Portable amp

[Tarkovsky]

Hi, I'm looking for a portable headphone amp with good imaging, high detail and a very fair reproduction of the source. My budget is roundabout $400. I was considering one of the offerings from Ray Samuel until I read the opinions here. Instead do you have any particular recommendations? I've heard good things about Graham Slee's voyager, would that be a good choice? This is all baring in the that I'm limited to closed phones because I'll be monitoring input sources - perhaps oneday I'll invest in the etymotic H4s's.

Cheers

[n_maher]

It would be key to know what headphones you plan on using. And even with your generous budget I wouldn't bother with anything more expensive than a Rockhopper mini3.

[Tarkovsky]

Possibly a pair of AKG K 271s or beyerdynamic dt250-250s.

[boomana]

Hi, I'm looking for a portable headphone amp with good imaging, high detail and a very fair reproduction of the source. My budget is roundabout $400.

Cheers

As Nate said, the headphones will make a difference, and also what's your source? The last time I spent making any real comparisons between portables, certain amps were able to reproduce the music from higher end sources much better than others, yet when an ipod was being used, some not-so-great but good amps sounded perfectly fine and equal to the better ones. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you might not need to spend that much if using a portable source, which most people are. It evens things out a bit.

As I went to post, I now see your headphone choice. I second the mini^3 recommendation, and you'll have some money left over for music.

[n_maher]

Ok, my advice stands, spend $125 on a Rockhopper mini3 w/ a gain of 5 and spend the extra money on something else. I'd be hard pressed to believe you'll find a better sounding portable even if you max your budget. You might find one with more features, but I can't tell you whether or not that matters to you.

[boomana]

Of course, if you were also interested in a small portable amp that also had a dac for when you wanted to use it with a computer, you could up your budget and get a pico

[Tarkovsky]

High quality condensers recorded at 24 bit 96khz in the field and downsampled to 24/48 back in the studio and maybe the occasional cd in ALAC or FLACed. In all likelihood I'll get a pair of the AKGs.

The amp does not have to be ultra portable as my gear is clunky anyway...

[grawk]

by source, they're asking what your playback device is, not what the software is you're playing back.

[Tarkovsky]

This isn't so much about playback, as I'm monitoring the source directly. I need to be able to hear what the mics are recording. The recorder itself is a fostex fr2 LE.

-In the studio, which to me is less important i use either the DAC in my mbox 2(yucky) or the inbuilt dac in my azur540r which isn't so bad.

[JBLoudG20]

http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-micro-line/2007-headroom-micro-amp.php

[elnero]

Of course, if you were also interested in a small portable amp that also had a dac for when you wanted to use it with a computer, you could up your budget and get a pico

Even if he didn't want the DAC he could still get a Pico and he would be within his budget.

[grawk]

I knew what you meant, I was trying to explain to you what people were asking for. That you're using mics doesn't help at all for an amplifier recommendation. I will suggest that most AKG headphones will be nearly useless for live recording monitors, as well, as they're open designs. If you're talking about the closed akgs, then you'll be fine with the mini3.

[Tarkovsky]

Well I'm sure you can forgive my confusion as you used the affirmative 'is'. Yes I'll be using the closed AKG K 271s as I had outlined from the outset...

Edit- As a side note I'm considering investing in a pair of DT 880s in the long term for personal use and home use, so I'd still like to get a half decent amp for them.

[grawk]

Well I'm sure you can forgive my confusion as you used the affirmative 'is'. Yes I'll be using the closed AKG K 271s as I had outlined from the outset...

You'll be fine with a govibe or mini3 then. Louder is all you really need in that situation. You'd lose any improvement in resolution you'd get with a better amp given those headphones.

[Tarkovsky]

Would the etymotics be better then?

[holland]

Mini3 is the way to go. K271 are efficient and low Z. There are also other builders for the Mini3. http://www.amb.org/audio/mini3/ . Scroll to the bottom for the list of 3, just to be fair to the others.

[grawk]

Would the etymotics be better then?

No idea, I've never heard the etymotic H2s. The er4ps would be better, but you're not getting details in your listening while monitoring live anyway.

[Tarkovsky]

How's that?

[grawk]

How's that?

Because the listening environment is far from ideal. I was a taper for several years, and all you can do live is confirm that you're getting decent levels. Listening after the fact is better for deciding if your recording actually turned out good. And then, you'll want a better source than using the recording device. A good dac of some sort.

[Tarkovsky]

I suppose good levels aren't really the issue hear anway as 24 bit recording as a ridiculous amount of headroom. I hear what you are saying. And yeah i wasn't planning to mix on the thing, I just wanted to be able to evaluate mic placements on the fly. You've been very informative, thanks.

Edit - If I were to buy a pair of the etymotics, which are high impedance, would you recommend any amp in particular?

[grawk]

I mostly ran midside, so I wasn't making any decisions like that in the field. But then even when I ran matched pairs, I ran ORTF, and wasn't tweaking live.

[Tarkovsky]

I think the only reason I get such a say so in these matters is that it's such a small scale operation - I record small gigs for student radio. Did you have an opinion on an amp for the etymotics? Considering general opinion upon closed cup phones I'll probably get ER 4Ss (sound isolation isn't a massive problems as I tend to work with only the weediest of PAs).

[grawk]

I think the only reason I get such a say so in these matters is that it's such a small scale operation - I record small gigs for student radio. Did you have an opinion on an amp for the etymotics? Considering general opinion upon closed cup phones I'll probably get ER 4Ss (sound isolation isn't a massive problems as I tend to work with only the weediest of PAs).

Get the ER4P instead of the ER4S, with the P, you can add a cable and get the benefits of S. As to amps, there are lots of amps that work well wtih the etymotics. I'd probably get a low gain mini3 at this point, or the headamp pico w/ dac.

[boomana]

I have the ER4P/S and it's fine with the mini^3. When you don't want to carry around an amp, which I don't if I'm really going portable and not just bringing my ipod or pcdp to a different location, the ability to run ER4P straight from my nano is really nice.

[holland]

A plain old cmoy is more than adequate for the Etys or a PA2V2. IEMs don't really need power at all and you can probably power it from your gear directly, though it wouldn't hurt for more gain if necessary. You're talking fractions of volts and tens of milliamps of current. For about 100dB on the Ety ER4s you're looking at about .9Vp-p max and about 9mA. The Mini3 would be a waste of power on that headphone, if you're using it in the field as it consumes about 25mA just being on. The high performance version will consume more power than it is putting out, but the extended performance version may suit you better at about 20hrs of battery life.

Given your headphone preference now, a more power conscious amp would be better advised. A CMoy based on an AD8599 @ 9V would better suit you. You can probably contract a builder to make you one, or if you're reasonable at soldering make your own.