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Already own Total Bithead: now upgrade to Micro DAC or Micro Amp first?

post #1 of 48
3/20/07 at 1:08am
Thread Starter 
I already own the Total Bithead latest (2006) edition and want to upgrade to support my new HD 650. I've got $300 now. Should I buy the Micro DAC now, and plug that into the Bithead-as-Amp, or should I buy the Micro Amp now, and plug that into the Bithead-as-DAC? Visually, my options are:

1) [Bithead-as-DAC] --> [Micro Amp] --> [Headphones]
...or...
2) [Micro DAC] --> [Bithead-as-Amp] --> [Headphones]

???
Thanks!
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post #2 of 48
3/20/07 at 1:17am
what is your source? your computer?
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post #3 of 48
3/20/07 at 1:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hYdrociTy View Post
what is your source? your computer?
Yes, my computer, via USB with no sound card prior to the Headroom equipment, with almost entirely losslessly encoded tracks.
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post #4 of 48
3/20/07 at 2:45am
Tough call, but I would probably upgrade the amp first.
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post #5 of 48
3/20/07 at 2:53am
I would prolly just go into different direction, like grabbing a Corda Aria for example. That would include selling the Bithead to fit into the budget though.
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post #6 of 48
3/20/07 at 2:53am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the guidance, Redo! I guess from your suggestion that I upgrade the amp first, you believe that the DAC in the Total Bithead is of higher quality relative to the Amp in the Total Bithead? Or is it something more nuanced about the interaction of the Total Bithead with the Micro Amp vs. Micro DAC?

Thanks!!
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post #7 of 48
3/20/07 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaloS View Post
I would prolly just go into different direction, like grabbing a Corda Aria for example. That would include selling the Bithead to fit into the budget though.
MaloS, thanks! You'd suggest going in that direction and just dumping my Total Bithead, or can I/should I use the two together?
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post #8 of 48
3/20/07 at 2:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by schaqfu View Post
MaloS, thanks! You'd suggest going in that direction and just dumping my Total Bithead, or can I/should I use the two together?
Just dumping it. It honestly is not all that impressive of a piece of equipment from my experience, plus the neutrality of the Aria couples with hd650 nicely. (Corda Aria is a USB Dac + Amp too but of higher quality).
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post #9 of 48
3/20/07 at 3:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaloS View Post
Just dumping it. It honestly is not all that impressive of a piece of equipment from my experience, plus the neutrality of the Aria couples with hd650 nicely. (Corda Aria is a USB Dac + Amp too but of higher quality).
Malos, the Cordia Aria looks like it uses the following DAC chip: PCM2704, 16 bit, 32/44/48 kHz; whereas the Total Bithead 2006 edition uses this chip which I think is higher end from the same manufacturer: PCM2902E.

So you think that sacrificing a little bit of DAC performance is more than compensated for by the increase of quality in the amp stage and the particular mating of the HD 650 with the Cordia?

Thanks!
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post #10 of 48
3/20/07 at 3:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by schaqfu View Post
Malos, the Cordia Aria looks like it uses the following DAC chip: PCM2704, 16 bit, 32/44/48 kHz; whereas the Total Bithead 2006 edition uses this chip which I think is higher end from the same manufacturer: PCM2902E.

So you think that sacrificing a little bit of DAC performance is more than compensated for by the increase of quality in the amp stage and the particular mating of the HD 650 with the Cordia?

Thanks!
These specs say otherwise:
http://www.chipcatalog.com/TI/PCM2902E.htm
http://www.chipcatalog.com/TI/PCM2704.htm

Neither one of the chips matches the DAC chip I favor but the PCM2704 definitely looks better than PCM2902E.
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post #11 of 48
3/20/07 at 3:14am
Thread Starter 
Haha... good call MaloS! And here I thought the best policy was always to assume something was true even if you know nothing about it. ;-)

Thanks for the info!
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post #12 of 48
3/20/07 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by schaqfu View Post
Haha... good call MaloS! And here I thought the best policy was always to assume something was true even if you know nothing about it. ;-)

Thanks for the info!
^.^ Don't mind me, you caught me off-guard with that too, I looked up these specs just to make sure I knew what I was talking about.
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post #13 of 48
3/20/07 at 5:24am
Thread Starter 

Bit the big bullet

Okay, thanks for the replies! I decided to bite the big, fat, enormous bullet and just buy both the Micro Amp (desktop module) and the Micro DAC. Wow am I excited and scared at the same time! I'm going to hate myself in the morning but I'm going to love myself on the evening they arrive!
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post #14 of 48
3/20/07 at 6:01am
Good choice on both!!! The AMP was a great upgrade, and the DAC was quite an upgrade too. It's just hard to figure out which is more important, and with the 650, the amp is a very important upgrade.


The MicroDAC is defiantly one great DAC. The MicroAMP is one solid stable amp as well
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post #15 of 48
3/20/07 at 7:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redo View Post
Good choice on both!!! The AMP was a great upgrade, and the DAC was quite an upgrade too. It's just hard to figure out which is more important, and with the 650, the amp is a very important upgrade.


The MicroDAC is defiantly one great DAC. The MicroAMP is one solid stable amp as well
I notice you own both as well -- that helped with the decision some!

I'm very curious now... since I'm taking little baby steps into very high quality audio, is the Micro DAC capable of processing 24bit/96khz files directly over USB (or SPDIF for that matter) if I play lossless 24/96 tracks in iTunes or WMP? Will it do them justice, or am I going to need to upgrade (in the future) even more than this DAC to start playing those files?
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