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| Headphone Amps (full-size) Discussion of desktop headphone amps. |
11-27-2008, 10:12 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: S. FLorida
Posts: 3,187
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djchaz
If I wanted to use the Zero as a DAC and pair it with something like the Little Dot MKV, what would you guys recommend I upgrade in the Zero DAC?
Thanks,
-djchaz
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That is the setup I have currently. Very nice and liquid/smooth sounding.
Earth HDAM, LT1364, Alps pot. I posted the link to the pot a few post ago. Audi-gd.com for the Earth HDAM, get the dual Opamp HDAM with 200mm extention wires. Do the upgrade yourself. Buy the cheapest Zero out there. The LT amps are free from Linear Technology. You should read the thread here, I know it's long. Get a buddy to solder in the alps pot.
I had no problems with LC, if you do have problems though, you'll think you caught your leg in a Bear trap. You just gnaw your leg off and limp thru the rest of your life having lost a big chunk of flesh.
__________________
<<<Les Garten>>> Leave the gun, take the cannoli -- Fat Clemenza circa 1950
Conversation with future Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing in 1969: Lessing: "You do still have gangsters [in Chicago], don't you?" Studs Terkel: "Yes, but these days they're mostly in business, or politics."
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" Aesop
Ich Bin Ein Europeaner!
JOIN TEAM Snake Oil
Head-Fi Feedback<<>> ebay Feedback<<>> Pink Noise Burn-In Tool!!
I Changed My Windows Desktop to a PIC of the Audio-GD REF 1
Witness the Birth of the Phoenix Phoenix
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11-27-2008, 11:41 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: UCLA
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by les_garten
That is the setup I have currently. Very nice and liquid/smooth sounding.
Earth HDAM, LT1364, Alps pot. I posted the link to the pot a few post ago. Audi-gd.com for the Earth HDAM, get the dual Opamp HDAM with 200mm extention wires. Do the upgrade yourself. Buy the cheapest Zero out there. The LT amps are free from Linear Technology. You should read the thread here, I know it's long. Get a buddy to solder in the alps pot.
I had no problems with LC, if you do have problems though, you'll think you caught your leg in a Bear trap. You just gnaw your leg off and limp thru the rest of your life having lost a big chunk of flesh.
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If he's planning to use it as a DAC only then there's no need for him to get the LT opamps for the headphone section or the Alps pot, right? Also YMMV for the LT free samples, mine say shipped as of a month ago and never arrived. :/
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11-28-2008, 12:22 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Fukuoka, Japan (was Australia)
Posts: 3,538
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Quote:
Originally Posted by les_garten
It just seems we should reward good vendors and not reward bad ones.
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Indeed I've gone one better: Audio-gd is now designing a Zero competitor at my suggestion. The price will probably be similar to a Zero fully modified from Lawrence at $200-250.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djchaz
When you say upgraded which components are you referring to? I'm just curious because I'm thinking about buying a Zero soon but am not sure what upgraded version to buy. I'm seriously eyeing LC's sale on ebay, though.
Thanks,
-djchaz
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HDAM in the DAC section. I don't use the pre-amp.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djchaz
If I wanted to use the Zero as a DAC and pair it with something like the Little Dot MKV, what would you guys recommend I upgrade in the Zero DAC?
Thanks,
-djchaz
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If you have the $$ for both, get a DAC-100 and one of the headamps from Audio-gd.com. It'll come to about the same cost and the sound quality will probably be a lot better.
__________________
"The trouble with most people is not what they don't know, but what they know for certain that isn't true." -- Mark Twain
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11-28-2008, 01:04 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: S. FLorida
Posts: 3,187
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Quote:
Originally Posted by syg
If he's planning to use it as a DAC only then there's no need for him to get the LT opamps for the headphone section or the Alps pot, right? Also YMMV for the LT free samples, mine say shipped as of a month ago and never arrived. :/
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Here's how I roll. I have an external amp also, but like to A-B up against the Zero for the fun of it. So if you don't want to put in OpAmps that would be your prerogative. They're free, who cares. I ordered 5 sets of OpAmps and got them all within about 10 days, and that was about 2 weeks ago. Persistence my friend. The Alps Pot would be nice in the situation where you were A-B ing, os using it as a Pre-Amp to Active speakers.
If he doesn't ever want to A-B or use the Zero Headamp ever, he can D/C it, it gens up a lot of heat.
__________________
<<<Les Garten>>> Leave the gun, take the cannoli -- Fat Clemenza circa 1950
Conversation with future Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing in 1969: Lessing: "You do still have gangsters [in Chicago], don't you?" Studs Terkel: "Yes, but these days they're mostly in business, or politics."
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" Aesop
Ich Bin Ein Europeaner!
JOIN TEAM Snake Oil
Head-Fi Feedback<<>> ebay Feedback<<>> Pink Noise Burn-In Tool!!
I Changed My Windows Desktop to a PIC of the Audio-GD REF 1
Witness the Birth of the Phoenix Phoenix
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11-28-2008, 10:48 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Hull, UK
Posts: 797
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I spent a little on the H/A alps upgrade. Two reasons, things may change and I shift the unit to a new room (work etc) where I don't have a dedicated amp, and then the saving of 25 USD seems a little foolish, or I may sell the item, and then having one 'fully loaded' might sweeten the deal. I do use the H/A section, usually when wanting to listen for a short time (early morning before work) where its not sensible to fire up the tubes, or when I'm listening to radio etc.
__________________
Home : SqueezeCenter 7.3 -> Squeezebox3 -> Audio-Gd DAC-3SE -> Audiotailor Jade -> HD 650/Grado HF-2
Away : Ipod 160GB/Vaio Laptop -> LOD/USB -> IBasso D3 -> ER-6i/DT 770
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11-28-2008, 12:43 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sunny San Diego
Posts: 135
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I might receive my earth hdam later in the mail and plan on installing it right away. Do I need to solder the ground wire or can I leave that alone for the meantime while I don't have my soldering iron?
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11-28-2008, 12:51 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Porto, Portugal
Posts: 439
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You can leave it alone and do the soldering later, no problem, it's not required. 
__________________
PC (WASAPI) → AMB/Mr.X γ1 (W.I.P) → Pure Silver m-RCA D.I.Y → Millett Hybrid MiniMAX D.I.Y (W.I.P) / AMB Mini³ D.I.Y → Sennheiser HD-650 / Grado RS-80
Last edited by DaMnEd; 11-28-2008 at 01:06 PM.
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11-28-2008, 01:00 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sunny San Diego
Posts: 135
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^nice, I do need to practice soldering first also before I do the hdam to my zero, better be safe than sorry. Thanks!
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11-28-2008, 05:30 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K3cT
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The DIP version.
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11-28-2008, 05:33 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Balbigny - France
Posts: 57
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Finally the problem with Lawrence should be solved (I hope).
I had to pay 25 bucks for the USB->Toslink he has sent me with the Zero DAC, and he will send me the HDAm and the pot.
Waiting for it now...
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11-28-2008, 05:52 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ads2
Finally the problem with Lawrence should be solved (I hope).
I had to pay 25 bucks for the USB->Toslink he has sent me with the Zero DAC, and he will send me the HDAm and the pot.
Waiting for it now...
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I think the one LC offers is Xitel DG2, or some other name but the same thing. Sony even used this little device as their official offering for transferring digital sound into their MD units. It's based on the ancient Philips UDA1321 chip, which, as I said in a previous post, has serious jitter problem. Do a search on ebay, you can find several different USB/SPDIF implementation. I would rank them(roughly, actual implementation and assembling quality do matter) in this order: cm10x optical < pcm270x optical < pcm290x optical < cm10x coaxial < pcm270x coaxial < pcm290x coaxial. This is only meant for cheap converters <$50, like this one currently on sale on ebay Mini USB to SPDIF (coaxial) (Use PCM2906) Converters - eBay (item 300276601659 end time Dec-03-08 16:22:54 PST). It's PCM2906 based and only $40 shipped. I'd say it's a good deal. If you can stop LC from shipping the converter, I suggest you do.
Edit: sorry, I did not pay attention on the fact that you've already received the converter. My bad.
Last edited by x_lk; 11-28-2008 at 06:14 PM.
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11-28-2008, 06:17 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: S. FLorida
Posts: 3,187
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K3cT
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Needs to have CN8 in the part number. If it does, it will work.
__________________
<<<Les Garten>>> Leave the gun, take the cannoli -- Fat Clemenza circa 1950
Conversation with future Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing in 1969: Lessing: "You do still have gangsters [in Chicago], don't you?" Studs Terkel: "Yes, but these days they're mostly in business, or politics."
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" Aesop
Ich Bin Ein Europeaner!
JOIN TEAM Snake Oil
Head-Fi Feedback<<>> ebay Feedback<<>> Pink Noise Burn-In Tool!!
I Changed My Windows Desktop to a PIC of the Audio-GD REF 1
Witness the Birth of the Phoenix Phoenix
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11-28-2008, 06:34 PM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Tbilisi - Georgia
Posts: 918
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ads2
Finally the problem with Lawrence should be solved (I hope).
I had to pay 25 bucks for the USB->Toslink he has sent me with the Zero DAC, and he will send me the HDAm and the pot.
Waiting for it now...
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Lucky you ! maybe you should ask him for the labor charges for fixing the pot and HDAM, as he asked you for the price of the pclink (which you may not require..) ..
Well, the good thing is that even though he reads mails pretty late, he does read this forum !!
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11-28-2008, 06:49 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: S. FLorida
Posts: 3,187
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandchak
Lucky you ! maybe you should ask him for the labor charges for fixing the pot and HDAM, as he asked you for the price of the pclink (which you may not require..) ..
Well, the good thing is that even though he reads mails pretty late, he does read this forum !!
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Hi,
What makes you think he pays attention to this forum. Seems that if he did, we wouldn't have had a bunch of these issues.
__________________
<<<Les Garten>>> Leave the gun, take the cannoli -- Fat Clemenza circa 1950
Conversation with future Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing in 1969: Lessing: "You do still have gangsters [in Chicago], don't you?" Studs Terkel: "Yes, but these days they're mostly in business, or politics."
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" Aesop
Ich Bin Ein Europeaner!
JOIN TEAM Snake Oil
Head-Fi Feedback<<>> ebay Feedback<<>> Pink Noise Burn-In Tool!!
I Changed My Windows Desktop to a PIC of the Audio-GD REF 1
Witness the Birth of the Phoenix Phoenix
|
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