Do I need an Amp? (J3 + Westone ES5)

[GML]

I'm a lucky owner of a J3 and soon of the Westone ES5.
I never really cared alot about an Amp, but with the ES5 it maybe get's time for that..

Do I need an Amp and if yes, which amp do you recommend? It should be a good Quality and the price shouldn't be the Problem.

Hope you can help me

Thanks

[WalkGood]

From what I understand the j3 doesn't hiss as much as other players, test the Westone ES5 first to see if you don't hear any and your set. If you do hear hiss, then an amp might help reduce or eliminate it if it's a good amp, for what a portable amp might accomplish look here.

[GML]

Thanks for your fast answer!
If I understand your guide right, i maybe just need an impendance adapter
(the J3 drives max. 16 Ohm, ES5 needs 20 Ohm).
Or shouldn't it be a problem with that small difference?

And if I finally got them, would you like that I make a review about them? (maybe compare them to the UE TF10 with Custom Earbuds?)
It would be my first review, so is there a HowTo for make a good review?

[selectortone]

Originally Posted by GML

...the J3 drives max. 16 Ohm, ES5 needs 20 Ohm.

My J3 drives Audio-Technica ATH-D50s perfectly well, with plenty of volume to spare, and they are 38-ohm impedence.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by GML

Thanks for your fast answer! If I understand your guide right, i maybe just need an impedance adapter (the J3 drives max. 16 Ohm, ES5 needs 20 Ohm) ...

The j3 can drive phones with much higher impedance so you won't have a problem with the ES5, probably into the 150+ ohm range (I don't know for sure the exact number). The statement about an impedance adapter in that post is to point out how to keep ones cost lower by adding ohms to the load of your headphones rather than buying an amp to eliminate DAP hiss, as an impedance adapter is way cheaper and should hide any hiss fine. If your headphones have too high impedance (i.e. 300+ ohms) and you need higher volume an amp would then be needed.

Originally Posted by GML

... if I finally got them, would you like that I make a review about them? (maybe compare them to the UE TF10 with Custom Earbuds?)
It would be my first review, so is there a HowTo for make a good review?

Sure we welcome all members to post reviews of their gear, it's nice to have different views on equipment. There's no "how to" write a review but you could read a few and get an idea, for example look through the headphone user reviews here or the mp3 player user reviews to get some ideas.

[Xinz]

Westone phones are very easy to drive, I had a friend who listened to my UM3X off a D2+ at vol 10/40. So your phones should be no problem at all

[GML]

Thanks to all for your answers!
I think that helped me to save (a lot of) money