If you want to get the best sound quality out of your headphones, a headphone amplifier is one of the devices you should be looking to get. Whether you own a pair of high-end or regular headphones, there is always a way to make them sound better.
A headphone amp is one of the devices you can add to your headphones’ audio chain to improve their sound quality. In this article, we’ll look at what is a headphone amp, different types of headphone amps, and why you might need one. Enjoy.
What is a Headphone Amplifier?
A headphone amp is like your regular home theater amplifier used for full-size speakers. However, a headphone amp is smaller and is used to power headphones.
An amplifier will take in a low-powered audio signal and boost it to a sufficient level before sending it to your headphone drivers. By boosting the audio signal, headphone amps make it easier for the headphone drivers to convert audio signals to sound waves.
Audioengine D1 Portable Desktop Headphone Amp and DAC
Headphone amps might also come with a built-in Digital-to-Analog Converter, also called a DAC. A DAC helps to convert digital audio to analog audio efficiently. This helps reduce unwanted noise and other audio imperfections that arise during conversion. A headphone amp with a DAC is called a DAC/AMP combo.
Why Use a Headphone Amp
The two major reasons to get a headphone amplifier are if you’re using high Impedance headphones and if you want to improve the overall sound quality of your headphones.
1. Using High Impedance Headphones
All playback devices also have built-in amplifiers. However, built-in amplifiers are not powerful enough sometimes to bring out the best sound from our headphones. This is why you might want to upgrade to a separate headphone amp.
High-Impedance headphones offer greater resistance to an audio signal. This means when using lower-powered playback devices, like laptops or smartphones, your headphones will not get sufficient power to sound best. This is where a headphone amp comes in handy.
Lehmann Linear Headphone Amp and Sennheiser HD800S
If your headphones have an impedance of 50 Ohm or higher, they will benefit from using a headphone amplifier. Most high-end headphones, like Sennheiser HD800S, have higher impedance values and will need an amplifier to sound best.
2. Improving Sound Quality
Apart from powering high Impedance or power-hungry headphones, a headphone amp can also help bring out the subtle details of your music for an enhanced musical experience.
An amp can also reduce audio noise, such as crackling and static noise, for a richer and fuller sound quality. An amp/DAC combo is a better option if you’re looking to power your headphones and also improve the overall quality of the sound.
Types of Headphone Amplifiers
There are different types of headphone amplifiers. However, they can all be categorized into solid-state, tube, and hybrid headphone amplifiers.
Solid-state headphone amplifiers use transistor circuits to amplify an electrical audio signal. The advantage of solid-state amps is the cleaner and more accurate sound output. Their design also allows for a compact and lightweight design. Solid-state headphone amps can further be broken down into desktop and portable headphone amplifiers.
Massdrop Objective 2 Headphone amp Desktop Edition
Tube headphone amplifiers use vacuum tubes for audio processing and amplification. For most audiophiles, tube amplifiers remain popular because of their audio output. They are loved for their warm sound character and the ability to swap different tubes (tube rolling) to change or customize the output audio. However, tube amps are often bulky and heavier in design. They also have heat-related problems, like overheating, and might burn you if you’re not careful.
Little Dot MK2 MKII
The last type of headphone amplifier is a hybrid amp. This amplifier combines both a solid-state and tube amp into its design. A tube system is used in the input stage, while a solid-state system is used in the output stage. A hybrid headphone amplifier will provide a lower output impedance but with more power and current. This means you can get clean, undistorted sound when powering low-impedance headphones.
