When asked what my favorite gadget is, I pretty much always answer my portable, rechargeable headphone amp. I don’t use terribly fancy headphones as a rule—just a pair of Sony earplugs—but just a little bit of amplification really changes the sound, rounds it out. But the worse part is trying to run all the wires for the remote and the amp and the iPod all together. I have a little rig I’ve made, but it’s awkward—too awkward to try to unwind when I use any other audio hardware.
So I’m sure there are others like me who are willing to deal with some extra bulk to get the extra sound out of their iPods, and obviously Simpl Acoustics thinks so, too, as they’ve just released the A1 Headphone Amplifier for iPod. The unit has its own rechargeable battery and just snaps on to the back of the iPod. I can’t wait to give one a listen—$150 is expensive for any iPod accessory, but not for a headphone amp, especially one that could make portable audio snobbery less of a hassle.
Simpl A1: iPod amplifier for high-end headphones [MacCentral]
