hotaudio40 's amps

[DARKHAVEN]

Originally Posted by hotaudio40

It is my opinion that going through the 1/8 inch jack WILL degrade the sound because the 1/8 inch cables are just not as good as good quality RCA cables are.

I'm a bit confused by that, considering Headroom's respected Micro DAC only has a 1/8" out and NOT RCA.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Hotaudio is talking a about mini-rca cables not being as good, or good ones harder to find than rca-rca, not a problem with the jack.

However, ALOAudio, Qables sell very nice quality ones, and several head-fiers can build an affordable mini-rca in silver plated copper or silver or cryo'd copper. I have several of these cables from users like barqy, highflyin9, fatman711, Steven Kelby, Warrier05.

[hotaudio40]

Exactly

[bearmann]

Hi,
I'm wondering what's inside the USB PreAmp... which Receiver, DAC and OpAmp as output stage does it use?!

And why do you use plastic cases? At least at Europe we need proper shielding at some places. =/

Thanks a lot and best regards,
bearmann

[hotaudio40]

I use plastic because I love the way it looks and I love to drill it. It's easier to work with then metal and all my products are hand made and assembled by me. No machines are used to build my DAC / Headphone Amps. They are like audio works of art and I take great pride and joy in making them for others.

As far as what's inside the little black boxes. Well that changes from time to time as I find better components to use and sometimes I make small changes to "tweak" the sound according to who is buying it and for what purpose.

I like metal cases too, and I will / did make metal DACs a while back, but didn't like to work with metal as much as I like working with plastic. Plus I love the way the Black boxes look

HotAudio.Com, Hand Crafted Audio Perfection.

[alwayshungry]

I bought both a hotUSB1 and a usb dac a few months ago from David (hotaudio40). I had a number of questions and he always replied very promptly. I am using foobar2000 with asio4all.

I use the USB dac as a DAC for my ONIX SP3 and it sounds great, however, it's my first DAC and have nothing to compare it to. Also it's hard to say what each component (DAC/tube amp/speakers) contributes to the overall sound as I don't own multiple sets of each component type I can swap in and out. I love the sound though.

I bought the hotUSB1 and it replaced my onboard soundcard on my work computer. I was using Senn H280 Pros (before they broke) and the difference was significant. Compared to my onboard sound card, the hotusb was very very quiet and after a few days of burn in I noticed a deeper low end. The sound in general is neutral, clean and tight. I am currently using Beyer DT770/80s and the hotUSB1 has no problem driving them.

I recently purchased a Mister X XP home amp and am currently using the hotUSB1 as a USB DAC (unfortunately using an 3.5mm->RCA connection). I will post some follow up impressions sometime with and without using the hotUSB as a DAC.

[ahdui]

Is there any impressions or comparison with other amps against the hotaudio amp?

[dandi]

Can anyone tell me why I am getting static in one channel of my headphones when I run through the USB DAC but it's not there when I come directly out of my laptop (Dell Inspiron 5100)

Thanks for any help

[dandi]

Had nothing to do with the DAC
I just focused my attention there and lost the bigger picture. It was a bad cable connection on my headphones!!

Back to enjoying the music and a truly great product from HotAudio.

[Kane Williams]

This looks a lot like the HagUsb. Can anyone confirm if it is the same inside, but without the SPDIF out?

I have the Hag and think it sounds good. So for those who don't need the SPDIF I think it's a real bargain.

BTW, please check out the Musiland Lilo III. Great price and a lot of features!

Cheers

[bearmann]

Originally Posted by Kane Williams

This looks a lot like the HagUsb. Can anyone confirm if it is the same inside, but without the SPDIF out?

I have the Hag and think it sounds good. So for those who don't need the SPDIF I think it's a real bargain.

BTW, please check out the Musiland Lilo III. Great price and a lot of features!

Cheers

hotaudio40 is a professional DIY'er... it is in no way a HagUSB derivative.

[blizzam]

hi! new member here.

here is what i run:

laptop > USB DAC (by dave, with 3.5 mm output and RCA output) > sennheiser hd 570's or my powered studio monitors (el cheapo krk rp5's & rp10s)

i used to use my speakers more, but have increasingly been switching to the headphones because it sounds so much better, and i dont have to worry about disturbing roomates/neighbors.

the usb dac from dave DRAMATICALLY improved the sound over my sh*tty dell sound card output. even complete non-audio friends could tell a huge difference right away (this over my monitors).

once in a while i wish it had a little more clean juice for higher volumes, and i was wondering if i should upgrade to another of daves products that is battery powered, and/or has a volume control, or if i should add a solid state headphone amp after the usb dac. however, my concern is that if i add an in-line amplifier after the dac that my sound quality may slightly degrade, as i am also a firm believer in minimalism for purity.

any replies, especially from dave, would be appreciated!

thanks, and hello to all!

[blizzam]

ooh those sound like just what im looking for!

to get this straight though, the only difference is the volume knob? is that correct? meaning the alps volume knob doesnt degrade the sound and the other one may?

[hotaudio40]

Well neither of the units degrade the sound quality. In fact they both increase it. That's because the TPA6120a2 chip is so good at doing what it does .

They both use Alps volume controls, only one is a normal carbon wiper based unit and the other is a "32 step rotary encoder".

The Rotary Encoder has to go through a digital chip to decode it and turn its signals into a useful resistance.
Basically turning it into a potentiometer that uses transistors instead of carbon to control the volume.

There is a noticeable difference in the sound quality... But you have to listen pretty hard to hear it. The digital version has more detail. It is a very slight amount of detail, but still it is undeniably there.

Thanks for the interest!


Oh yes, and the digital version also has left - right balance control. It is just a feature of the digital decoder chip and the encoder pot just so happens to have a mode selector built in. You just push the volume control in to get to the balance mode, and push it again to get back to the volume mode. And when you turn the digital unit off, it resets itself, putting the volume back around 1/2 volume and the balance back at center. It is quite nice
hotaudio40

[vagarach]

Hi hotaudio40, in the HotUSB1, does the PCM2705 take care of all the USB, DAC and amp duties or is there a separate amp stage? I noticed in honglong's review on his .mac site that he mentions that only one chip is used.

Thanks!