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| Headphone Amps (full-size) Discussion of desktop headphone amps. |

12-20-2008, 08:44 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 35
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would the Hotusb1 be able to drive the Audio technica ath M-50's?
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericj
Great for learning spanish. Not so much for music.
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Headphones: Audio-technica ATH-M50
AMP/DAC: HOTUSB1
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12-20-2008, 09:06 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 151
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The best way to answer that is if your M-50s can be heard through a normal PC sound card or MP3 player then YES the HOTUSB1 will be able to drive them quite nicely.
hotaudio40
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12-21-2008, 03:47 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Long Beach, NY
Posts: 155
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaserWolf
would the Hotusb1 be able to drive the Audio technica ath M-50's?
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There's a review linked that said these headphones are easy to drive so i think you would be okay if you went with the cheaper hotusb1 over the mark 4.
Audio Technica ATH-M50 Review
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12-21-2008, 04:35 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 151
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Hey I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
I've been listening to some Christmas music on shoutcast and finally am in the Christmas mood and I hope you all are too.
http://yp.shoutcast.com/sbin/tunein-station.pls?id=7035
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12-21-2008, 04:40 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: South Florida
Posts: 337
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hotaudio40
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Merry Christmas, Dave!
Thanks again for the fine DAC I bought from you.
__________________
Sources: PC/iPod Classic 120GB/Sony S616F/Sansa Clip 8GB/Cowon D2+
DAC/Amps: HOTUSB1/D3 Python/Penguin Caffeine Ultra/Minibox-E+
Phones: Grado SR225, Yuin OK1, PK1, G1A & G2A (w/ headband mod), Koss KSC75, KSC35, Etymotic ER4P/S
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12-21-2008, 10:00 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 35
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I just ordered the Hotusb1 and I must say that Dave provides the best customer service I have ever experienced, hands down. he worked with me in figuring out an Ebay issue and then once I ordered one from his online store he had it tested and shipped within an hour and a half. I can't wait till it comes in and I can experience for myself all the great things people have been saying.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericj
Great for learning spanish. Not so much for music.
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Headphones: Audio-technica ATH-M50
AMP/DAC: HOTUSB1
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12-21-2008, 10:14 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Norway
Posts: 48
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Looking forward to your review LaserWolf. Im thinking about ordering one in the beginning of january.
__________________
Laptop --> (hotusb2 soon) --> Sennheiser HD555
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12-22-2008, 03:23 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: North Queensland Australia + Nelson, New Zealand
Posts: 250
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HotAudio40 Customer Service
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaserWolf
I just ordered the Hotusb1 and I must say that Dave provides the best customer service I have ever experienced, hands down. he worked with me in figuring out an Ebay issue and then once I ordered one from his online store he had it tested and shipped within an hour and a half. I can't wait till it comes in and I can experience for myself all the great things people have been saying.
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I second the above opinion of HotAudio40 Customer Service. I have also just bought a product from Dave, the TPA6120A2 Based Headphone Amplifier with a 32 Step Digital Rotary Encoder Volume / Balance Control. I received a Second Chance Offer on an eBay auction and got the amp for much less than his asking price, a true sign of generosity. Several prompt emails (I'm in Australia, he's in Winnipeg Canada!) later he wrote that he'd gone out in -40C weather to post the package off and forwarded a CanadaPost lodgement number!
I too will be submitting my impressions of this product. This kind of service and active involvement is what the Head-fi experience is all about for me. As an aside, I got the same level of treatment when I bought my PA2V2 from Gary, another good Canuck pro-DIYer who contributes to our hobby.
These guys deserve our support and the more of us who buy from people like Dave and Gary, the better the products will become. We can be active in this process. More of life should be like this.
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12-24-2008, 07:45 AM
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Junior Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 7
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So what sounds better exactly? The HOTUSB1 or the MarkIV? My IEM's don't need much power to run them, so power issues go out the door. I am speaking on a purely sound based standpoint.
Also guys for who have used these, how would you rate them to say stock sound card?
Thanks!
edit:
http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimat...cification.php
those are the IEM's i use. Specs say 119dB per mW.
Oh and forgot, i would like these also able to drive Beyer 880's reasonably well.
Last edited by eukaryote:); 12-24-2008 at 10:42 AM.
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12-24-2008, 05:20 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 151
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Well the MARK IV is probably way too powerful for those IEMs.
119dB is very efficient so the HOTUSB1 would handle them nicely.
As far as how much power the Beyer 880s require, I really can't say as I've never tried them.
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12-24-2008, 10:42 PM
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Junior Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hotaudio40
Well the MARK IV is probably way too powerful for those IEMs.
119dB is very efficient so the HOTUSB1 would handle them nicely.
As far as how much power the Beyer 880s require, I really can't say as I've never tried them.
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I can add an attenuator to push them up to 250 ohms from 29 ohms or so, so that should reduce their efficiency dramatically.
But on a purely sound based objective, which of those two do you think sound better?
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12-25-2008, 04:57 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 151
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Adding a resistor would totally destroy the sound quality, but you could also turn down the volume
My best USB DACS are the HOTAUDIO SUPREME, MARK IV, and HOTUSB1 in that order.
PM me if you want to know more.
Last edited by hotaudio40; 12-25-2008 at 05:02 AM.
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12-25-2008, 09:05 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Barren Wasteland of South Jersey
Posts: 133
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This very, very hungover Christmas morning I was surprised with a HotUSB1 from, of all people, my mother. Probably the result of a collaboration between her and my girl, but that's besides the point.
It's been burning in for a few hours now so I figured I'd give it a quick listen, just a song or two from Ephrat's No Ones Words. I only have my HA-RX700s with me, so it's Foobar > HotUSB1 > RX700s.
Immediately I was impressed with the soundstage. Much larger than my laptops onboard sound. Bass sounds good and tight, treble is crisp, everything is as it should be. No interference or clicks and pops (unlike the onboard sound). I'll see how it progresses and does with my 2200s later.
In my inexpert opinion, for the price (well, for me it was free, but you know what I mean) I've got to say it's a nice upgrade. I'm kinda upset at myself for not having bought this a few months ago when I first ran across this thread.
Now back to the family, and Merry Christmas!
__________________
PS Audio Digital Link III > E90 > ESP950
What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies right to our face.
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12-28-2008, 02:20 PM
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Junior Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 7
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Congratulations Wenglish, and merry christmas
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12-28-2008, 08:28 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Hungary
Posts: 32
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I own a HOTUSB1 (with PCM2707) for a while and really like it 
But even with a PA2V2 amp not powerful enough to drive my 400ohm AKG K340 (with high gain it was loud enough but there was a distortion).
A QED MB45 was enough with 2 Watts R.M.S. per channel.
Any chance the MARK IV will drive it?
__________________
PC -> HotAudio USB DAC straight -> Audiolab 8000A or HotAudio Thunderbolt ->
modded AKG K240 Sextett and Beyer DT150
previously owned headphones: AT ATH-A900, AKG K501, modded AKG K340
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