Headphones Sound Better Plugging into Phone

Kasc · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:41

As title says, does this I need some kind of headphone amp?

The sound quality (bass and treble) is so much better on my phone that it's unbelievable, using a bass booster eq. just makes them sound terrible

Uriel · 11 Jan 2011 at 16:59

What headphones? What else are you plugging them into?

Kasc · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:08

Sony MDR-XB700, I'm plugging them into the front panel of my pc, I shall try them in the back now.

Kasc · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:15

Hmm, plugging them into the back ports does increase the quality immensely :/ Are there any desktop switchers I could use that won't affect quality because I'm constantly switching between speakers and headphones!

Kasc · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:19

Also, will an extension cable affect sound quality as well?

666_Pounder · 11 Jan 2011 at 20:51

Front ports are nearly always worse sounding due to cheap cable and interference, you want as little between the source and your headphones.

Kasc · 11 Jan 2011 at 22:09

Will a switcher and an extension cable reduce quality by much?

Andrew Moore · 12 Jan 2011 at 10:45

This is probably due to the frequency range supplied by the phones built in amp. A reduced range (like that found on the radio) can result in the headphones handling the signal better,

this is why you can crank up the base on the radio a lot more than when playing the same track from a CD