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Could I be damaging my HD600s???

post #1 of 5
12/11/03 at 12:12am
Thread Starter 
Hello all

I`ve been a member for quite a while but had trouble with gett ing my account activated for a while so this is my first post.

Well I used to own a few md players but now I have the IHP-100 and a MR. HEAD amp. I didn`t know anything much about this amp when I bought it, but it was in my price ranged after I got the HD600s.

Usually my rig is:

At home: IHP-100, MR.HEAD amp, HD600 or the SR60
On the go: IHP-100, PX200

Well I`m worried about volume control. I`m not sure if this is a good thing but I put the IHP-100 line out volume at max (40/40) and usually adjust the amp volume. The reason I put the line out volume so high was because I read somewhere that for an md line out you had to max out the volume on the unit... But then I realised that my IHP-100 wasn`t an md player... I know this sounds stupid but I really like to treat my stuff like babies.

So a few questions:

1. Sometimes on a ella fitzgerald song and a few others I get a little 'distortion'??? Is this bad for the HD600s? Should I lower the volume? Sometimes I think that it`s the song cause I get the same sound (just not as pronounced) with my other headphones...

2. Any advice on volume control?

3. Does anyone know anything on the MR. HEAD amp?

4. Sorry to add another request, could anyone recommend any 'blow me away' classical cd's?

Thanks in advance for any replies
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post #2 of 5
12/11/03 at 12:29am
1. When listening to headphones, start with the amp volume knob all the way down. Then put on the headphones. Gradually increase volume on the loudest dynamic peak of the loudest song you have until the sound is not too quiet, and then stop turning it up.

2. The HD600 can withstand ridiculously high SPL, and you may just be hearing distortion on the recording itself since other headphones (of difference impedence and sensitivity, i take it?) have the same problem on that song.

I wouldn't worry much about damaging the HD600s, unless you crank them up so loud that you can't hear someone across the room yell to you. In either case your ears are more likely to give out before the headphones.

Cheers,
Geek
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post #3 of 5
12/11/03 at 12:40am
I think he's worried about distorting the output of his source (before the amp).

It is possible. Try with your source's volume at 1/2 and adjust your amp accordingly. A great many cd players and the like will distort if you set the volume to max and use any eq settings other than flat.
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post #4 of 5
12/11/03 at 3:13am
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the replies.

I just want to add how great a forum this is. I used to go to Minidisct.com but now that I don`t use minidisc I`m sad to say that that site doesn`t catch my attention as much as it used to.

Just curious, so that would mean that if there were distortions in the recording itself then that my headphones will be ok? Isn't any type of distortion bad for the headphones??

And I will try to lower the sources volume.

Thanks again for the quick replies.
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post #5 of 5
12/11/03 at 4:48am
the thing you want to avoid with any amp/speaker setup is clipping... as far as im aware this can happen at the source output (by overdriving the output stage), at the input of the amp (by overdriving the input stage) or at the final amp output. Clipping truncates the normally smooth sine wave and in extreem circumstances can cause an amp to feed dc voltage directly to the speaker (which will roger them right quick). You can usually hear clipping... yeah, generally a source shouldn't be turned up to maximum because of the risk of clipping but i think halfway is probably too low, you want the maximum uncliped volume the source is capable of so you can keep the gain of the amp down nice and low. this prevents excess noise from entering the system.
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