Quote:
Originally Posted by jrosenth  Just checked out Michael Mardis' site.
He doesn't recommend the original t-amp for headphones - I can't quite tell how accurate this is and much of this would apply to the V2 though:
Headphones on the Sonic
DON'T DO IT!
Here's why.
1) The Sonic is a bridged amp. The negative output terminals CAN NOT be connected together. You would have to rewire your headphones to dual mono to use a bridged amp.
2) This is a switching amp. The Tripath amps work by switching the output transistors fully on and off at a high frequency. Any shift in the switching pattern results in low frequency artifacts, i.e. - "audio". The high frequency switching power must be filtered out to extract the audio. The filter is not perfect, so some ultrasonic noise remains. Not enough to bother normal speakers, but not good to put into your headphones. Which brings us to point:
2B) Filters. The output filters on the Sonic Impact are designed to work with 4-8 ohm drivers. Headphones typically have a much higher impedance, so the filter will not work in the range it was designed for. Thus even more ultrasonic noise in your headphones and your eardrums.
3) DC offset: The Tripath amps have a bit of DC offset. On the Sonic can run quite high, much too high for headphones. You would need a large DC blocking cap between the amp and the headphones
4) As great as this amp sounds on speakers, it doesn't sound very good on headphones. You would be much better off with one of the nice opamp or even tube driven headphone amps.
How do I know? I test my amps with headphones. But I have a special rig to eliminate much of the ultrasound and all the DC offset. NO, I will not tell what it is. See below.
5) If you do use this amp to drive your headphones, be warned! Your head may explode! And I will not come over to clean the walls and the carpet. If you are foolish enough to use headphones with this amp, please mention me in your will.
|
NONE of this applies to V2. This is old information specifically about V1.
I own the Super-T amp (which came out after the V1) and it doesn't have a headphone out either. It is not recommended to modify it for headphone out either, so guess what, I'm not going to do it.
For those looking at the V2, It has the head amp for a reason. Demand for it. It has been re-designed to allow for headphone use. Don't be worried about using it. I'm sure there will be more information about the built in capabilities of the V2 coming out before too long, as more people dig into the changes to understand fully what has taken place.
