Cassette Walkman Portable AMP Recommendation

I'm wondering which portable AMP may be better or best for cassette Walkman. I have a Lucid Lab's Audiophile CMOY. It helps but not help a lot. I tried Shure SHA900 with both Shure846 and Campfire Andromeda, and I also tried Shure846 and Andromeda without SHA900. I feel Campfire Andromeda without SHA900 works better than Shure846 or even when Shure846 is plugged in SHA900. I guess maybe SHA900 is better to use with a Shure earphone as a set? I saw another post talks about KSE1500. It's a awesome set, but I don't want to give up campfire by using Shre earphone only.

Is it possible that any of you guys can suggest any portable AMP that are able to work well with cassette Walkman?

Thank you

 

There are so many models out there and it's hard to recommend one as we all like different sounds. You just need to try more units till you find what you like.
I use Ray Samuels P-51 Mustang which i like.

With regard to the Shure KSE1500 electrostatic, i love it it does everything well but lacks in one area. I like my music with a lot of energy at the top-end, so even though i like flat neutral i do error to the side of slightly brighter than neutral. Since the Shure KSE1500 lacks this top-end it's not for me.

 

Thanks a lot. Appreciated~

 

I also use in ear phones and many older Walkmans have too much background noise with these. If this is the issue you're having I can recommend the Pico Slim. This amp was designed specifically for IEMs and has basically no amp noise. Pairing it with my DC2 results in significantly better sound quality with IEMs vs. direct.

 

Ah yes. You've tried a few I see. Recently I purchased a budget unit, the FIIO headphone amp and I use it with all my DD Walkman and Grado headphones. Its very small and runs for about 30 hours on a single charge of its internal Li-Ion battery. Sound is excellent and it has made a difference to the output levels on all my DD's...except the Boodo Khan which needs no help to thump your ears off!
Cheers
bd

 

After seeing a youtube review of a chinese headphone amp in a kit (soldering required and very welcome) I decided to try and I bought three of them (one for me, one for a friend of mine, one because it's soooo cheap).
I don't know what to expect, but it's 7 euros of electronics...
I'll come back to you after I received the lot.
In the meantime here's the review that inspired me. It's in Italian but it's understandable, I guess.

 

Of course I don't even get the point of having an additional amplifier between the source and the headphones so yes, I guess it's just for fun

 

Well there is a point if you're using a low output device like a DD9. I have an FIIO headphone amp. It cost less than $100 and thickens the sound from any Walkman I connect to it. It also compensates for channel output level variation. That can be an issue with devices that need a cap replacement to bring both channels up to specified output.

 

If you want sound quality, then you would get the point. It’s not about more power or anything trivial like that, it’s about proper control and driving the headphones with authority. I would not be without my headphone amp.
If you have never tried one, then you will never know what you are missing.

 

I get the point now
Also having high impedence headphones with low output devices requires amplification, I guess.
Please note I'm just diving into this world and these discussions are most useful to my knowledge.
I hope to refine my ear as I go before it's too late (34 yo) although I already scratched the surface trying different recordings on different devices and boy, what a difference!

 

Great to see younger people enthused by analogue recording and devices. My daughter is your age and can't believe I collect this "okd junk". To her generation music is on an iPhone or some dreadful streaming service. Best wishes as you build your collection .

 

Well, I was raised in the analog era playing with a Philips mono cassette recorder and listening to recorded tales. In my teens I listened to cassettes far into the cd era (more portable, no shok skip). Then discman, a lot of cd burning and the ipod.
Now I'm numb with too much choice and the effort of producing a physical object with music on it gives me back the taste of what I'm listening.
Your daughter will get there, eventually

 

By the way I received today the dreaded cheapo Chinese kit.
It not only will make my ears bleed but, hopefully, it will burn my fingertips with the soldering iron

 

Nice bit of soldering, I could never do anything that neat.

 

It is a neat device (for its price) and it works. I don’t know how well but it works. I don’t appreciate differences between amplified and not amplified signal, except for the volume of course.
About soldering it is actually my first attempt to solder an entire pcb, I guess that or it is not that difficult or YouTube tutorials are very useful