What is a headphone amp, and why do I need one?
The first and most obvious answer is that many high end components have no headphone outputs. The Andante, a semi-portable, battery powered headphone amp, is the best and simplest way to add headphone functionality to any existing system. Because of the outmoded belief that serious audiophiles don’t use headphones, built in headphone jacks are often driven by barely adequate chip circuits that are hastily thrown together using cookbook formulae. This is the kind of uninspired design that caused the disdain for headphones in the first place. Another common means of driving headphones is to connect them to the output stage of a power amplifier using resistors to reduce the volume. This is a poor idea, as the dynamic transducers in headphones need the same control and damping as speaker cones, which can only be had by direct connection to a low impedance driver stage. The Andante addresses these deficiencies with its purpose-built fully discrete circuitry, wielding a delicate control that
