Can I make my headphones sound better?

[orca-4444]

Last year I bought a pair of Bose Soundtrue earbuds, and was really impressed with the sound quality, which was a huge leap ahead of my Apple EarPods. I decided to upgrade again last month and got the Philips M1MKII headphones. They weren't the most discussed headphones by any means, but they got pretty solid reviews. When they arrived i took them out of the box, plugged them into my iPad, and was disappointed by the sound quality. At half volume, they sounded noticeably worse and more reserved than the SoundTrues. I had to turn them up almost all the way to get the performance I was looking for. Still, I feel like I'm doing something wrong, and that I could get better performance out of it. I know that earbuds are easier to drive than headphones, and so I've been looking at amps/DACs. I found one that seems to be pretty decent for the price, but I'm not sure if it would make a difference.

So, my questions are:

1. Can I make my headphones sound better?
2. Will this amp make my headphones sound better?


https/www.amazon.com/Philips-M1MKIIBO-27-Headphones-stitched/dp/B00V3A0LLE
https/www.amazon.com/Bose-SoundTrue-In-Ear-Headphones-Cranberry/dp/B00M5A7KVU
https/www.amazon.com/A1-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Silver/dp/B01LYYKP29?th=1

I listen to music on my PC (Dell inspiron 3847) and my iPad

Thanks.

 

[Justin781]

1. Considering how you're using an ipad and the motherboard audio of a prebuilt desktop to listen to a pair of $250 dollar headphones, Yes by all means. That amp will definitely give you the sound quality your looking for. Also, I would recommend getting something like this to use for your desktop. The amp you found will be fine for solving your volume issues on your ipad, but if you really want better sound quality a small DAC will be a perfect way to get away from your computer's motherboard audio: https/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009346RSS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B009346RSS&linkCode=as2&tag=loudsbuildgui-20&linkId=EXS4Z346RET36D5E.

 

[orca-4444]

1. Considering how you're using an ipad and the motherboard audio of a prebuilt desktop to listen to a pair of $250 dollar headphones, Yes by all means. That amp will definitely give you the sound quality your looking for. Also, I would recommend getting something like this to use for your desktop. The amp you found will be fine for solving your volume issues on your ipad, but if you really want better sound quality a small DAC will be a perfect way to get away from your computer's motherboard audio: https/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009346RSS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B009346RSS&linkCode=as2&tag=loudsbuildgui-20&linkId=EXS4Z346RET36D5E.

Mine were 70$ when I bought them. Thanks for the response though. Im probably going to buy one of the things to increase the audio quality soon.

 

[ssddx]

the device justin linked is not correct on its own and will not work for your needs without also getting an amplifier. that is just a dac which is meant to convert from digital to analog for use with powered speakers or similar. it lacks an amplified output for use with headphones or other such devices

the headphones you picked up are low impedance and high sensitivity so should be easy to drive. i'm suprised that the ipad has trouble powering them as i thought all apple devices had decent amplifiers (or at least they used to at one point in time). with that said, if you are having issues with volume or lack of impact it could be an amplification problem.

if you need a portable solution, the fiio a3 likely will work. its just an amplifier not a dac so while conversion quality will depend on your device the amplifier quality and power will increase. given that it seems volume is the main issue going with an amplifier should fix those issues. yes, there are stronger amps for more money (schiit magni for example) but i cant see needing one with those headphone specs.

most dac+amp units are usb and work with pc not mobile. there are a few mobile versions but apple compatibility is hard to find or not possible with the ones i know of. what might work is something like an e17k which has usb interface for pc and an aux input for other sources. it could be used as a dac+amp for laptop use or an amp only for tablet use. there may be some others which have a similar usb interface for dac use and charging or analog input for aux devices you may use as well