headphone/speaker amp

[flexin1981]

Hey Guys,

 

Just bought a new sound card and am looking for a headphone/speaker amp for a small set of desktop un-powered monitors.

 

Any idea's in the £100 mark ?

 

thanks 

 

John 

[EmoRarity]

How backwards, and amusing. 

[bob345]

The dayton audio dta-120 is a great little amp for the money and it has a built i headphone amp. I have been using the older model, the dta-100 for a few years now and it is just great.

 

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dta-120-class-t-mini-amplifier-60-wpc--300-3800

[flexin1981]

Hey Bob,

 

Thanks for the reply, gonna check that out today.

 

@EmoRarity, do you want to elaborate on that statement. What do you find Backwards and funny. 

 

John 

[EmoRarity]

Hey Bob,

 

Thanks for the reply, gonna check that out today.

 

@EmoRarity, do you want to elaborate on that statement. What do you find Backwards and funny. 

 

John 

Meant to buy the headphones before the source, because nine out of ten times onboard is more then enough unless its broken. 

But maybe my good financial thinking is outdated and no longer cool. 

[flexin1981]

What's the point of buying expensive headphones/monitors when you don't have a clean signal driving them.

 

Surely that makes less financial to have something that you cant push to it's full potential, I am in the progress of changing all of the components in the system and the source was the first thing in the chain.

 

If you are going to use these forums might I suggest that if you have a constructive opinion to give then give it, even if I don't agree at least we can have a serious debate with constructive points of view.

 

Thanks 

 

John.

[EmoRarity]

What's the point of buying expensive headphones/monitors when you don't have a clean signal driving them.

 

Surely that makes less financial to have something that you cant push to it's full potential, I am in the progress of changing all of the components in the system and the source was the first thing in the chain.

 

If you are going to use these forums might I suggest that if you have a constructive opinion to give then give it, even if I don't agree at least we can have a serious debate with constructive points of view.

 

Thanks 

 

John.

Because thats not how audio works, if its being properly driven, then everything is potassium. Which a pair of speakers would be because they would have their own amp in some way, shape, or form.

Its infinitely more black and white then how you currently think it is. 

[flexin1981]

Ok,

 

So let breakdown what you have said above,

 

 

 

Because thats not how audio works, if its being properly driven, then everything is potassium.

 

So what is properly driven ?, a clean source right ? This would include high quality audio files ? 24bit flac perhaps, then a source can relay this file Right.? all this would lead to a clean signal that can be amplified without the introduction of noise.

 

This is the stage that I am at now, The next stage that I see in the "properly driven" scenario is the AMP, Which is what I am looking for now, I am after something that is going to introduce the least nose to that signal that is being produced and at a decent enough level.

 

Once this is done then I can look for the pair of monitors that match the amp that has been chosen. Then onto the headphones. 

 

 

 

Which a pair of speakers would be because they would have their own amp in some way, shape, or form

 

This would be entirety dependent on the amp bought they would need to match the amp to get the best performance from them, as for the speakers being amp'd in some way. If you are talking about the monitors having a sound signature then I agree each one is going to have it's own sound, that's inevitable as the engineers building the things all have different ideas of what is right. The thing that I am looking for is the flattest sound signature that I can find and the best reproduction that I can find. 

 

This all leads back to your initial statement of;

 

 

Meant to buy the headphones before the source

 

It seems to me like that you are assuming that I have a clean source to begin with and that actually I have been doing the right thing all along in that I am building the "properly driven" model that you have spoken about previously.

 

Let me know if I have misunderstood this ?

 

Thanks 

 

John.

[EmoRarity]

Ok,

 

So let breakdown what you have said above, 

If a load is receiving the voltage it needs, then it will work properly, there is no such think as dirty voltage, its either working or not. 

Chemistry joke. 

Speakers unlike headphones will have their own amp, and the last amp before the speakers/headphones is the only one that matters. 

So basically your soundcard is redundant and pointless unless your onboard was broken...

[flexin1981]

Man, 

 

I am not sure if this is serious or not now, of course you can have a dirty voltage, that's all I can say on that. If you think that nothing else in the audio chain matters to the sound quality then enjoy your music .

 

I'm gonna strive for a little better than that !!!

 

Thanks for the input though, it has been amusing.

 

John 

[EmoRarity]

Man, 

 

I am not sure if this is serious or not now, of course you can have a dirty voltage, that's all I can say on that. If you think that nothing else in the audio chain matters to the sound quality then enjoy your music .

 

I'm gonna strive for a little better than that !!!

 

Thanks for the input though, it has been amusing.

 

John 

Explain the magical science behind dirty power? Is it that same science the proves cables effect sound quality? 

[flexin1981]

I am going to lead you back to my first reply to you.

 

 

 

If you are going to use these forums might I suggest that if you have a constructive opinion to give then give it, even if I don't agree at least we can have a serious debate with constructive points of view.

 

As it seems like you don't have anything constructive to add, i don't see the point in continuing this.

 

John

[EmoRarity]

I am going to lead you back to my first reply to you.

 

 

As it seems like you don't have anything constructive to add, i don't see the point in continuing this.

 

John

Lets not forget, you asked me to elaborate, then promptly decided to stick your fingers in your ears and ignore it.

[flexin1981]

No buddy,

 

I ask for constructive points, I replied to your points with the reasoning behind what I think but you on the other hand have provided no ryhm nor reason for the opinions that you have put forth and they have become increasingly weird as time has gone on.

 

once again i am open to a serious debate, and if you are willing to give me the logic behind your argument that I should start at the headphone end of the chain in the effect on sound quality. Then i am more than willing to listen, perhaps you can educate me rather than trying to mock.

 

Thanks 

 

John.

[Lutkeveld]

@EmoRarity @flexin1981

 

IMO Emo is the one sticking his fingers in his ears. Everybody on here wants to learn, no point in making an argument without supporting it.

Flexin got some good points, but he may be wrong on some.

 

My view:

There is 'dirty' power; clipping, harmonic distortion, noise etc etc.

There is no such thing as 'perfect audio', there will always be something 'wrong'.

A good soundcard may improve something, but maybe that 'something' isn't noticable.

 

Speakers unlike headphones will have their own amp, and the last amp before the speakers/headphones is the only one that matters. 
So basically your soundcard is redundant and pointless unless your onboard was broken...

 

Headphones are just like passive speakers, they need an amp. It's not like the first (onboard for example) doesn't matter.

If that one clips, the next one will amplify a clipped signal.

[creatip123]

My opinions:

 

- Onboards nowadays are well-structured that it should produce good enough signals. Bad thing is, because it's more or less 'free stuff', it's using not-very-good components that are prone to go bad (like capacitors) and cause problems

 

- If you wanna go '1 step above onboard', that's perfectly fine and understandable. Should've gone with an external solution though, external dac, amp, combo, even external multi-channel soundcards. Reason: the inside of the PC is 'dirty' with EMI, grounding issues, and whatnot. Read around the forum, there are plenty of people complaining about issues from internal devices. When you 'pull' the data processing completely out of the insides, it's more resilient to noises. It's like, you want to upgrade your food, but you went from hamburger to hotdog. Should be from hamburger to steak or something.

 

- Personally I'd prefer an external dac/amp combo that got headphone amp and a line out. Then, get a speaker amp and plug it to the line out. That way, you can use a headphone and speakers at the same time, or just the headphone only. Moreover, you got a device that's tailored for headphone use, and another device that's tailored for speaker use.

[NannerBeans]

Headphones are just like passive speakers, they need an amp. It's not like the first (onboard for example) doesn't matter.

If that one clips, the next one will amplify a clipped signal.

 But there's zero reason to have 2 amps.

 

OP if you have passive speakers and need a power amp for those than I suggest the Lepai 2020A+ amp. There's really no need for anything more expensive. 

[Lutkeveld]

 But there's zero reason to have 2 amps.

 

If the first amp is not adequate..... It's not like you can remove the first amp stage.

[NannerBeans]

If the first amp is not adequate..... It's not like you can remove the first amp stage.

Well if it's onboard than you bypass it by using the line out or using a usb dac. 

[Guest]

@EmoRarity @flexin1981

 

IMO Emo is the one sticking his fingers in his ears. Everybody on here wants to learn, no point in making an argument without supporting it.

Flexin got some good points, but he may be wrong on some.

 

My view:

There is 'dirty' power; clipping, harmonic distortion, noise etc etc.

There is no such thing as 'perfect audio', there will always be something 'wrong'.

A good soundcard may improve something, but maybe that 'something' isn't noticable.

 

 

Headphones are just like passive speakers, they need an amp. It's not like the first (onboard for example) doesn't matter.

If that one clips, the next one will amplify a clipped signal.

 

Yeah, because this forum is a bastion of learning and not a constant struggle to keep the YouTube sycophants at bay.

 

The point that the OP did things backwards stands; they bought a soundcard - probably unnecessarily - and now want to get a dedicated headphone speaker amp on top of that.

 

I guess it makes sense when you realize that no one interested in audio gear cares about value; all that matters is "quality".