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| Headphone Amps (full-size) Discussion of desktop headphone amps. |
12-06-2008, 05:54 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 70
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Little Dot MK III vs. Darkvoice 336SE vs. Fubar III
I'm a newbie and would like to improve my iPod sound. I'll be listening my music mainly at the office and I have the Sennheiser HD650 on my shopping list.
Now I need a headphone amp. I want something that works fine out of the box and should be a good match for the HD650.
I've searched the forums and check these alternatives around 200 US$:
Little Dot MK III
Darkvoice 336SE
Firestone Fubar III
What is you recommendation? Any other options to be considered?
Thanks!
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12-06-2008, 06:36 PM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,033
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I've owned both the Little Dot MKIII and the Darkvoice 336i (same internals as the SE), and I preferred the DV. The Little Dot was more neutral and transparent, but I like my music to be warm.
If you'd like the amp to be best out of the box, then the LD is better, but after tube rolling, I enjoyed my DV more.
The Fubar 3 may offer the greatest upgrade, though, as it is a DAC/Amp combo, so you could upgrade both your source and your amp in one fell swoop.
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12-07-2008, 05:08 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 163
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I don't know-- I moved from the Fubar III to the Little Dot and the difference was incredible. I don't think the DAC part of the upgrade is nearly as significant as the difference in the amp sound. Though to be fair I continued to use the Fubar as a DAC for quite a while with the Little Dot MK III, until I got a PS Audio Digital Link III.
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12-07-2008, 07:40 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Houston
Posts: 306
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lmmo
I'm a newbie and would like to improve my iPod sound. I'll be listening my music mainly at the office and I have the Sennheiser HD650 on my shopping list.
Now I need a headphone amp. I want something that works fine out of the box and should be a good match for the HD650.
I've searched the forums and check these alternatives around 200 US$:
Little Dot MK III
Darkvoice 336SE
Firestone Fubar III
What is you recommendation? Any other options to be considered?
Thanks!
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The Darkvoice is a hell of an amp for the money. Add the fact that it uses readily available tubes and you have a winner.
Use the search function for the Darkvoice 336i tube rolling thread.
__________________
The longest journey begins with the first step
-Ancient Chinese proverb
Home: Auzen Forte > Zu Firemine > Cambridge 840C > Soloz Silver IC > Singlepower MPX3 SLAM (Mullard ECC32 & Tung Sol 5687's) > Beyer DT770 w/ leather pads / HD650(Zu Mobius)
Portable: RSA P-51 "The Mustang" > Cryo copper/silver LOD > Ipod Classic 120 > UE Triple.Fi 10 Pro
PC's: Zu Birth, Zu Mother, Black Sand z1
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12-07-2008, 02:09 PM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Québec, Canada
Posts: 676
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I heard the FubarIII with his supplier and found the unit boring and non exciting. Lack dynamic and punch, lack body in voices ... it's barely better than internal soundcard ... forgot that.
I heard the LDII++ and LDIII ... was million miles away to the FBIII in the good direction.
If you look something small ... my friend who got the FBIII+supplier got a refund a buyed the RSA Predator instead and was much better.
It's still not perfect (too bright, not warm enough) but the dynamic is very good and it's very small. Battery life is incredible ...
__________________
ARC CD3Mk2->SP Dragon->Senn.HD800
Other stuff: SP MPX3-Slam, Denon D5000, Senn. HD650 SAA Equinix recabled , BeyerDT990, OMZv4 (on sale), X-Meridian7.1, VD David coax, VD nite/master3 power
Ebay Feedback Head-fi feedback
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12-07-2008, 04:07 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 70
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The Fubar III seems excluded.
What about the Yulong DAH1?
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12-07-2008, 09:21 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 110
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Are the tubes for the MK3 more expensive than the tubes for the Darkvoice?
__________________
Headphones:
Sennheiser HD650 | Shure e2c
Audio Sources:
HTPC with SB live! 5.1 | Lenovo Thinkpad x61 | Sony CDP-CE375 | Ipod Nano | Denon dcd-1520
Amps:
Yamaha HTR-5650 6.1 HT Receiver | CMOY portable amp | Little Dot MKIII | Zero DAC/amp
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12-07-2008, 10:57 PM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,033
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No, they're about the same for the cheap ones. They can both get pretty expensive, but the tubes for the Darkvoice can be much more expensive if you want the "holy grail" tubes.
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12-07-2008, 10:57 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New Haven, CT
Posts: 1,708
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The fubar isn't in the same league as the other two and it won't match up with your phones as well as the other two. There are lots of people in both the DV and the LD camps, but I think that most would agree that you can't go wrong with either.
__________________
ALAC --> Macbook --> Fubar II DAC --> AMB Labs Cavali-Kan Kumisa III DIY --> Grado RS-1
Do you have a contingency plan in the event of a zombie apocalypse?
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12-07-2008, 11:29 PM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,033
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^Yep.
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12-08-2008, 01:16 AM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 70
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what about solid state amps? any good recommendation?
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12-08-2008, 02:07 AM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,033
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Don't forget about hybrid amps. I don't have any to recommend, but someone here will.
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12-08-2008, 11:28 AM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Orange County CA
Posts: 228
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I love the way my LD MkIII mates with my HD650s.
__________________
Head Rig: IE7, DT990/600, amp?
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12-17-2008, 08:25 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,856
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lunchbox2
Are the tubes for the MK3 more expensive than the tubes for the Darkvoice?
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They're about the same, though I think the MkIII tubes are more readily available, but when you find them the cost is about the same for both if you're looking for just regular tubes. Of course 'rare' ones will cost more but that's the way it goes with tubes.
__________________
“I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world, and fool enough to think that’s what I’ll find.” – The Carpenters
Transport: ________________DC:
__Toshiba SD-3950____ -→ ____ Canare LV-77S ↘
Source : _ Transit : __ DC : ___ DAC : __ IC : _____________ Amp : __ Headphone :
__WinAmp ASIO → M-Audio Transit → Sys. Concept → Entech Number → Blue Jeans Cable → Little Dot II++ (v2) → Sennheiser HD650
_____________________________________ Premium Toslink Cruncher 203.2 _ Belden 1694A
FS: HeadRoom MAX amp with MAX DAC $2750 OBO
FS: Sennheiser HD650 + Cardas Upgrade Cable + HeadRoom Headphone Bag
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12-17-2008, 09:39 AM
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1000+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Norman, OK
Posts: 1,422
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The audio-gd C2C is popular but it costs about $330 + shipping.
I have the 336SE, its sound is pretty decent but all preamp tubes besides the stock one hum. It is horrible. I know there are mods to fix it, but I'm no electrician and so I'd rather not. I've tried tung-sol, sovtek, and electro-harmonix preamp tubes and they all hum like crazy, and I don't have the money to keep testing these freaking things.
Maybe go MarkIII, unless you like things seriously tubey. Stuff like Bob Dylan sounds real good on the DV, but more electronic stuff sounds too fluffy.
God, I really want the audio-gd, if anyone wants to trade with me, they can have this tubey nightmare...
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickyboyo
Mate, you could buy yourself a ute, a sleeping bag, enough beer to drive around Australia and still have enough money left over to tune up at least 2 chicks in every major town in this great country for the price you would pay for this crazily overpriced cable.
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Source:
Denon DVD1900 SACD --> prototype coax --> Audio-GD DAC8
Macbook Pro 13" --> Amarra Mini --> "Metagenome" USB --> Sonicweld Diverter Gen3 --> Neotech/Furutech silver BNC --> Audio-GD DAC8 --> DIY CAST cables
Amplification: Audio-GD Phoenix with ERS paper
Headphones: Sennheiser HD800 balanced with Complement XLR cables, Sennheiser HD650, Audio-Technica ATH-A700, iGrados, Beyer DT770, ER4P, Shure SRH840 with 4-pin miniXLR jack mod
To Buy: Reference One conversion board, Power Plant Premier, JH13, state and local taxes, tuition, VD Master LE 2.0 power cable, Stranded OCC silver when it exists + Bocchino BAXLRs sexytime
Sleepover at Kingwa's!
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