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Headphone Amplifiers
phones? Now how do you
plug the second into the
first?
Headphones have long been an alternative
listening method for those whose
partners don’t share their musical tastes.
Or those with thin walls. In recent years
the idea of listening to music through
headphones rather than loudspeakers
has gone mainstream. The reason for
that can be summed up in a word: iPod.
(Then again, there’s the word Walkman.
Remember that? Neither do we.) But no
portable player can do justice to great
headphones.
Neither can your high end amplifier,
chances are. Because headphones
are sensitive and go right against your
ears, they’ll let you hear hiss and hum
normally inaudible. And you can’t
rig up a switching system without
doing major damage to audio
performance you’ve spent good
money for.
An amplifier made specially
for headphones may be the solution.
Run it from your regular
amp or preamp’s Tape Out jacks,
and you’re set. We reviewed three
possibilities.
Listening Room Got an amplifier? Got head-
3 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
But first, let’s talk about a new headphone,
the one below.
The Goldring DR150 headphone
It’s from a surprising company, but
then Goldring seems to offer all kinds of
things these days, even turntables. The
DR150 phones are the most expensive of
three models at C$260. This is of course
much more than the phones on the racks
of iPod stores.
They’re dynamic phones, with a
titanium film diaphragm, comfortable
circumaural muffs and open backs.
They don’t block much sound, and
consequently you won’t want to listen to
them next to someone trying to get some
sleep, because they leak like the Titanic.
The good side is that if the phone rings
while you’re listening, you’ll hear it.
If you don’t see a cord in our picture
it’s because it’s detachable. The 3 metre
cord in fact has a gold-plated miniplug
at each end, with a full-sized phone
plug adapter. All three of us rated them
comfortable, thanks to their lightness
and the design of the muffs.
Do we have a reference headphone
for comparison? Yes we do, though we
seldom list it. It’s a Koss PRO/4AAA,
purchased many years ago for studio
monitoring (anyone recall that our Alpha
room was originally a broadcast production
studio?). It was excellent then, and
it still is. We ran a single recording,
Margie Gibson’s The Best Thing For
You from her Say It With Music album
(Sheffield CD-36), first through the Koss
phones, then through the Goldring.
Each panelist (listening separately for
once) would evaluate the Goldring, and
then continue the amplifier evaluation
with the phone of his or her choice. The
choice, however, would have to be made
on the basis of the sound, not comfort.
Did the Goldring sound neutral?
Not really. Albert found it colored, with
an alteration not only of Gibson’s voice
but also of the piano, bass and percussion.
We did note some strong points.
The transients are quick and lifelike,
the dynamics impressive, and Gerard
thought the somewhat leaner bass might
actually be a plus. But we didn’t enjoy
the increased graininess of the highs,
nor the somewhat claustrophobic space.
All three of us opted to do the rest of the
test with our Koss reference phone.
The Goldring, we should add, seemed
sensitive to the quality of the amplifier. It
sounded best with the CEC amp (but of
course so did the Koss). Plugged into
an iPod, it was harsh and edgy.
Then on to the comparisons of the
amplifiers. We usually listen to our
reference system first, and then drop in
whatever component we are reviewing
and listen again. However we have no
reference headphone amplifier, and that