My friend lent me a souped up Audiolab MDAC (the "Premium Toy" upgrade) which sounds absolutely superb.   Having found that the £35 Wosong U308 (Wolfson chip) sounds basically identical to a Cambridge Dacmagic Azur (Wolfson again) I wondered if the SMSL M8 with the Sabre chip would sound as...

I used to own a Little Dot 3, very stupidly sold it. I have the Dac-01a and it's a great preamp but the headphone sound is to-do. If you want great headphone sound, get a little dot 3 and decent DAC, I'd suggest an HRT streamer II or schiit modi for starters.

Just tried it for you. If the Windows tester is to be believed then yes (clicked 88.2 in "supported formats" and clicked "test" and it worked).

Well I'm only using it with bigger cans and I've not noticed any noise and the volume pot seems fine. For the money it seems like a total bargain.

I wanted a USB headphone amp with digital output for my DDA amplifier(s)...I tried the Fiio E10K and did not like the sound at all. Too much midrange, not enough punch. Some people must like this device (it gets good reviews) but I thought it was not for me at all.   I then tried two Chinese...

It's a very good question.   Even the Denon PMA50 all-digital amp has an op-amp for the headphones.   Is this tapped off the speaker outs I wonder, or running off its own DAC?   Presumably a CSR or Nuforce chip could drive a headphone amp - why shouldn't it?

I've been through a bizarre routine of trying every "digital" amp on the market except for the more expensive NADs. Either class D plus DAC (Teac) or pure digital (Denon PMA50 and Nuforce DDA100). On the basis that I've managed to acquire all at well below street price and I'll sell whatever I...

OK so this is a 3 year old thread but I know we all like to have info... err I mean opinions!   I've got an HRT Music Streamer II and a Dacmagic (original model) here on my desk right now.   HRT Music Streamer II wins by a nose. Similar sound to both, but the HRT handles "busy" sections of...

I have a pair of A700s and I think they are superb in so many ways.   I do sometimes find myself wanting more bass. I have a really great amp (Little Dot) and I don't think an amp will boost your bass that much.   Based purely on research it looks like the answer could be the Denon...

I've just gotten a pair of Westinghouse 6AK5 (says that on the box, no idea if they are the same as your 5654 or not) just because I like the classic US "military industrial complex" brands of that era. Nothing recessed about the vocals that I can hear. and if anything I'd say they have a very...

Seems very odd to mix tubes - they don't work together....  one is left and one is right!   Mullards are superb tubes alright but in the end I've concluded that the Russkies are the best all-rounders and I'm also super happy with my JAN Philips tubes for maximum bass groove.   Everything...

Yekrut - I had exactly the hissing problem you described with a Mullard tube reasonably soon after purchase from an ebay seller who is a valve dealer.   The seller replaced the tube for me - all OK now.   Mullards are definitely a "top 3" tube for the Little Dot. In the end the best...

  Hytrons have arrived folks. Four of them for the price of two typical Ebay NOS tubes, but not tested or "matched". Cardboard packaging old and discoloured, a film of dust on the tubes. Definitely old stock! Tested in 1953 according to pack.   I've been using Jan Philips for a week now -...

  My Jan Philips 5654W just arrived. Definitely more/deeper bass than other tubes, and I'm liking them. Might be best tubes I've heard but will hang on before passing firm judgement.   There's a chap on Ebay right now selling sets of 4x Hytrons for just under $20, and given what people...

I just have to add to the above post that my Brimar 6AK5 tubes are labelled "Foreign". I see that there are other Brimar 6AK5 for sale and they do *not* look the same - mine have blue writing, the box states "foreign" and the indents on the tube, the getter shape and the pointy pins all suggest...

  I spotted something interesting on Ebay - Brimar 6AK5 which had grooves in the side and looked uncannily like the Voskhod driver tubes... Price was relatively low so I could not resist and bought a couple of them (not matched or whatever).   I had the Voskhods in the MkIII at the time...

I've started using mine as a pre-amp and it does a *superb* job at that too.... Maybe you should try connecting it to the NAP...

My photo, a couple of entries up in this threads, includes the Siemens. Some of the writing has rubbed off, but it looks like the factory code is either 185 or 85 (I think I see the remains of a "1" in front of the "85"). This whole business just gets more and more arcane!    

  Here's some vacuum tube porn for all you tube rollers! http://www.flickr.com/photos/eljustinoid/6318979306/in/photostream  

I paid less for a pair of these from a UK seller who goes by the name "Yitry" on Ebay. I am not as impressed with these tubes as other people are. My recommendation for a different sound remains Siemens.   Also I don't like the fact that the two tubes on that Ebay listing you saw are clearly...

Two more tube sets arrived this morning, which will be the end of this chapter for now.   - Military Russian 6N6P power tubes - supposedly gold grid though I can't tell - from a seemingly credible seller in Bulgaria - Voshkod driver tubes   The new Mil-Spec 6N6P have been warming for a...

All this sitting back and enjoying the music is giving me backache!

  The driver tubes my LD III came with are one with no markings, and one with a barely legible Toshiba logo. Innards of the two looked the same.   I've tried all 3 sets of recently delivered tubes (Mullard 8100, NEC 5654, Siemens 5654) - only the Mullards have been properly burned in, but...