedance, they all basically sound like machine code to me)

 

2) a headamp is still quite viable.. and then the next question would be, which type of amp prbly suits my need. cmoy/cmoy2/a47?

 

i just picked up a book off the library to learn more about electronics.. hopefully things will start to make more sense. maybe once im more experienced i'll post out some of this theory, it'll prbly help alot of noobs like me get started wif the terminology.

 

and lastly, wat's the deal wif the gain. well.. i sort of figured that its related to the impedance of your 'phones. meaning the higher range of 'phones will prbly need a gain of abt 7-11...something like dat? well then... based on my current setup.. how much gain do i need? and how do i adjust this in terms of the circuitry? put more voltage across the op-amp?

 

phew. i hope i made sense.

1) Yes.

 

2) Build an A47. If you're half-competent with a soldering iron and with reading schematics, it's not going to take much effort to build it.

 

An A47 is only very slightly more difficult to build than a basic cmoy but not as difficult as a buffered cmoy (sometimes known as uber-cmoy). However, it's substantially better than the basic cmoy and IMO, also superior to the uber-cmoy circuits.

 

The gain of 3 on an A47 is good enough if your hearing isn't shot. If it is, I'd recommend spending the money on visiting an ENT specialist.

[RonTheMan 0]

As firefox said, making an amp is rather satisfying and some are quite easy to tackle. You could approach this in both directions if you like, but my initial remarks regarding getting a better phones first stands. For headphones you might want to get the Grados SR80, Koss KSC75 or PortaPro.

 

You can audition the SR80 at Music By Design. Do give them a call before going down though.

http://www.musicbydesign.com.sg/

 

The Koss KSC75 or PortaPro are on sale at SLS. You might want to try Hung Brothers #03-83 Sim Lim Square. Their prices are on the high side but bargainable. You can also try various other shops in SLS.

[jasonhanjk 0]

You need a few amperes to drive speaker load instead of the few miliamps to drive headphone. Speaker gain are normally 50X.

 

If the amp design is good, you won't hear the hissing.