hotaudio40 's amps - Page 8

Picked up the Dac Destroyer. Hopefully it arrives before the weekend so I can play around with it.

No disrespect billybob_jcv, I just wanted to voice another view of Dave's site:
I just purchased a HotUSB1 and a Pocket High-Fidelity Headphone Amplifier (OPA2134). I appreciated all of the different choices available. The more the better to tailor to specific needs/applications. You do have to compare the website with his ebay store to explore all possibilities. Thanks Dave, can't wait to hear your stuff.

I received my HotUSB1 yesterday, still burning it in. My Grado SR225 didn't improve as much as I hoped (compared to my Sony portable CD player), but the main goal was to stop using my crappy SBLive when I'm listening on my computer.

On the other hand, it's day and night with my mom's Sennheiser HD555!

I'm very happy with my purchase.

battery question (no mention, no battery needed?)

Hotaudio,
Wherever the specs don't mention a battery, does that mean that no battery is used? I'm thinking of the MarkIV, but perhaps there are others.

Yes, the specs don't mention a battery...

But they do say this:

"Powered Directly from your PCs, Laptop, or MACs USB Port"

So your answer would be it does not use batteries.

I always put down in the descriptions if the units use batteries.

If they don't I don't mention batteries at all.

If the units are USB powered, then I will mention USB powered or something along those lines.

hotaudio40

I'll probably get a Mark IV by the end of this week

Question about this thread, now that the amp thread has been split into 2 threads, do you guys think this thread should be moved to the portable amp thread? These are compact amps, would this thread be better served there?

I have never used paypal, but this little dac sounds like something my Senn HD555's would like better than the laptop soundcard.

I'll think about if for a few more days, but im tempted to choose this over the iBasso D3 as it is soooo much cheaper

I've got the hotaudio1 usb dac before it was given that name and there was no doubt the sound coming out easily eclipsed the sound i had coming out of my creative sb soundcard. As for comparisons to other dac/amps, i think the price for performance here is outstanding.

has anyone tried the TPA6120a2 Headphone Amp yet?
It looks like it would be good considering it being made by the maker of the hotusb1 and it price of $80.

Hmm, either i get the hotusb1 as my first DAC or the TPA6120a2 as my first headphone amp.

Which one should i get first? A DAC or a headphone amp.

Get a DAC first...

Could you use both a DAC and headphone amp together also? Like at the same time? Could i use the DAC seperately without a headphone amp?

Mambo, you can get the headphone amp but you would need to have a good source with a dac already. The hotusb1 is a dac/amp combo and does all the work. Whereas the headphone amp, you need either a mini to mini from an ipod or other mp3 player or you get rca to mini to feed it from a cd player. You can also use the dac and amp combo together as well.

I think the most appropriate question for you is what will your source be? Computer? Cd? Ipod or other mp3 player?

Thanks for the reply.

I will be using an mp3 player(ipod classic and clip) mostly and a computer.

Does an ipod have a dac already?

A DAC is a digital-to-analog converter. All mp3 players, sound cards, cd players, etc have one. Not all, however, are high quality.

The ipod can only output through its headphone out or do line out from the dock, BUT before this the sound passes through the ipod's DAC. (Ignore the '3rd' option of Wadia iTransport---not applicable here, too expensive)

The main problem here is that hot audio builds amplifiers, DACs with line out (no amplifier stage), and DACs with an amplifier stage.

The hotusb1 has an amplifier stage courtesy of the all-in-one PCM2705 chip that it uses.

(I have tried for 10 minutes finding a succinct way of explaining what to do, but it just gets complicated with the myriad ways you could use a lineout DAC, a DAC+amp, or an amp)

1. Headphones too soft, clipping? Get a plain amp.

2. Want better sound out your computer, and don't already have an amp you like to use? Get a DAC+amp. HOTUSB1, HOTAUDIO Mark4.

3. Want better sound out your computer, but have an amp you like? HOTAUDIO DAC Destroyer (this appears to have both unamp'd and amp'd outputs). It is also top of the line at HOTAUDIO.

I have realised what Paul was saying. Sorry if I jumped the gun. Hotaudio, you need some sort of hierarchy to organize the many models. Several options land on the same page!! (Heaven directs to MKIV).

Hope that helps. It took like 15 minutes