Headphones amp for Jabra Elite 95h

[Ncesar]

Good day to all,
Im looking for a Headphone amp for my Jabra 95h.
I will use as this:
TV RCA OUT -> Amp-> jack 3.5mm cable to Headphones.

How do i know if the Jabra are hard or easy to drive? Is the right term?
What should I look for in the specification?

I need one small enough to be portable, battery operated would be nice, and volume knob. I want to connect to may rca out of my TV, so I can watch movies late at night without disturbing the family.

Thanks

 

[AnalogSteph]

Do you mean the Elite 85h? That's an ANC-equipped affair so input impedance is likely in the hundreds of ohms and wouldn't require much of an amp.

Have you considered using a BT transmitter as an alternative solution?

 

[Ncesar]

Do you mean the Elite 85h? That's an ANC-equipped affair so input impedance is likely in the hundreds of ohms and wouldn't require much of an amp.

Have you considered using a BT transmitter as an alternative solution?

Yes, is ANC.
I have a BT transmitter, but it lags a bit. OK is €5.00 dongle from alliexpress, but even connected to my nvidiashield it lags.

 

[Speakupboy]

Your TV almost certainly has a headphone output. You could just connect directly to that. Otherwise 25£/€/$ gets you a simple portable headphone amplifier on any of the online stores. I saw one from a brand eSynic which looked sufficient for your needs. You’d just need to connect the input to your tv with a 3.5mm to rca cable.

 

[Ncesar]

Your TV almost certainly has a headphone output. You could just connect directly to that. Otherwise 25£/€/$ gets you a simple portable headphone amplifier on any of the online stores. I saw one from a brand eSynic which looked sufficient for your needs. You’d just need to connect the input to your tv with a 3.5mm to rca cable.

It doesn't have a headphone output. Is a 17 years old Panasonic Plasma TV.
I find out the esyinic amp in Amazon Spain you mentioned.
Thank you.

 

[Speakupboy]

One small thing you might want to consider is if you prefer the amplifier to be powered by usb c like your headphones instead of micro usb. In which case there’s a neoteck one that’s apparently the same but with usb c for €10 more.

 

[Speakupboy]

Or this one is just €15 https://amzn.eu/d/89iJ3NO

Another option is your streaming device may have a variable sync setting which delays the video for exactly this purpose.

 

[staticV3]

Battery-powered headphone Amps have gone out of fashion lately.

One complete overkill option would be the Topping NX7.

 

[Ncesar]

Or this one is just €15 https://amzn.eu/d/89iJ3NO

Another option is your streaming device may have a variable sync setting which delays the video for exactly this purpose.

I will look at it. Thank you.

 

[Ncesar]

Battery-powered headphone Amps have gone out of fashion lately.

One complete overkill option would be the Topping NX7.

So it seems, but way out of my price range. But thank you.

 

[chronic]

Battery-powered headphone Amps have gone out of fashion lately.

One complete overkill option would be the Topping NX7.

So it seems, but way out of my price range. But thank you.

What about the FiiO BTR line up? I have my BTR5 since years now and it's a nice and very portable little DAC/Amp combo. Sounds great and has quite good battery life.

Do you mean the Elite 85h? That's an ANC-equipped affair so input impedance is likely in the hundreds of ohms and wouldn't require much of an amp.

Have you considered using a BT transmitter as an alternative solution?

It also depends on the headphones I think. As example my Skullcandy Crushers ANC 2 (don't boo me, they're my fun headphones) use their own DSP and Amp when turned on, but once you turn them off, they give you a direct passthrough on the 3.5mm jack. I made the actual drivers vibrate with my DX1

 

[staticV3]

What about the FiiO BTR line up?

See the OP:

I will use as this:
TV RCA OUT -> Amp-> jack 3.5mm cable to Headphones.

 

[chronic]

See the OP:

Oh right, sorry, overflew that.

 

[Ncesar]

End up buying the €25 esinyc headphones amplifier from Amazon, and it works. In streaming platform and Blu-ray player, it works great. It lack of bass, but may be my headphones, but in YT it still distorted a bit.But for my intended purpose that is watching movies late at night without delay and disturbing the family next room, is a good option.

 

[chronic]

End up buying the €25 esinyc headphones amplifier from Amazon, and it works. In streaming platform and Blu-ray player, it works great. It lack of bass, but may be my headphones, but in YT it still distorted a bit.But for my intended purpose that is watching movies late at night without delay and disturbing the family next room, is a good option.

If I picked the right one from their list, it has 125mW (per channel? for both channels?) so maybe the lack of bass might come from being a bit less power. They state >100dB SNR on the front page and then >120dB SNR in the specs, so who knows, but if it works for you then that's what matters. My DIY 5.1 setup also has one amplifier being a 25€ solder kit and one 5€ Aliexpress amplifier, and that AE amp is REALLY bad (it sounds like it has 10-20% THD in the bass region at literally every intensity), but it works, and that satifies me enough

 

[GGroch]

If I picked the right one from their list, it has 125mW (per channel? for both channels?) so maybe the lack of bass might come from being a bit less power. ....

The Jabra Elite 85h always use their built in amp even when connected by wire. Unlike some headphones, when the internal battery is dead they will go silent. So, the power of the amp is irrelevant. This confused me about the OP question (why he wanted an amp vs just a cable or adapter)...but using their active circuitry when wired is a good thing for sound quality. Wireless ANC headphones that work passively when wired are fine for emergencies when batteries die; but they sound terrible as all of the fancy DSP/Sound engineering that was integral to the original design is lost.

 

[ZolaIII]

It doesn't have a headphone output. Is a 17 years old Panasonic Plasma TV.
I find out the esyinic amp in Amazon Spain you mentioned.
Thank you.

It does have analog output trough RCA, question is is it fixed or variable line out (that you can adjust volume). Elite 95h? Is it 85h? Anyway you don't need one with lots of power as all of such are made with pretty sensitive drivers (tho I didn't find proper measurements of 85h nor stated sensitivity anywhere).
In most cases it's been good practice to use Toslink out from TV to DAC. While not exactly stand alone as relatively portable and strong enough I would mention Creative Sound blaster G6 for it's Dolby input and decoder (down mix to stereo on its own) with more than OK performance (CS43131). Try to find it on discount if that works for you or refab (returned).

 

[GGroch]

....In most cases it's been good practice to use Toslink out from TV to DAC. While ....

Exactly, but it appears OP has already gone a different route that works OK for him. Often responders to these threads focus on literally answering the question (what amp would you suggest) rather than really analyzing the use-case. Almost any DAC with Toslink input would have probably been the best solution.

 

[staticV3]

Almost any DAC with Toslink input would have probably been the best solution.

Using an external DAC connected via Toslink would disable volume control via the TV remote, which I'm not sure OP would appreciate.

 

[GGroch]

Using an external DAC connected via Toslink would disable volume control via the TV remote, which I'm not sure OP would appreciate.

Perhaps, but for many controlling the volume with huge up/down volume controls on the 85h headphone cups is pretty convenient.

If you wanted to control via the TV remote then a cable from the TVs RCA out would work as long as its output is variable. My background is audio sales rather than the tech itself, so I am pre-disposed to ask too many questions on use case before offering advice. For most people it is confusing to have competing volume controls both on the source and on the headphones.