Another weekend came and went but unfortunately I didn’t manage to finish a roll on my Gakkenflex and thus I ain’t got no photos to blog about for the weekend. Yeah … I didn’t even touch my digital cam! Saturday was busy with a great pot luck session with some old friends at night. Had a great time with yummy food and for once the whole house was super lively. Fitzand had a busy evening playing with them … and was so tired that he fell asleep right after his shower.
Sunday was reserved for family day and after a pork rib soup breakfast (‘bakuteh’), we went out to do some shopping and I bought myself a very sleek compact amp for my iPod Touch.
Nu Force Icon Mobile
Despite the fact that I rip all my CDs into lossless format, I sometimes find the sound out from the iPod leaves much to be desired. I ain’t no audiophile but I still find something ‘missing’ there. So I was in search for a cheaper solution to make things (a little) better. Recently I bought a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones to use when I don’t need the compactness of the Beats Tour edition in-ear headphones. The Icon amp does make things sound hell better when paired with either of these headphones.
My new love … The Audio Technica headphones!
… but the Beats Tour is still my best friend when I need to travel light.
I am connecting the amp to my iPod through the iPod’s USB connector instead of the 3.5mm output … as I was told that by doing so, it bypasses the sound card thingie in the iPod and gives much better sound. The guy at the shop showed me a short little cable with the USB connecter and I almost fainted when he told me the price of that (darn) little cable costs about S$100+. Maybe he saw the shocked look on my face and told me to get an adapter to the USB connector and use the 3.5mm connector cable included in the package instead. Hahaha.
The amp is slim and small but putting it together with the iPod somehow makes it a little bigger ‘bundle’ but luckily they still can fit into the case I use. The little amp costs about S$180 but it has already given me lots of new enjoyment for those few hours I was listening to songs last night.
I wish it has an on/off switch though. The only way to power it off now is by unplugging the headphone jack and that’s a little troublesome sometimes. Bah!
For a review of this little amp … check out this link and for more info about this little amp … check out their official site link here.
I’m working on a new video using my Digital Harinezumi but that might take another week or so to complete because as usual … my video clips are ultra mega short and I’ll need a big bunch of them to make a decent length video.
audio technica headphones (and earphones) ARE DA BOMB! i swear by them .. and have never regretted since. (although i wish audio technica sees this and give me some advertising space) haha
@carrie : Oh yeah. They are cool. I was eyeing the Beats Studio ones but they cost way too much. A friend recommended a pair of Sennheiser but after about few seconds of listening at the shop … I put it down. Hahaha. Maybe it is individual preference. Luckily the guy at the shop recommended me this AT set and I fell in love with it.
looks nice and i’m sure it sounds nice too. Where to get that amp ?
@darren : I got mine from Stereo Electronics at Causway Point. They have an outlet in Plaza Singapura too.