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TravellingJay
10
Mar 24, 2023
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Enjoyed the article.
One follow up question: When is a pre-amp necessary in a chain with headphones? I'm using Hifiman HE-X4 planars plugged directly into a laptop and it sounds fine - actually, better than fine...pretty dang good in an admittedly low end entry level set up. Is there an edge missing without a pre-amp, either SS or tube?
Evshrug
3772
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Mar 24, 2023
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TravellingJayA pre-amp can be used to raise the volume to 2 Volts (for line-level power), to adjust volume, or to add a coloration such as EQ or the euphoric effects of some tubes. A headphone amp basically would be serving as a pre-amp. In fact, some people use headphone amps as pre-amps for active speakers, because headphones have much higher sensitivity than speakers and thus the headphone amps typically have really low noise. I wish I had heard the HE-4x specifically, but I have heard the HE-4xx, 400i, and 400, and all of those had richer timbre and more enjoyable mids with a discrete headphone amp.
If you’re happy now, I’d say a discrete headphone amp is a want rather than a need, but it should also provide a nice upgrade if you ever want to try an amp, and that amp will probably be nice to have if you explore other headphones too.
(Edited)
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