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Let’s first start with what is a headphone amp:

A headphone amp is a relatively low-powered amplifier that raises the low-voltage audio signal from a source such as a smartphone, rack component or your computer to a sufficient level to power the speakers inside of your headphones, much like a pair of bookshelf or tower speakers. Headphone amps can dramatically improve the performance and sound of your headphones as well, but we’ll get to how in just a moment.

Why you would need a headphone amp:

Your current setup doesn’t have a built-in headphone jack.

You have a set of higher impedance headphones and your existing audio system cannot play them loud enough.

You want to use your headphones in another room or on the go

Finally, you want to improve the audio performance of your headphones

Headphone amps can vary in size from a full-scale home audio component to a tiny piece that you can fold into the palm of your hand. Some are battery powered, while others need to be connected to AC power. You’ll also find a variety of different types of signals and inputs supported. We will break these down to help you decide the category that is right for your needs.

Analog Only

Computer Audio Only

Many people love to listen to headphones on their computer but let's face it, the headphone jack on your laptop or desktop lacks quality.

The good news, the right type of headphone amps will allow you to connect a USB cable from your computer to the amp. You’ll also benefit from the amp’s built-in DAC’s which are far better than the ones on your computer.

There are two types of computer audio headphone amps.

The first type will simply have a USB connector on it that plugs right into the USB jack on your computer. The other will be more of a component type where you will need to use a USB cable and will normally have its own volume control and full-sized headphone jack on the front.

Multiple Audio Inputs

This is the most common type of headphone amp. These will have some combination of USB audio input for a computer or smartphone, analog audio in, and/or digital audio in. Some home models will sometimes have more than one digital and analog input.

Multiple Audio Input headphone amps are either battery-powered or portable. In addition to a great headphone amp section, these amps will have audio outputs capable of driving a power amp or feeding a pair of powered speakers.

Last, but certainly not least - streaming capabilities

A select few headphone amps give you the option of adding network streaming. This allows you to pull audio files off your network without being physically attached to your computer, and also to stream from your smartphone.

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