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Q: Headphone amp as preamp? - Page 2

post #16 of 26
3/19/08 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
It's a bit early to report on that because they are still breaking in. I like what I hear so far though. Refined, spacious, and detailed. Have no regrets so far.
Thank for the information.The Dynaudio MC 15's really look quality.
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post #17 of 26
3/19/08 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
It's a bit early to report on that because they are still breaking in. I like what I hear so far though. Refined, spacious, and detailed. Have no regrets so far.
I have these speakers for over 5 months now. And they are getting better and better. I believe I can hear all the details that I want with these speakers, so I am actually planning to sell some of my headphone gears and get the fund needed for a spec out Headroom Desktop Amp with the Power brick to replace my Hornet and micro DAC setup.
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post #18 of 26
3/20/08 at 11:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by solvexyz View Post
I have these speakers for over 5 months now. And they are getting better and better. I believe I can hear all the details that I want with these speakers, so I am actually planning to sell some of my headphone gears and get the fund needed for a spec out Headroom Desktop Amp with the Power brick to replace my Hornet and micro DAC setup.
Good to hear. I am really diggin' them. How do you have your EQ switches set?

I actually tried raising my speakers a bit higher (6 inches) on a stack of books and they do seem to sound better. The mids sound a bit more even, and I think the detail is better but now the tweeters are above my ear level when I'm actually sitting (my desk is a bit high). I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands
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post #19 of 26
3/20/08 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands

Well, of course there is, I may be a nut-case, but I'm not an idiot!

I'll give you another tip: go down to your local Target or some such place and look for "Wall Cubes." They look like this:



They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and make dandy desktop speaker stands. Not cool and ajdustable like our new stands, but a great, cheap 70% solution.
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post #20 of 26
3/21/08 at 2:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
Good to hear. I am really diggin' them. How do you have your EQ switches set?

I actually tried raising my speakers a bit higher (6 inches) on a stack of books and they do seem to sound better. The mids sound a bit more even, and I think the detail is better but now the tweeters are above my ear level when I'm actually sitting (my desk is a bit high). I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands

I am setting the EQ at flat. I do like the stand out mid of this settings. About the positioning of the speaker, I actually do not like the sound when the speaker points towards my ears directly. You know the triangle position. The bass reverberation produced by this position kind of annoys me.
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post #21 of 26
3/21/08 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solvexyz View Post
I am setting the EQ at flat. I do like the stand out mid of this settings. About the positioning of the speaker, I actually do not like the sound when the speaker points towards my ears directly. You know the triangle position. The bass reverberation produced by this position kind of annoys me.
I usually find that I tilt the speakers so that the tweeter is slightly farther away than the woofer, and usually point the speakers inward but not so far that they are pointing directly to my ears. Being slightly off axis like that seems to make the sound a bit smoother and more to my liking. This is only a generality, of course, and different speakers require their own adjustment.
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post #22 of 26
3/22/08 at 11:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens View Post
I usually find that I tilt the speakers so that the tweeter is slightly farther away than the woofer, and usually point the speakers inward but not so far that they are pointing directly to my ears. Being slightly off axis like that seems to make the sound a bit smoother and more to my liking. This is only a generality, of course, and different speakers require their own adjustment.
Tyll Thanks for the suggestion. Yah, I guess what I am planning to do is to raise the speaker to my ear level first. the reflection off my glass desk might be why the triangular position is not to my liking.
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post #23 of 26
5/7/08 at 11:52pm
Thread Starter 

Can I plug my speakers directly into the Micro DAC output?

I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?
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post #24 of 26
5/8/08 at 1:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?
I want swear to it but I do not see why not for I put my MicroDAC before my NAD receiver. it's not like plugging headphones or passive speakers directly into the DAC. you are putting a line level signal output before the line level input of the amp that's built into the speakers.

before I got into these headphone amps I was originally looking at some Roland active monitors that had a built in DAC connected by fiber optic to the source. because I knew I wanted a DAC between my computer and output, it led me to be psyched about getting the MicroStack.
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post #25 of 26
5/8/08 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by warpdriver View Post
I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?
That should work okay. It's possible that the output from the Micro DAC may be a bit hot (high voltage) for the self-powered speakers; if it is, you'll get crunchy noises at the program peaks. Oh ... come to think about it, if you are going to adjust the volume with the k-mixer that won't be a problem. Do your active speakers have a volume control? If so I'd suggest turning the k-mixer volume up as high as you can without any distortion and then ust the powered speaker volume control for volume adjustment.
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post #26 of 26
5/8/08 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
thanks. So I'm good to go then. No, the Dynaudio's don't have a volume control. It has an input sensitivity (-10dB/0/4dB) for pro vs consumer outputs, so I think I'll be ok in that respect.
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