Are headphone amps snake oil?

[TLS Guy]

I use older AKG headphones and plug it into my nakamichi DVD 10s DVD-player and they sound awesome, but it has a volume control for the headphones. So there might be a headphone amp build in. I am not sure.

Yes, there will be a headphone amp.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Yes, there will be a headphone amp.

Any device with a headphone jack has a headphone amp in it (by definition.)
The question is how the quality compares with a stand-alone unit. You answered this question well: It depends!

 

[gus6464]

The real question, is whether the hiss can be heard in quiet music passages. If not then you have no problem. If you can then get a good amp.

However, you might buy an amp and have the same problem, as it might just have a simple volume control ahead of the opamp. That is what the feedback volume control circuit of Peter Baxandall in the Lindsey Hood design is all about.

The headphone amp manufacturers never give you a clue about these sort of details. If you have the amp you will be able to tell. If you plug the phones in with nothing playing the hiss will stay the same as you turn the volume up and down. In the Baxandall circuit, the hiss will go to inaudible as you turn down the volume.

Ok I just tried that you recommended and the hiss gets louder when nothing is playing as I turn up the volume. As far as it being audible when playing music it can be when I am listening to a song with some very quiet passages.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

No doubt about it, the Cambridge electronics work beautifully with the AKGs! There is absolutely no audible hiss at any volume, and it is plenty loud enough with the volume knob at 9:00. The sound is phenominally detailed, and even some non-binaural recordings sound totally 3D (Madonna's Ray of Light was particularly impressive!) The resolution of instruments within complex passages has rekindled my interest in classical orchestra recordings.

The only thing that could possibly trigger upgradeitis at this point it a bigger soundstage (headstage?)

 

[MichaelJHuman]

I used to have a Sony discman with excellent sound to my headphones. Bass, especially hit harder. Ever since then, every other portable player I have owned has been inferior. I would guess it might have to do with how much current is supplied to the headphone amp.