Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Headphone Amps › just ordered caffiene ultra...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

just ordered caffiene ultra...

post #1 of 29
5/13/09 at 3:02am
Thread Starter 
i know i'm a noob at this. but here is what i have on the way. hopefully it does something nice as my first amp. and i understand sometimes it takes this guy a minute or 2 to ship them out. so i am prepared to wait a bit. i just hope it helps out my se420s.

Main page » Catalogue » The "Caffeine" Amp » Penguin "Caffeine Ultra" Portable Hearphone Amplifier
Penguin "Caffeine Ultra" Portable Hearphone Amplifier

Features

- AD8397 opamp
- 2x TLE2426 railsplitter
- black circuit board with golden letters
- toggle switch by NKK Nikkai
- blue low current LED in a silver housing
- Alps volume potentiometer
- 1% SMT resitors thin film type
- trickle charing using LM317 constant current
- big 1500µF power cap (FM series by Panasonic)
- 9V battery connector by Keystone
- 2.44" wide X 4.45" long X .95" thick (62 X 113 X 24mm) including knob


what you guys think? will this do ok?
Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 29
5/13/09 at 6:15am
I ordered mine on the 6th may and its gone to shipped
from what i read its a hell of a lot better than a standard cmoy
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...-lyrix-262751/
Reply
post #3 of 29
5/13/09 at 8:13am
Looks like it should be a great little amp.
Reply
post #4 of 29
5/13/09 at 8:30am
I'm a noob too and I like mine. It sounds better with some burn in.
Reply
post #5 of 29
5/15/09 at 2:59pm
Thread Starter 
noted. btw i have no line out on my sansa. just phone. so what do i do just flatten the eq, put the volume at a mediumish setting and go from there right?
Reply
post #6 of 29
5/21/09 at 6:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rock&rollfrenchfries View Post
noted. btw i have no line out on my sansa. just phone. so what do i do just flatten the eq, put the volume at a mediumish setting and go from there right?
TBH on my cowon i ignore the advice of setting the vol to 49 to emulate a line out and just use about 23 or so with all effects off(not that i use any)

anyway my caffine came ,took 12 days from ordering and i love it very well put together and sounds lush even after a couple of hours(great with the hfi780s imho) ,i see robert has added a new resistor to cut sibilence on lighter cans ,very very pleased .found a 12volt regulated adapter that has the correct pin 5.5-2.5/2.1 centre poss so bought a rechargable
Reply
post #7 of 29
5/21/09 at 9:41pm
Thread Starter 
how do you guys say this compares to lets say a t4 or an icon mobile? or anything else in the 100 area. it's already on it's way but just for comparison sake. sound signature wise. and my 420s are already pretty sensitive to recording sibilance. will this be even worse?
Reply
post #8 of 29
5/22/09 at 7:25pm
I've had both the Icon mobile and the Ultra. The Ultra is better in every way but size and speed. The bright Icon Mobile would have given you problems with sibilance.

The Caffeine Ultra has more power, is more balanced(unless you use the bass boost), gives more detail and soundstage. the battery life is much better and it has bass boost and a power switch where the icon has neither of those.

I had the 420's though not with either of the two amps but for sure the Ultra is the choice for the 420's.
Reply
post #9 of 29
5/22/09 at 10:55pm
This might be of interest to you caffeine amp owners, EFN did some modding to his PenguinAmp and said it "blew his brains away"

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/p...s-away-415891/
Reply
post #10 of 29
5/27/09 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
yeah i saw that. and then i looked them up and saw how they're built into an altiods type tin and use a 9v battery (with recharge capability if im not mistaken?) all rugged and low tech lookin. i had to try one as my first amp under $100. still waiting on it. that thread lead to my buying one pretty much.
Reply
post #11 of 29
5/29/09 at 7:06am
i was pleased with how quick mine came , asked Robert a question about a dc power block which he answed then changed my status to shipped ,i was very pleased with the service from start to finish.
mine came with high gain on i put it to low gain and plugged in the hfi780s but soon went back to high (didnt know they needed so much)
i use the bass boost on the e5 but find i dont need it with the caffine and it sounds very full bodied and lush (one of the reasons i avoided a brighter amp like an icon mobile)
as regards charging i use a yamaha keyboard adapter and have put in an inexpensive 9v 260mh battery have left it plugged in for ten hours so will see how long i get out of the rechargable (maye 10hrs) btw im assuming the charging circuit has auto cut off? anway its a nice day i will test the battery on the decking today
the battery is a very firm fit wth the foam so i wouldnt want to swap batterys that often infact as im a waterjetter so i might cut some lower density foam
so yes very pleased sounds amazing in all departments (detail seperation soundstage )and getting better all the time ,just love seeing peoples jaws drop when they hear my modest set up
Reply
post #12 of 29
5/31/09 at 9:23am
anyone know how the caffeine amp compares with a pa2v2?
Reply
post #13 of 29
6/5/09 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
i found out that the sibilance i was having seems to be an issue with the rockbox parametric eq. i seem to be able to get much more treble out of them with out sibilance by turning the eq off and just using the simple treble/bass settings outside the eq. i can get much more extension out of them without the scratchies for some reason.
Reply
post #14 of 29
6/5/09 at 8:48pm
Thread Starter 
so perhaps the icon could've been ok. but anyway. still waitin... i just checked in today he told me it shipped. should be here soon.
Reply
post #15 of 29
6/6/09 at 1:31pm
Awesome! Make sure you let us know how it goes.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Portable Headphone Amps

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Headphone Amps › just ordered caffiene ultra...