Does a Amp improve sound quality in any way?

[Dackzy]

4 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

If you claim passive computer speakers weren't a thing you do not

I know that those shitty things that are more like headphones still exist, but if you still use them I feel really sorry for you. Hmmm what about that part where you said that good headphones has a impedance much higher than 32 ohm and I showed you really high end ones that was around 32 ohm, oh yeah I think you would get something out of reading my post about amps and dacs where I talk really basic things about them, so you can see why this is kinda wrong

 

1 hour ago, HalGameGuru said:

 

But if you have the money, as the OP does, for a good set of headphones, they should sound just fine with onboard, but the bigger improvement will be with a better DAC than AMP unless he is trying to pull massive volume.

fyi when it comes to improving sound with headphones it is changing the headphones to something better that will make the biggest improvement, not getting a dac and amp.

[HalGameGuru]

16 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I know that those shitty things that are more like headphones still exist, but if you still use them I feel really sorry for you. Hmmm what about that part where you said that good headphones has a impedance much higher than 32 ohm and I showed you really high end ones that was around 32 ohm, oh yeah I think you would get something out of reading my post about amps and dacs where I talk really basic things about them, so you can see why this is kinda wrong

 

fyi when it comes to improving sound with headphones it is changing the headphones to something better that will make the biggest improvement, not getting a dac and amp.

I may have worded clumsily, good headphones CAN be higher impedance, but that does not mean 32 and 16 ohm headsets are not good. The ones I currently have are 32, some are higher, Sennheiser has made some higher than 32. There are companies that make 250 and even 600 Ohm sets. That says more to materials and build quality than it does to SOUND quality though.

 

If you already HAVE good headphones a better DAC than what the onboard uses can help, although if all you are LISTENING to is MP3s or Netflix you won't notice. 

 

In the end, unless he can hear the difference, the onboard may work just fine for him, if he needs more volume a better amp will help, if sound quality is poor but you know the source is good and the headphones are good a DAC may be what you need.

 

It's going to be case by case, and its going to be to their subjective tastes, for ME the expense isn't worth it, I'll use onboard until what I am listening to needs a higher quality DAC. as for volume I have no trouble with the power produced onboard. If HIS setup is not working well for him HE may need to make other choices.

 

EDIT: as for passive speakers that was separate from the conversation about AMPs for improved sound quality. Just like Ohm ratings for motherboard sound chips, and WHAT wattage an onboard will put out. And no one claimed the cheapos eMachines gave out were any good, but there WERE good passive PC speakers. And nowadays passive drivers still exist in most headsets.

[Dackzy]

6 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

I may have worded clumsily, good headphones CAN be higher impedance, but that does not mean 32 and 16 ohm headsets are not good. The ones I currently have are 32, some are higher, Sennheiser has made some higher than 32. There are companies that make 250 and even 600 Ohm sets. That says more to materials and build quality than it does to SOUND quality though.

 

If you already HAVE good headphones a better DAC than what the onboard uses can help, although if all you are LISTENING to is MP3s or Netflix you won't notice. 

 

In the end, unless he can hear the difference, the onboard may work just fine for him, if he needs more volume a better amp will help, if sound quality is poor but you know the source is good and the headphones are good a DAC may be what you need.

 

It's going to be case by case, and its going to be to their subjective tastes, for ME the expense isn't worth it, I'll use onboard until what I am listening to needs a higher quality DAC. as for volume I have no trouble with the power produced onboard. If HIS setup is not working well for him HE may need to make other choices.

just to be sure, you do know that impedance has little to nothing to do with how hard headphones are to drive right? If yes I am done here and will go back to helping other people.

[HalGameGuru]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

just to be sure, you do know that impedance has little to nothing to do with how hard headphones are to drive right? If yes I am done here and will go back to helping other people.

It can have an effect on low power circuits, mainly in volume. Most people won't notice, bigger issue, as I said from the beginning is TOO LOW an impedance. Once again, a MUCH BIGGER issue for big drivers than for headphones, but if you are talking about a system that can only put out a smattering of mW's that can still pinch. Although I doubt anyone here would come around trying to use 2 ohm headsets, if anyone out there still even MAKES them.

[SSL]

Jesus I'm glad I spent all day on a plane instead of in this thread. Fuck.

[spwath]

12 minutes ago, SSL said:

Jesus I'm glad I spent all day on a plane instead of in this thread. Fuck.

Yeah, i still haven't seen any passive motherboard powered speakers...

[SSL]

2 minutes ago, spwath said:

Yeah, i still haven't seen any passive motherboard powered speakers...

 

Right. I wanted to see a commercial, passive speaker with TRS input, not something hacked together.

[spwath]

7 hours ago, SSL said:

 

Right. I wanted to see a commercial, passive speaker with TRS input, not something hacked together.

Actually, there are things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRS-P7-Passive-Speaker-Mini-Plug/dp/B00005MOZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463319819&sr=8-1&keywords=passive+computer+speakers

But they are more of a portable speakers, and not very good, and quiet

[SSL]

2 hours ago, spwath said:

Actually, there are things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRS-P7-Passive-Speaker-Mini-Plug/dp/B00005MOZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463319819&sr=8-1&keywords=passive+computer+speakers

But they are more of a portable speakers, and not very good, and quiet

 

3 stars, seems legit.

[spwath]

2 minutes ago, SSL said:

 

3 stars, seems legit.

Yeah, most reviews said they dont get loud at all and are not very good.

 

So it seems like some exist, but they were never the standard, and should not exist.

[GlassBomb]

The only thing an AMP should do is to amplify the sound. So a good AMP should do nothing but increase the loudness of the headphones.

 

However, all AMP's will sound slightly different (more similar to one another than not) since they can't all be made with with the same components. Even more so when it comes to tube AMP's.

 

So in ways, this will color how it will sound like. And as to if this sounds better or not is personal preference.

[Dackzy]

Here is a plain simple answer: No.