Recommend headphone amplifier for my wife

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
My wife takes her cheapo kindle fire when on the metro, and likes to watch movies on it, and uses an old pair of headphones, the Sony MDR-XB300. Problem - with the noise on the metro, she can barely hear the sound. So I thought of getting her a headphone amplifier. But she doesn't want to carry anything as big as my Superlux HA3D, so I need something really small, like no bigger than about 2" - 2.5" along the biggest dimension. The impedance of the Sony MDR-XB300 is 24ohm. I know nothing about small consumer amps, so I turn to you guys here. My budget is no bigger than about $60.
 
I would try more isolating headphones first, trying to blast past metro sound seems like you could be getting into the bad for your hearing range. Ear buds isolate a lot better than over the ear headphones. The big isolating headphones are probably not something your wife would want to wear in public... This also may be a perfect situation for "noise canceling" headphones.
 
If another type of HPs don't work, look on eBay. A few years ago, I picked up a small (powerful) HP amp for watching late night TV at my girlfriends place for about $25. Some have rechargeable batts, mine runs on 2-9 volts (18V). I adapted a DC power plug so I can use a PS or batts. It has a rugged aluminum case. 3.5mm TRS, in and out.
HPamp.jpg
 
My vote would also be for a better pair of headphones. Possibly noise-cancelling, but I actually disagree with the ear buds suggestion. If you get a pair that really do cover the ears better than it will block out much of the ambient noise and it will also be more comfortable. This design is referred to as "around the ear" as opposed to her current headphone that simply rest on top of the ears.

I suggest the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro.
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphone/dp/B00IT0IHOY/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

If she doesn't want something this bulky and prefers earbuds, I highly suggest a brand that uses silicone gel instead of foam. The gel molds more completely with the ear canal, vastly improving bass response and noise isolation. I also find them much more comfortable and less prone to slip out. I like the Klipsch brand, and use these for my iPhone. Don't buy Skull Candy -- a waste of money.
 
Thanks, guys. I realize it is suboptimal to fight noise with more noise (ruin your ears, for one), but to be fair the Kindle Fire simply has poor output, period, which is why I thought of amps in the first place. Different headphones is a definite option, but the ones she uses work well for music on her iPod, and switching just so she can listen to the kindle seems a bit extreme (carrying two pairs of headphones is not practical either). I have the HD280, the impedence on those is 64ohm, I believe, so not going to do better than what she has now at 24ohm - again, the Kindle Fire has piss poor output. She doesn't much like earphones, but I guess that's an option too. I'm looking at two amps at the moment - they are the right (small) size, as she won't carry anything much bigger:

FiOO A1

and

XDUUO XQ-10
 
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