Headphone Amps? Portable ones....

[wideopenears]

I am in the process of refurbishing some old Sennheiser HD 540 Reference II cans. Put new earpads on them, this weekend. Will likely replace the cable soon, as it cuts in and out at times. I've been using them with my Sony Walkman (NWZ-A17), which I love to death. However I have to crank the volume to max to power these cans, and have come to the conclusion that I need a headphone amp. I've been looking at the Creative Soundblaster, as it's affordable and is one of the few recommended for such high impedence cans (300 ohm, I think).

Anyone care to share experience, etc?

[Staun]

Interesting as I am in the market for an affordable cans amp for my Ipad pro. I to would appreciate any suggestions.

[Gizmotron]

I have the Fiio E12 and am very happy with it. great sound/value.

[Jubal]

FiiO makes some very well respected portable headphone amps. I have a FiiO K5 (not portable) headphone amp/sound dock that I use on my Sennheiser HD-598 from my desktop PC. It has switchable gain for handling higher impedance phones like the 540. What I really like about this unit is that it also has RCA ins/outs for pass-through to my Tascam desktop monitors. It also is a great headphone amp to play hi-rez files on my FiiO X-1 players (I have two) which dock and charge with this unit.

[chalkpie]

I've always dreamed about getting a high-end pair of phones with a top-shelf tube amp.

I would check the Stereophile recommended components 2017 to get an idea of what is out there price-wise.

[3RDegree_Robert]

I have the Oppo HA-2 amp along with Oppo's PM-3 headphones. Works pretty well with my iPhone and makes my commute a great listening experience.