Originally Posted by GadgetFreak
I think you have convinced me I need a headphone amp. I have both a Dell and an Ipod Mini. I usually use the Ipod because I really like the interface for transfering music much more than on the Dell. The Dell however does go 18-20 hours on a charge. I think you need some kind of external power for an Ipod for it to qualify for a long flight, 6-8 hours isnt long. I have done JFK-SFO-PVG on the Dell and had charge left. But I have a battery booster for the Ipod that I bought for under $20 on ebay and takes 4 AA batteries. I use NiMH rechargeables for a number of things including this device. I can easily go probably 24, maybe 32 hours with the Minis internal battery and one set of AAs. But I do need a headphone amp I think.
I used to use the headphone amp for movies, airplane sound, and music listening on my computer. It did make a big difference in quality. When I started unsing the Ipod, I found that the sound was good enough that I didn't need to carry a headphone amp. I now have 3 headphone amps that sit around unused. Also, I started using Shure headphones, which are very efficient. These actually work best with an attenuator to reduce the volume from either my laptop (for movies) or from the airplane sound system.
It used to drive me nuts that the horrible quality of airplane sound was full of hums, whines and other noise. One day I figured out that the problem is that my beloved Shure headphones are so sensitive that you need to keep the volume at minimum levels where the noise/signal ratio is quite high. By using the attenuator, I can turn the airplane sound control to a higher level and thus reduce the noise/signal ratio. Funny, but a headphone amp can actually accomplish the same purpose as the attenuator because you have a precise volume control to turn down the throughput to the headphones.