Darkvoice just released 332 - Page 20

User18

Ive Had my 332 a while now, glanced at this thread and noticed your question

At the moment mine is using 39W - not particularly dependant on the volume.

Hope this helps

Steve

My Pass Aleph 5 is 300W and hasn't given me as much satisfaction as the 332with w5000 has. I wish I had discovered headphones sooner. All that money and effort could have gone into a pretty awesome headphone system.

That's exactly what I think, Hew. I gave up on "normal" hifi years ago: firstly, I live in a flat and the old woman downstairs was constantly complaining about the noise, and, secondly, because I'd heard that through a good headphone based system you'd could get world class audio for a reasonable price. I've went through many headphone amps since, but the 332 - my first truly valve amp - blows the socks off them all.

I had the same situation when I moved into a smaller home. Listening fell off because the room was not isolated or properly laid out.

I got back into music after I purchased an mp3 player and started doing research for a higher quality headset. After the headphone (HD555 shortly replaced by a HD595) I kept reading that I would need an amp to properly drive them. I just could not resist the opportunity to experience a tube-based system. I had bought the Pass because it was reported to sound like tube amplifiers. So I guess I was always headed for tubes.

Hi Godkin,

I had the same problem with the batch of Sylvania's I received, I found that running them in for a few hours (10-20) got rid of the hum, they do sound great.

The hum has all but gone now, Budgetphile. And they sound a lot better now, although the hum was by no means audible when the volume was turned up. They've everything a good valve should have - although I think they don't have the clarity of the RCAs or the CV4010s. To tell you the truth, they sound slightly veiled to me, but maybe that will wear off as they burn in.

ICs still sounding brilliant - getting better as the hours go by. I'm also burning in a new cable I bought that runs between my X-PSU V3 and X-DAC V3. Nothing startling so far, not in the league of your ICs anyway.

I wonder does the guy who designed your ICs have a design, based on silver obviously, for a good digital interconnect? I mean, would it be the same basic principle as the standard, analogue ICs?

There was not a single design that I followed in making the silver IC's, it was a combination of various methods that I thought might work well together, I will keep an eye out for any info that I might come across for good digital diy cables, and you do the same and forward me anything interesting you come across, while you are at it, could you keep an eye out for Sennheiser cable plugs (the bit that goes into the headphone) I am very keen on making a silver headphone cable, but I don't think that cutting the plugs off a senn cable to use will do justice to a silver cable. Sennheiser doesn't sell them, only cardas and moon audio seem to have access to senn phone plugs, I couldn't find anything of use on the net, if all fails I'll see if I can make some wood plugs that would do the trick.

I don't know what designs you used for the ICs, but you've got it right - big style.

Those SENNHEISER connectors are fiendishly difficult to find. Some on this forum, and elsewhere, say that using these connectors for a DIY cable is impossible, others say the reverse. They recommend buying a stock SENNHEISER cable and cutting the connectors off, then fitting them to your new cable.

But I'll keep an eye out and see if we can get something sorted out.

PS Wooden plugs? - sounds intriguing.

I think it would be really interesting to compare the Darkvoice 332 and Little Dot II ++. They use the same power tube (6C19) and both use pentodes as the input tube (EF92 vs. EF95). Naturally the topology of the amps are probably very similar. They should sound about the same.

I'd imagine only remotely. LD2++ is known for congested sound, especially with demanding music like metal. DV332 rocks metal without blinking.
Also DV332 has no heat issues that LD2++ is known for.

In short - tubes are only part of the game, the circuitry inside of the amp and the other components matter quite a bit too =]

Tube circuits are generally very simple, thus if they use the same tubes, their circuitry are naturally quite similar.

While I agree components can make a big difference, it is unfair to compare the two amps based on comments from people with different sources and different headphones. People who shell out $200 for the Little Dot will inevitably have different equipment compared to those who shell out $500 for the Darkvoice 332. If all else equal, I think these two amps will sound surprisingly similar.

Me and an owner of LD2++ were using our impressions through hd595 to compare >.< And can you imagine what issues in sound a badly chosen cap can cause? Eeeeh....

They might sound similar in the way that their sound-signature will be similar, but their transient response relies heavily on the circuitry of the amp, resistors/caps, and quality of the transient response is the reason we have amplifiers in the first place.

I noticed you have a W5000, do you think you and your friend can do some comparisons with that headphone? I'm really interested.

Pardon me for barging in, budgetphile or anyone else, but how does the Ag wire know whether it has a cotton, Teflon, plastic or nail polish insulation? All of those substances should be invisible to the electrons traveling along the surface of the wire, no?

Another thing I have always been curious about is that I read that silver oxide is not as good a conductor as unoxidized silver. If this is true, does the part of silver wire which is exposed to air slowly change the sound as it oxidizes over time?

USG

Could stick it no longer - had to whip those SYLVANIAs out. Good is some ways, but the midrange was much too recessed, and they just didn't have the clarity of the CV4010s. Immediate improvement as soon as the CV4010s were back in place. Status quo restored.

Don't know the "science" of cables, nor the materials from which they're made. I judge with my ears, and my ears like what they hear.