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New! HeadRoom Desktop Balanced Amp! - Page 7  

post #91 of 304
12/18/06 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by flecom View Post
you mean like 2x 1/4" connectors to balanced or something? that wouldent work with this amp becuase both 1/4" connectors are the non-inverting amps so it would be the same as having a regular 1/4" unbalanced going into the headphone... if you mean the dual male XLR > 1/4" unbalanced, again, it would be pointless becuase you are just shorting together the two inverting amps and using the non-inverting amps for L and R... only difference from plugging the 1/4" straight into the amp is maybe a driven ground... although im not sure how much the amp would like you shorting two of the boards together... depends on design... but the point of this is to be a balanced amp... and while i agree with the person that said a 4 pin XLR (a-la K1000) would make worlds more sence, everyone seems to have adpoted the somewhat silly dual XLR config... mostly becuase of the original blockhead design it would seem, but it stuck... all of my balanced headphones and amps have a 4 pin XLR and its much more convienient...
That's a little too much of technical explanation for me. But I get the point. If you want to use this amp balanced, you need to have your phones recabled. That's clear to me now. Thanks for the input. Very interested in a balanced amp, but making the switch because of the recabling is almost a permanent decision. Maybe one day.
post #92 of 304
12/18/06 at 3:59pm
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post #93 of 304
12/18/06 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hYdrociTy View Post
Trying to avoid the pinky syndrome?
Nah, just trying to avoid PMS (Private Message Syndrome) where I get a mass of PM's from random people asking me to build cables for them.
post #94 of 304
12/18/06 at 5:28pm
vcoheda...could this be what you're looking to do? If so, I can enthusiastically recommend grandenigma who's responsible for this job on my 701's. Click on the thumb below for a larger image.

post #95 of 304
12/22/06 at 9:57am
Tyll any weather report from headroom?

Looks like a big snow storm.
post #96 of 304
12/22/06 at 10:39pm

MicroDAC/ have you ever thought about making an upgrade board for it too?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens View Post
Thanks, Jude.

So here's the deal: we could put our current boards into enclosures and have dacs in a heart beat, but they wouldn't have lock lights or anything, just on/off and input selector switch on the front and toslink, coax, and USB ins on the bacl with a pair of RCA Cardas conectors or balanced xlrs on as the analog out on the back, and possibly an output pad for padding the signal down for feeding gear that doesn't have the headroom. A totally basic DAC that sounds great and locks to everything but no bells and whistles.

I think the argument of needing a stand along dac for the tube amps holds awater and so do the folks here. If we wait to come out with dacs a year and a half from now with the HA-2, then we could do it right and use a microcontroller and give you lock lights and displays and various stuff. But if you bought one of the plane Jane ones and then we came out with a bitchen one, would you be bummed?

Those are the kind of things we're thinking about in particular...I'd like to hear your thoughts. G'night. See you next week---if I survive Florida!
Quote:
Originally Posted by plaidplatypus View Post
I would not be bummed either. I only use my Micro DAC at home now. I would buy a stand alone Desktop DAC with just RCA outs and the three digital ins, the selector switch, and a power socket. I don't care at all about lights.
so how about the MicroDAC? have you ever thought about making an upgrade board for it too? I only use my MicroDAC at home as well. in most situations I would not take it with me and if I did it would not be in a situation where I will be using batteries to power it(I cannot wait to see the alternative power supply you have up the road for the MicroStack and news of the MicroSwitch too). from other post that I have read at Head-Fi and iPodStudio I think most that own the MicroDAC use it in home/ office situations. I forget who it is but one guy here at Head-Fi already uses a MicroDAC with his Millett Hybrid. It would be nice if we had an option to upgrade the MicroDAC if a better Power Supply is going to be offered for it and stand alone DAC's made in the future.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens View Post
The amp comes stock with a new high-current switching power supply---so you don’t HAVE to buy the Desktop Power Supply to drive the thing (though it will sound better if you do). (P.S. Those of you wanting a better supply for your current HeadRoom gear who don’t want to drop the big bucks on the desktop may be interested in these supplies for your current gear. They won’t be available for sale separately for a little while---as we get our supply chain up to speed---but they are better than the standard low-cost supply we ship with gear. Price as yet unknown.)
post #97 of 304
12/23/06 at 1:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by noseallinit View Post
so how about the MicroDAC? have you ever thought about making an upgrade board for it too? I only use my MicroDAC at home as well. in most situations I would not take it with me and if I did it would not be in a situation where I will be using batteries to power it(I cannot wait to see the alternative power supply you have up the road for the MicroStack and news of the MicroSwitch too). from other post that I have read at Head-Fi and iPodStudio I think most that own the MicroDAC use it in home/ office situations. I forget who it is but one guy here at Head-Fi already uses a MicroDAC with his Millett Hybrid. It would be nice if we had an option to upgrade the MicroDAC if a better Power Supply is going to be offered for it and stand alone DAC's made in the future.
You know, if they removed the battery section from the MicroDAC, and possibly ventilated the enclosure, they could fit all the components from a Max Balanced DAC in there, with inputs on the front and outputs on the back. That would be one tiny, kickass DAC.
post #98 of 304
12/23/06 at 3:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSloth View Post
You know, if they removed the battery section from the MicroDAC, and possibly ventilated the enclosure, they could fit all the components from a Max Balanced DAC in there, with inputs on the front and outputs on the back. That would be one tiny, kickass DAC.
you are onto me thoughts Sloth! I was not thinking Balanced but if it could be done q:O) the existing boards would not work but a new one without the battery section.. does a Max DAC get so hot that it would need to be vented?

it would be nice if an upgrade was offered for the MicroDAC since it is already a stand alone DAC and it's not being used by most owners in it's original intention.
post #99 of 304
12/23/06 at 4:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by noseallinit View Post
you are onto me thoughts Sloth! I was not thinking Balanced but if it could be done q:O) the existing boards would not work but a new one without the battery section.. does a Max DAC get so hot that it would need to be vented?

it would be nice if an upgrade was offered for the MicroDAC since it is already a stand alone DAC and it's not being used by most owners in it's original intention.
If they used the existing boards as is, they could make something that was almost a Desktop DAC by changing the AD822 to an OPA2134 - the Desktop uses dual 134's for better channel seperation, but otherwise the circuitry is I believe the same.

For higher end single ended designs, there is still probably room on the board as is, but the power consumption would be up to the point where there would simply be no point leaving the battery section. It could even be dangerous, overload the batteries causing leakage.

The Max Balanced DAC has 4 627's biased into class A, as well as all the associated DAC, receiver and upsampling chips (all doubled up for balanced operation) which generate heat of their own. There isn't a great deal of surface area in the Micro enclosure, so it would probably work fine but be too hot to guarantee reliablility over a long enough period of time for a warranty!

As far as an upgrade goes, it wouldn't reall work well in the case of a Micro DAC as the 'upgrade' would be a complete circuit board change, so it would cost almost as much as a new one. The amps can be upgraded as the active electronics are only part of the entire circuit design, and are modular.
post #100 of 304
12/23/06 at 1:24pm
I love that little DAC and what it has done for listening to music off me iMac feeding me MicroAmp and NAD Receiver/ Polk Speakers. now that I realize that I'm not gonna be using the 9 volt battery supply probably at all, I feel there is half the space of the MicroDAC that could hold options of upgrade. I had thought of this weeks back and when I came across this thread and the mention of stand alone DAC's from HeadRoom I just had to put my two cents in.

I dunno what would work out best but I do wish the MicroDAC had the option as it is for portable use and the option for something even better for just home/ office use. since it is already a stand alone DAC and Tyll has mentioned in this thread that a better power supply will be available for current HeadRoom Gear that the MicroDAC would be a good candidate for an upgrade. the MicroDAC is kind of lost in it's original intentions and I have even read were Tyll speaks of it since portable music players with digital outs it pretty much non existent. it still has it's uses for portability but I think most people use the MicroDAC at home or at the office with their MicroAmp as well with many other brand Headphone Amps out there on the market.

every HeadRoom amp comes with various options of internal DAC upgrades already except the Millett Hybrid and the future HA-2. the Tube Amps could very well use a mated DAC but if I was to buy any other HeadRoom Amp I would want the DAC inside the Amp as it is already offered. I'm a footprint freak and the less space I take up in this world the better. Headphone Amps have become a solution for me and I plan on using the MicroStack for quite a while, I just love it! as much as I would like one the Desktop Amps they are just not in me budget anytime soon. I would like to have the $400 DPS but I would rather have something better mated and cheaper for the MicroStack of which looks like I just may get me wishes this upcoming year. now if only the MicroDAC held the option of being as good as some of the Desktop Line DAC's since it is already bought by so many that do not even own the MicroAmp. I must be dreaming again..
post #101 of 304
12/23/06 at 2:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by flecom
I guess Tyll hasn't had a chance to pop his head in here yet after the Florida meet... I guess we exausted him
No. I got deathly ill. And then Dara (our Administrative Manager) decided to go on to some bigger and better things, and then Christmas at HeadRoom is shipping sometimes five times the normal number of boxes, plus Chistmas personal stuff....SHEESH! Sorry, been busy as heck.

Quote:
Originally Posted by velogreg
So how are the Led Zeplin CD's sounding? (So Cal, WLV meet)
They're great! I did listen through them on the trip back and they were marvelous. And I've been moving some music around on my media laptop and I did double check to make sure they were in the library.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 'noseallinit"
so how about this HeadRoom FM tuner?
I think it's going to happen, but it is a few years down the road. I'd love to do the digital radio thing, too bad it'll likely never do me any good out here in the middle of nowhere. I doubt digital radio will make it to montana for many years, and when it does it's likely not going to be the stuff I want to listen to.

Quote:
Originally Posted by flecom
... all of my balanced headphones and amps have a 4 pin XLR and its much more convienient...
Jamey and I have talked about the possibility of doing a high-end recable job where we put a four-pin xlr on the headphones and then include a bunch of adaptors and extensions for various applications and amps, balanced and unbalanced.

I agree that a four-pin xlr makes a lot of sense. But there's also a compelling argument for the way we do it because it allows you to connec one balanced or two unbalanced cans all with two connectors. Front panel space on the circuit board edge is valuable real estate---balanced switches with four poles are wide.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sloth
You know, if they removed the battery section from the MicroDAC,
Quote:
Originally Posted by noseallinit
you are onto me thoughts Sloth!
I think there will be an opportunity for us to mess around with the space inside the Micro enclosure soon. Some changes coming down the pipe and I think we will be able to play some games similar to whats been said here.
post #102 of 304
12/23/06 at 2:28pm

new high-current switching power supply

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens View Post
The amp comes stock with a new high-current switching power supply---so you don’t HAVE to buy the Desktop Power Supply to drive the thing (though it will sound better if you do). (P.S. Those of you wanting a better supply for your current HeadRoom gear who don’t want to drop the big bucks on the desktop may be interested in these supplies for your current gear. They won’t be available for sale separately for a little while---as we get our supply chain up to speed---but they are better than the standard low-cost supply we ship with gear. Price as yet unknown.)
what is this high- current switching power supply? and how will it be used with other HeadRoom Gear like the MicroStack?
post #103 of 304
12/23/06 at 2:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by noseallinit View Post
what is this high- current switching power supply? and how will it be used with other HeadRoom Gear like the MicroStack?
It's just like the wall wart that already comes with all the HeadRoom gear, except that it can supply a lot more current. This will mean that you no longer 'have' to buy a DPS to power any of the module/DAC combinations, though of course you will not get the sonic advantage of cleaner power.

The brick that you already have has a maximum output of 240mA, and for your MicroStack (particularly as you have 1 brick per component) it's having to put out less than half that, so in the case of low powered gear, it could replace the brick supply but I'm not sure there would be any reason to.
post #104 of 304
12/28/06 at 3:51pm
I've got a great idea for the next Headroom amp...A Millet Hybrid Balanced Desktop Amp! Ooooh...
post #105 of 304
12/28/06 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoon Wrangler View Post
I've got a great idea for the next Headroom amp...A Millet Hybrid Balanced Desktop Amp! Ooooh...
With dac option.. oomph..
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