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Got my Meta 42! Now how do I optimize my system? [hey hey! come on! some inputs plz]

post #1 of 15
12/21/02 at 1:14am
Thread Starter 
Just got my beloved Meta 42 today from KurtW!! In a word..AWESOME!! The sound definitely opens up quite a bit and the "distant sound" from my Senns 580 has disappeared! Mind you, it's still "Senns sound" just that the veil is no longer there. Hard to describe it, you have to listen to it to know what I am talking about.
Anyway, now here is my question..
I am running Sound Card (live!) --> Radioshack Mini to RCA adapter --> Meta 42 --> Senn 580. I turn the volume on the computer to max in order to reduce the load on Meta 42. Am I doing the right thing? If not, plz tell me what I should do. I dunno if there is a line-out on live! card... and I don't see any volume control for line-out (line-in yes)....mmm...plz give me advice.
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post #2 of 15
12/21/02 at 2:05am
Sounds right to me. That's how I run my SBLive!. I keep the soundcard volume settings at max and use the superior attenuation of the potentiometer in the dedicated amp (usually 47 or META42).
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post #3 of 15
12/21/02 at 2:07am
My personal rule of thunb - never go above half-way on any system control!!! Things are being driven to their max, and this makes it easier for things to go bad with the sound!!!

I wouldn't worry about turning up the META too much as it uses pretty high quality parts, just keep the sound card volume down around halfish to make sure it doesn't cause problems!!

Enjoy the sounds from your new headamp!!!
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post #4 of 15
12/21/02 at 2:22am
Luvya - wondering how the bass changed when you got your meta42, better? worse? much better? I know this was a big complaint from you when your 580's first arrived. I'd consider the sound out of my audigy very "weak", bass output is pretty low along with total fullness of the sound.

-dd3mon
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post #5 of 15
12/21/02 at 2:37am
Thread Starter 
aww....4 hours passed...two batteries gone!!! Well, ok..these batteries are pretty old..they were sitting in my drawer since god knows how long....but I think I really need the rechargeable 9v battery now or I will go broke!
One thing though, it gives noise when I turn the headphone jack around..sometime the volume would reduce other times it just clips....mmmm...does that happen to u guys?
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post #6 of 15
12/21/02 at 2:38am
I would want to minimize the noise from the soundcards. I would try setting the meta pot half way and adjust the sound card's pot until the levels are more or less where you will normally listen.
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post #7 of 15
12/21/02 at 4:06am
Lovya, your amp draws 13.9mA from a 10v battery, so those batteries you had must have been pretty old. You should get 12 hours from a 170mAH rechargable battery and a lot longer from alkalines. But rechargables are the way to go.
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post #8 of 15
12/21/02 at 4:16am
Quote:
Originally posted by Luvya
aww....4 hours passed...two batteries gone!!! Well, ok..these batteries are pretty old..they were sitting in my drawer since god knows how long....but I think I really need the rechargeable 9v battery now or I will go broke!
One thing though, it gives noise when I turn the headphone jack around..sometime the volume would reduce other times it just clips....mmmm...does that happen to u guys?
Try playing with it again with fresh and new batteries as that can sometimes fix things like this with equipment that runs on batteries.
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post #9 of 15
12/21/02 at 5:48pm
Good point ServinginEcuador. Allaline batteries decrease in voltage as they get worn out, unlike NiMH batteries that maintain most of their original voltage until the very end. The HD580 needs a fair amount of voltage and you're not going to get it with a weak alkaline battery. Yes, you'll get clipping.
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post #10 of 15
12/21/02 at 7:47pm
you need to turn down the volume on your soundcard. set the master level to 1/2-3/4 gain as it controls the amplifier... and you can max out the "wave" input. maxing out the master volume on that sound card results in much more noise than necessary... especially on cheap consumer sound cards. the amplifier on your heapdhone amp is much better quality... after all, that's why you bought it... to amplify!
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post #11 of 15
12/21/02 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally posted by KurtW
Good point ServinginEcuador.
Good guess would be more like it. I figured that might factor in, but until we hear back as to whether or not it affected performance or not is another issue altogether!!!
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post #12 of 15
12/21/02 at 10:19pm
Well, if your sound card isn't playing anything, turning up the volume would give more noise, true. But if the card is playing sounds, turning up the volume also increases the volume of the actual sound being played (of course!)

In my experience there are usually two components of noise in any amplifier:

1. Steady state noise--this is here even when you turn the volume to min. But it is at the same volume whether you set it at min. or max.
2. Proportional noise--this noise source is such that if there were no steady state noise, the signal-to-noise ratio of the system would always be the same whatever the volume level.

Combining the two, the conclusion is that if you turn the volume to max, the signal-to-noise ratio is the *best*.

I would still be concerned about the chance of clipping with the volume set at max though--although when using the output as line out, clipping is already much more unlikely than when using it to drive passive speakers.
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post #13 of 15
12/21/02 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Orpheus
you need to turn down the volume on your soundcard. set the master level to 1/2-3/4 gain as it controls the amplifier... and you can max out the "wave" input. maxing out the master volume on that sound card results in much more noise than necessary... especially on cheap consumer sound cards. the amplifier on your heapdhone amp is much better quality... after all, that's why you bought it... to amplify!
Ok, Orpheus...your statement would be true one month ago. My computer used to give the hiss sound when I turn up the master level (or propotional noise as Joe mentioned)...but now, I set it to max and it's still quiet! So I don't really worry about the noise but the quality of sound. There are 5 holes on my soundcard...I want to know what each of them do! (I have some idea what 2 of them do..but no clue as to the others)
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post #14 of 15
12/21/02 at 10:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by dd3mon
Luvya - wondering how the bass changed when you got your meta42, better? worse? much better? I know this was a big complaint from you when your 580's first arrived. I'd consider the sound out of my audigy very "weak", bass output is pretty low along with total fullness of the sound.

-dd3mon
Hey...let me break in the amp first...then I will give my thought. Plz bear with me. If you want to know what my initial thought are, just refer to the first post on this thread.
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post #15 of 15
12/21/02 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Luvya
Hey...let me break in the amp first...then I will give my thought. Plz bear with me. If you want to know what my initial thought are, just refer to the first post on this thread.
Sorry, I'm just thinking about a purchase of my own meta42 I'll be awaiting your thoughts thoughts after you've spent some more time with the amp.
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