between instruments?

Recently switching to a heaphone amp for my headphones, subjectively I have noticed improved sound quality. More specifcially it seems I am able to hear individual instruments better, a more layered sound if you will which I think is allowing me to hear more preceived detail and a clearer overall presentation from the recording. Now I am usually a skeptic, so I am trying to make sense of all this , is this possible?

This kind of ties in when Jakewash A/B his Denon with the Axiom A1400-8 and noticed an improvement in sound quality with the Axiom Amp over the Denon with his HT system.

Hi Dr. House,

The mind is a powerful thing. My simple answer would be "No". However, if the frequency response of your headphone amp was more linear--smoother and flatter across the audio spectrum--than the previous amp, which perhaps had a bit of a depression in the midrange, then you might well hear this as "greater detail" or a "clearer overall presentation."

It's really hard doing blind A/B tests with headphone amps, keeping playback levels exactly the same, and even a tiny difference in the playback level might trick your mind (especially if you know which amp you are listening to) into thinking the new headphone amp is more detailed.

I had this experience once comparing a $20,000 outboard Denon D/A converter to a run-of-the-mill DAC and I would have sworn I heard a difference with the Denon DAC. Then I went back and carefully checked the playback levels, and sure enough, the Denon DAC was slightly louder. When the levels were carefully adjusted, it turned out there was absolutely no difference in sound quality between the two DACs.

Regards,
Alan

To make sure that your question is clear:

Are you asking about a perceived difference between your new headphone amp v. the headphone amp in your receiver?

~~ or ~~

Are you asking about a perceived difference between what you were previously hearing from your speakers v. what you're now hearing from your headphones and headphone amp?

I agree that the mind is indeed a powerful thing, that is why I was curious about what I was hearing. I was also listening to louder playback levels than what I normally listen on my Denon or PMP. Thanks for your input Alan.

My listening impressions dealt with headphones. HP amp vs receiver. It was not an objective listening test by any means (not blind, not level matched).

I was of the opinion that there should be no difference but in my room, which might very well be the key to all of this, I did hear a difference and luckily so did my wife and Mel(onn). but at Mel's place when he tried the sam A/B against his Denon products(their line of seperates) he and Mark(Doormat) didn't hear a difference, which leads me to believe my room is causing some issues that the Amp is able to over come for some reason. I did try swapping wires between the 2 systemsjust in case I had poor connections on the banana plugs but came up with the same results, the A1400 sis in deed sound much better and once I have $4500 I will be buying one.

Doc, briefly the answer is that an amplifier properly designed for flat frequency response can't favor an instrument in some way as to improve the separation, sound stage or any other positional factor. Amplifiers just make the voltage around 30 times higher; nothing more is involved. Although it's been cited here quite recently, the basic facts of audio technology pointed out in "Electronic Signal Paths Do Not Have a Personality!" can again be referenced.

You can easily get better separation between the speaker and the floor if you placed the speaker ON TOP of the amp.
Works every time!

Depends on the brand. Some create exceptional separation between you and your money.

Jason. I would expect that the only way you heard a difference is if you are near the power limits of your 3808. I would love to do some sort of controlled A/B listening session with several different receivers of differing power levels to see where you can start to hear a difference.

I doubt very much I have any power issues in my tiny reflective space, but its not hard to believe that some folks out there with larger rooms run into power issues on more demanding material.

No where near the power limits of the 3808 most of the listening was done around 80db and even at lower levels 65-70db, the differences were still noticeable. All I can say is I am not crazy, as my wife and Mel heard the differences too. Maybe my 3808 maybe was defective which may have caused it to blow up when all it should have done was cut out when I shorted the wires. This is a possiblity and may affect the SQ I have been hearing. I will have to reserve some of my judgement till I get my 3808 back from the shop, hopefully this week.