[redshifter]

i have a sony d777 pcdp and have always used the headphone jack for headphone listening. a few days ago i picked up an in-line volume control from radio shack. it looked and was cheap, but after careful testing on my home cpd i could not tell any difference in sound quality with or without it. and the ability to turn the digital volume on the home cdp almost to the max and attenuate it with the in-line volume really improved the bass response on my cd1700 cans: a big improvement.

the line out on my d777 is too loud for my cd1700. so i just plugged the in-line volume controller into the line out and listened on my cd1700 that way. WOW! the improvement in the frequency extremes was noticeable immediately. the soundstage also seemed to open right up. i a/b compared with the headphone out, whose sound seemed veiled and a little constrained in comparison. anyway, this was my first time (be gentle) using the line out and i am pretty impressed.

 

[coolvij]

hmmm.....that's sounds really neat - using a line-out and a VOLUME control....instead of headphone jack.....very interesting.

Oh - I won't be harsh on you - I myself bought a PCDP just over a year and a half ago WITHOUT A LINEOUT!!!

Thankfully I had a Sony D-121....

 

[redshifter]

i'm contemplating for my first diy project building an in-line volume control with a better, longer cord and a real volume circuit. it should work well with all my sony cans too. i know an amp would be better (i think--is it really?) but i've managed to really improve the sound for about $5.

"Oh - I won't be harsh on you - I myself bought a PCDP just over a year and a half ago WITHOUT A LINEOUT!!!"

hang your head in SHAME, vij!

 

[coolvij]

Well.....it was before I discovered Headwize. I mean, not "before" - I had posted a little, and gotten 821s....lol! I actually liked the way those 821s sounded - until I heard KSC-35s.....

 

[redshifter]

just yankin your chain. i know you know your stuff re: headphones. i did a bit more comparing between the headphone out and the line out. the line out still has the upper hand. this volume attenuation trick is great.

 

[coolvij]

That is such a kewl trick......I dunno why....there's beauty in simplicity here, I guess...

 

[redshifter]

thanks. plus i don't have to deal with the bulk, expense, and added noise of a portable amp. besides, i don't really need anything to AMPLIFY these cans, they are so dang sensative anyway. of course the 1st time i hear these cans through a really nice amp i'll be singing a different tune (or will i?)!

i was toying with the idea of an amp just for sony cans: a great amp section to beef up the signal and a volume attenuater to quiet it down for listening. i.e., the amp runs at maximum volume-20 mw (or whatever is the standard)-and gets quieted down at the volume stage, but still has all the oomph the extra amps give the sound.

 

[FrostyMMB]

Even with a cmoy amp it does much more than a volume control would do. Of course, for 5 bucks it's great, but an amp also improves overall sound. It'll accentuate, add body, and bring out details in the music. You won't get noise out of the line out of a D777, but you will out of the headphone jack. I just got one, so that's my experience with it. As for sound quality in comparison with the line out and headphone jack, my observations were different that yours using an altoids amp, rather than just the jacks (I also have the radio shack volume control to experiment with). I guess the amp brought out some things. Anyway, most true lineouts should give a clean signal without noise to a cmoy or similiar amp because it's supposed to be virtually noiseless I believe.

 

[redshifter]

frosty,
so with your altoids amp you prefer the sound out of the headphone jack to the line out on the d777? are your phones as sensitive as sony's? the reason i ask the 2nd question is, while an amp may very well help drive a less sensitive phone better by boosting the signal of the line out, the cd1700 need the sound CUT BACK on the line out. now if an amps primary purpose is to amplify the sound, what would it do for cans that need a reduction in volume from the line out?

 

[coolvij]

redshifter: The only purpouse an amp would serve with an efficient, sensitve phone, is to provide the headphone with a GOOD, CLEAN signal. That is - the jack wouldn't have a drop-out in bass with the low output level an efficient can would need.....

Was that clear?

Hmm...lemme try again.

A bad jack paired with cheap amps (PCDP!) may sound its best at 50% output. But at that level, your CD1700s might very well be good speakers (exageration...but, u get it). Lower volume levels may end up having sacrificed sound quality.

A good jack with a good amp (Altoids amp....) would have little or NO sound degradation, regardless of level.

Then again, an unamplified, line-level signal almost would certainly be "cleaner" than an amplified one.....

 

[Tim D]

Theres more to it than being clean...how about the fact that low impedance cans are often current hungry cans...and a line-out has virtually no current.

This is also why higher impedance phones sometimes sound louder out of line-outs...cause they don't require high current, but a high voltage swing.

So yes a portable amp with much more current is going to be A LOT better IMO, and it has nothing to do with volume.

 

[DarkAngel]

Yes the volume control used with headphone jack on an under $100 portable CDP is complete junk and definitely impairs sound.
Although a Rat Shack in-line volume control for $5-10 using line out may seem like an improvement, the volume control on a basic headphone amp like Creek OBH-11 is MUCH better. Also of course the amplifier section is MUCH better. Used Creeks go for $150 or less, and are great starter amp for at home use.

Just keep saving those pennies soon you can get a basic headphone amp and always use portable line out.

Amazing all the different connectors/accessories radio shack makes.

 

[coolvij]

thanx for the explanation, tim d!

 

[redshifter]

vij,
thanks, but i realize the lower volume setting for sensitive cans means less bass. thus the in line volume...

tim d & darkangel,
thanks for clarifying. forgive my ignorance, but what is the relationship between current and volume, if there even is one? i'm still a "newbie" when it comes to headphone amps, obviously. i keep hearing about the creek, that's one i'll for sure check out. is there much difference between the creek obh11 & obh11se (besides $200)?

darkangle, is that a picture of you?

 

[coolvij]

Yea - I thought you knew that.....but I felt like typing. Sorry