Tube Headphone Amp, Bravo Audio V1

[Speculant]

I was looking at this amp: Bravo Audio V1 Mini Valve Deluxe Class A Tube Headphone Ampl 310-354

I have a few questions, first off I would be using a laptop for the sound source. Would this be a major drawback (e.g. destroy the point of using a high-quality headphone amp)?

Secondly, my price range is quite small (under $150) for headphones, what do you people recommend to go with this amp?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

just get Audioengine D1

 

[Adam]

Wow, that is one cool looking amp! I dig the tube glow.

Like you, I would be concerned about the quality of the source. I don't know how great the DAC or amplifier in your laptop are, and if either suck, then the end result isn't going to be great. Which laptop do you have (as some people here might know what's inside)?

I'll throw this out there. My brother got a Blue Yeti microphone (and then so did I), and he loves the headphone DAC/amp performance of it. It plugs into your computer using a USB cable. I haven't used it for headphones myself, but my brother uses it with a pair of Sennheiser HD 600 headphones and is very pleased. He got his for $80 on sale at Newegg, and I got one about a month later for $90 on Amazon. So, it costs about the same as the amp that you're looking at. It is pretty large, though.

 

[fmw]

I'm a fan of Sennheiser as well. I've owned perhaps a half dozen of them over the years and never been disappointed.

 

[Speculant]

According to my Realtek software, my audio card is this: Realtek

Is this ok or would I be better off getting a USB DAC? Also, I was thinking of going with the Grado SR80i's, they seem to have favorable reviews.

 

[Speculant]

just get Audioengine D1

That unit looks fantastic, the only issue is that it's just a little over my price range.