Headphone Amplification

from Yanko Design, slashgear & engadget: info here, here & here... stylish...

So, would it be possible to have the gain lowered on a Pico so those with IEM's can enjoy more of the amps sonic characteristics? I would also like to have more volume control for IEM's. What I have gathered from home amplifiers (ex. Macintosh) is that the less gain and more volume or (the other way around) really has a dif effect on sound. Is it possible to change this or is the gain set in stone? I really think you can get a better taste of the sound of a headphone amp When the gain is set propperly for your headphones. Witha portable like Pico, I think users will usually use the same headphone. Way back 7-8 years ago, the META42 and penguin builders always asked wha…

Does anyone know about this? I didn't know Craig was working on one. Is it SS or is there tubes in it? Zana Deux Micro sneak pic! - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

silvercore - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Looks pretty beastly but it's probably too expensive to really be interesting for me.

I use a HeadRoom Micro Stack to power my full-sized cans at my desktop. I use a RSA Hornet to power full-sized cans when I am not by my Micro Stack. I also use the Hornet with my Shure E4c, but not often, since they are easy to drive by my iPhone 3G or 2nd Gen Nano (there is some improvement, but nothing to jump up and down for). What I'd like to get is something smaller than the Hornet. I would like for it to be from a vendor that is not known for long delays, poor communication, not keeping promises, etc. It can be from anywhere, as long as shipping to the U.S. is OK, but I'd prefer something shipped FROM the USA (does not need to be MADE in USA). Vendor should…

So there are some nice looking Japanese amps that catch my eye. It looks as though the U.S. markup is outrageous ($3.5k higher than the imported amp example below), with the only difference (afaik) being a USA-compensated voltage. In the Luxman example below, Audiocubes2 offers a voltage transformer with the original japan version of the amp, at a much cheaper price than buying it from the U.S. dealers. I wont mention names, but it seems to fetch about $9,500 from U.S.A. based merchants that I've seen. I'm wondering how much (if any) of a hit I'd take in the sound quality department if I went with the Audiocubes version, that comes with the voltage transformer. I've…

Here's an interesting new pro headphone amplifier, hand made in Serbia: BoZo Electronics - Sparrow It has very good specs !!! For the amplifier gurus here, a question: how does it compare with the beta22? Pics:

OK, be gentle- potentially idiotic question ahead. Please don't be offended- I have the people skills of a medium-sized shoebox. Hey, @spritzer - I understand that the lighting was really difficult and unflattering, but is the case on this intriguing little amp actually as wonky as it looks? It looks like the top plate is a bit short, and the bottom one overhangs a bit: While I'm sure it wouldn't harm the performance of the unit at all, it is tweaking my slightly obsessive nature. (Also, on a more useful note, I assume it'd be fine with L500 and L700? Are there any pro-bias Stax, esp current production, that you wouldn't use with it?)

Hi, community! I'm pretty new to this scene, and an even newer member of this site. I've bought my Denon AHD2000 and I love it. But someone told me to get an amp/DAC, so that it would sound even more amazing. So I have a few questions: 1) Will it make a remarkable difference? Enough for a even newbie like me can recognize? AKA Is it worth it? 2) Is the Audinst MX1 a good amp/DAC for my headphones? 3) If not, what substitute is out there within that price range? Edit:: Seems like I came to the wrong place. I kinda feel like a freshman accidentally entering a senior class. I'll head over to that OTHER headphone site. Hopefully I can be as professional as you guys on…

Would like to hear some thoughts from the experts here? Most commercial boards are thrash just looking at the head-case forum posts. or you guys are super sceptical or both. No picture of backside PCB (yet) though. Thanks for any insight Cheers

So our Rotel 1068 processor is starting to give up the ghost. I need to buy another processor or receiver. I have external amplification I am happy with so a processor is preferred. Since these things seem to change daily I am looking for recommendations. Does not have to be latest gen but at this point I do want HDMI switching. Looking at $1500 approx. although less is always nice.

why all the agro? stax didn't make two seperate designed boxes i know this can be done to eliminate the stepup blue cube and run a us ul power cord the rca plugs can be changed to new ones. other mods are also possible

Does anyone know what’s the best amp and dac for the utopia excluding the cavallis?

With my feel HP 200SE tube mosfet hybrid amp, whenever I have my headphones pugged into the low gain jack, every now and again the left channel fades out to a whisper. If I turn the amp off and then turn it back on it corrects itself and won't fade out again that listening session. I know that amps are complex but is there an obvious reason why this would be happening?

I'm interested in building the Stax Transformer project here: the STAX Transformer as it seems relatively easy to build but I've searched everywhere I can think of but can't find any reviews on this beast. Has anyone built this project or know of any reviews detailing performance, SQ etc? Tim

This is something I've been thinking about for quite some time now, why is it that some headphones are automatically assumed to require super-expensive over the top amps while others aren't? The examples I'm specifically thinking of are the Senn 580/6x0 and AKG K701 along with Grados like the RS-1. As most of you have likely heard by now, everyone "knows" that the Senns & AKG "need" the best amp money can buy, and if the sound isn't quite right it's always the fault of the amp because it's not good enough. I've also noticed that scores if not hundreds of people own $1000+ amps for the above headphones. On the other side of the coin we have (John) Grados, everyon…

I was thinking of upgrading or supplementing my old Headsave Classic amp (3 x Burr-Brown OPA627, hooked up to an Arcam FMJ CD36 or Sony UHP-H1) with something new, not too expensive. I may still get a Chord Mojo 2, but this looks interesting at $219... just announced, with impressions coming out in a few days. The Schiit Midgard has a different discrete design, with a mixed-mode feedback and more power than the Magni+ I was looking at:

Folks, anyone know where I can audience some headphone amplifier on these cities (in order of priority). If there are headphones, it would be even better. Also what kind of brand ?? Thank you all....... I know I've ordered my headamp+DAC from Justin so I may not buy anything at all but I wanted to expose myself to as much as possible thus have more experience. OTOH, God know I might ended up with something too :palm:

So I was reevaluating my two-channel system and while things were moved about I decided to remove some of the accumulated dust. I was using one of those swiffers on the ES-1 and I guess it is too forceful an instrument as the green glass covering the readout from the digital volume fell into the chassis. So I am going to open it up and remove the glass and re-affix it to the chassis. I realize I need to turn it over and separate the bottom from the top. There appears to be only 4 screws (2 front and 2 back), of the approximately 1 billion screws in the chassis, that actually hold the top and bottom together. This seems way to easy, am I missing something here? The pie…

I just saw this on Lloyd's website, and he has a newsletter describing the various technical changes that went into the new model: http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/Branches5.pdf

Currently just a pic on the home page, but looks like Craig's getting into the 'stat amp market: http://www.eddiecurrent.com/ Edit: OK, so google points to discussion about it on the other site including (as would be expected) some of the usual suspects here, so to the stool in the corner with a pointy hat for me and a note to self to check the other place before posting startling revelations that everyone already knows about.

I find the built in headphone amp in my E-MU0404USB is really lacking compared to my M^3. So I've been thinking about getting the Mini^3. Or I'll entertain other amps in its price range.

I've recently purchased the C&C BH from ebay and it doubles the perfomance of the JDSLabs C421 for almost half the price. It's a top amp. Battery last 80 hours from a single charge! I can't wait to put my hands on the $300 C&C XO2 for an A/B. As we proceed I'll let you know more details about this little gen, that beats amps that cost twice as much. It has the performance of $300 amps, with the resolution/detail/clarity of much more expensive amps. If you live in the USA you can get it for just $99 and odds are that in your country you don't pay customs tax. I think the same applies to Australia. The C&C BH is a BIG BIG BIG step up from the FiiO E11. I…

I currently have a 2ch build with a gain of 5 that I like so like all things we like I want to change it So what are the real world, measurable and not measurable differences in: 2 v 3 v 4 channel builds 1 v 2 case builds Assume single o22 for all three. Gain set so output would be similar. Same parts selection except the pot etc. Go!

I need an amp that doesn't have an IEC connector at the back, only a DC input. Does this exist? If not, this should be easy to drill a hole and hardwire?