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bithead vs airhead

post #1 of 4
7/7/04 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
since you hook the bithead up to you USB, does it actually take advantage of your soundcard? It said on headphone.com, it acts as an external sound card? am I better of getting the airhead, and getting an adaptor for it?

later,
eli
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post #2 of 4
7/7/04 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli Morgan
since you hook the bithead up to you USB, does it actually take advantage of your soundcard? It said on headphone.com, it acts as an external sound card? am I better of getting the airhead, and getting an adaptor for it?

later,
eli
1. No.
2. Yes, sorta.
3. What do you mean by adaptor? Whether you are better off getting the airhead vs. the bithead depends on how good your normal source is.
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post #3 of 4
7/7/04 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli Morgan
since you hook the bithead up to you USB, does it actually take advantage of your soundcard? It said on headphone.com, it acts as an external sound card? am I better of getting the airhead, and getting an adaptor for it?

later,
eli
The BT bypass the computer sound card. If you use the Airhead with an adapter you will downgrade the signal. Nothing can be done to improve it. If you just want for computer use, you may consider use an ECHO INDIGO card. Otherwise the Bithead can be used as an Standard Phone amp. But it is expensive for such use....
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post #4 of 4
7/10/04 at 2:36am
If your computer is your source, I recommend the BitHead. It will bypass the soundcard and provide D/A conversion. It also works just like an AH if you use the analog in. The only downside to the BH is that the USB in replaces the power supply in so you can only use it w/ batteries when not connected to the computer. This is perfect for me; when I use it w/ the laptop the computer powers it. I only use the analog in when I'm using it portably w/ iPod so I don't need a power supply anyway. One word of warning: if you plan to use it extensively w/ a non-portable CD player you may experience clipping at the input because the signal is too hot. W/ the AH it's no problem because you can gain input headroom by using a power supply. With the BH your only option is attenuators. I have a Meridian which puts out a fairly hot signal YMMV.
I love the BitHead. MIne's a TBH. Never use it w/ the Meridian anyway and it's way better w/ the computer than an AH would be as it eliminates the cheezy headphone circuitry of my laptop. An added bonus of the BH is that it will do A/D conversion. Get your vinyl or bootleg tapes into your computer!
Good Luck.
CPW
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