Headphone Amplification

Well I finally got my Max Balanced yesterday , though now I have to wait till my balanced cables and my source burn in so I cant provide any comments on the sound yet. I do like crossfeed however. Alas, no pics either as my digital camera is travelling in Europe at the moment, but it will be back in a few weeks. I was wandering if theres any way to check if my system (Esoteric DV-60, then the Max) is in phase.

I saw this pic and I thought this could be something new and interesting to try out. But then I saw these posts from the Tube Asylums and this unit sounds like a build quality/ customer service nightmare! http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=tubes&n=190381&highlight=frihed89&r=&session= http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=tubediy&n=116589&highlight=frihed89&r=&session= http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=tubes&n=190718&highlight=frihed89&r=&session= http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tubediy/messages/116891.html I know Phil sent his McAlister amp back for some changes. I hope he is having…

Received her Wednesday afternoon and we've been getting along just fine so far! Like a lot of my favorite gear, its sonic presentation was unexpected at first and took some getting used to. This happened with the L3000, Qualia, and my vinyl rig - often it takes several listens to really get a handle of whether something so new is truly going to be wonderful in the long run. The one exception would be my SDS, which was pretty much love at first listen. I'm still in that evaluation period with the Zana Deux, but it's already bestowed some truly magical listening sessions and several spine-chilling instances. What got me about the Zana was how it's unlike other tube amp…

Ahoy mateys! Paging jpak & hirsch, and anyone else who cares to chime in. Looks like I've got a touch of the microfonick in the left channel. Don't notice it at all when music is playing, but when I plug in the cans I can hear it, and after the cans are plugged in, I can tap the volume knob and hear it. No worries though, gave me an excuse to crack open the SHA and see what was going on inside. First, off topic, this amp is dusty as hell, boy. What is a safe way to get rid of this dust? Just some standard compressed air (pc duster)? But on topic, the tubes that were in there were some JAN Phillips 6922s, which sounded fine, but of course I'd like to experi…

Anyone had experience of using them? Problems or concerns?

Different http://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/review-metaxas-sins-marquis-headphone-amplifier

Hi, I need some advice. I have a Metric Halo ULN-2 which I use for recording and as a DAC-unit with my Mac, through S/PDIF from my M-Box 2, which works fine. I am currently considering buying some high quality headphones to do as much work as possible with a headset, since I can't make much sound where I live. I was thinking about buying a pair of HD 650, but have read serveral places that some people doesn't think it works too well with the ULN-2 headphone amp because of too high impedance. I don't have much experience with headphones. Does anyone have an idea what I could connect between my ULN-2 and a pair of HD-650 to make them sound as good as they can? Some ki…

What are the differences between the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 headphone amp with the X-PSU external power supply and the V8 version?

I thought this was an April fool at first, but apparently not! If you fancy a good laugh have a read of his review @ the other place http://www.head-fi.org/products/cavalli-audio-liquid-gold/reviews/10823 Just to whet your appetite Only Solid State Amp I've heard that Sounds Like a Hybrid: The Texture and Warmth of Tubes, but Control, Power and Precision of the Very Best of SS! From DAC or phonostage - to various musical genres! It just goes about its business and does its job better than almost every other amplifier I've heard. Perhaps the most musically engaging of them all actually - but I'm still figuring that out! Pros: Outstandingly Musical and Easy…

So I bought the Mini3 that jinp6301 sold and the battery life's been pretty bad. I get about 3 hours per charge, so I figure it's time to replace the 9v that came with it. Any recommendations as to which 9v I should use?

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

I'm working on a person's Minibox E. What do these things take for a battery charger (he didn't send it). I think I got it fixed (self-inflicted from said person "rolling" the opamps), but since the battery seems to be drained, I can't test it without a bit more knowledge. Any schematics for these floating around? Seems to be rather similar to a Mint (and therefore SR71, etc.), but no rail splitter... must be using a pair of Li Ion with the ground taken at the junction (3 wires coming off the battery pack).

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?)

in general, do any specific brands stand out among others when it comes to cheap receiver headphone amps? i'm looking for an inexpensive remote-controlled video switching device and a cheap used receiver seems to fit the bill... i remember reading a while ago that the pioneer elite series supposedly have discreet amplification for their headphone out... basically, i'm looking to spend a couple hundred bucks at most and the only thing i care about is that i can switch video sources, so i thought i'd try to narrow it down by something i do care about... i realize most or all will suck compared to a decent separate headphone amp, but i'm just looking for any that s…

I have a set of Behringer ms16s, and I was listening to my headphones through them (Sony MDR-V6) and the headphones sounded better than ever before. Is it possible my Behringer monitors were acting like a headphone amp, boosting and enhancing the sound of my music? Cause it just sounded so good. Thanks, Eddie

I kid you not: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=11567&seq=1&format=2 Looks like a candidate for the Inner Fidelity test bench.

Lets talk about the Moon Audio Luna, a headphone amplifier. All of the pictures, features, available model information, and specifications were taken from the Moon Audio website. The Moon Audio Luna headphone amplifier marries the resolving power of vacuum tubes to the very highest quality audio transformers to bring nuanced, dynamic sound to headphones. The Luna has been designed to minimize audible (as opposed to measured) distortion and allow the subtle details and dynamic contrasts of recorded music to pass unaltered to your headphones. The Moon Audio Luna uses vacuum tubes and Lundahl audio transformers to achieve the goal of giving you all of the m…

Well, I was supposed to get my new balanced McAlister Audio amp Sunday morning... turns out that the faceplate guy had issues with the green sublimation process. I decided to get the amps name in a forest green colour. Should have just left well enough alone! But then again, maybe not! I get a call from Peter on Sunday afternoon. He says he has been listening to my amp, and while it sounds incredible, he decided that he wants to go a little more 'over the top' with it. A man after my own heart. So, it looks like there will be 4 more tubes, for a grand total of 13... as well as two more metal can capacitors. He says that it looks like a BEAST. I can't wait to se…

Does anyone here know/remember the specs on the Moth EC2a3? Trying to determine the headphone and speaker output impedance.

I figured I would start a thread on the above amp I just picked up. A real beauty and sounds gorgeous. I believe this is the exact model that Kurt owned, Saint1 owns (from James3toe who got it from a user "Bob"), and Nightfall. One of only 5 that Craig built that was supposed to develop into an actual EC 2a3 line with the top of the line black rose being at the top of the lineage. By far the si2a3/45H is the best sounding of the different moth 2a3 iterations and may be slightly better than the ec2a3 version due to the external power transformer and inductor chassis. Power supply is all film caps as well, same output transformers. Now I …

How slow is SinglePower: http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,2031.150.html Preamp discussion (split from this topic): http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,2665.0.html edit: moved the discussion to speakers because it was about preamps.

I couldn't decide if this was a DIY thing or not, but I'm going to post this here since it also involves tube-configuration questions and most folks might not read a DIY thread. So my lawyer has purchased an MPX3 that includes the 5687 adapters. As a part of my yearly retainer I will be attempting to add preamp outputs to this amp. The question came up during negotiations as to what the best tube combo would be given that this device will be much more preamp than headphone amp. So what say you, masters of the SP domain? Also, can anyone come up with a plausible reason that I can't just tap the headphone output for the preamp output? I've read other SP modding thread…

I've recently taken delivery of an MPX3 SE, which is to say that the voltage has been raised to take advantage of the more powerful output tubes, namely the 6BL7GT/As, 6BX7GTs, the 5687sw and the like. If you've got a low impedence and/or low sensitivity can (K701, Grado, etc..) then you definitely need to take this into consideration if you're getting a Singlepower. And given that this is Headcase, I'd also like to mention that this is the second/third trnasformation my amp has taken on For me the SE deals with the increased voltage and current bias. I have 2 voltage settings on my amp, one which is 300V and one which is 375. For me it allows me to take full adva…

Right, another one of my "x vs. y" threads... I've been going back and forth with a guy on head-fi about buying his SLAM SE, and it seems he's not really interested in selling it anymore (after I sold off my whole rig ). I have a WTB ad up there (and here), but it got me thinking about whether it was worth buying used. Anyway, I fired off an e-mail to Mikhail about it, but I think I'll probably end up with a used amp, since I'd need it by January to take advantage of the fact that my dad will be in PA for a couple of weeks (no tax makes a HUGE difference!). While I was considering that, something that's always been in the back of my mind came up. I've always been cu…

Just wondering, what are some good tubes for an MPX3 for metal? It sounds really good and realistic on most things so far, but the liquidic presentation doesn't lend itself to metal so well. Or should I just get a grado? Also, any recommendations for the W10LTD? I know not that many people have heard it, but it's one of the AT's that leans a bit more to the w100/2002 side, but not too much. My sonic preferences would probably be at least a realistic amount of bass, and "searing soaring highs"/