Finally got my U3 last night after a UPS screw up and it taking an extra ~3 weeks to deliver.   These were tested with my 600ohm DT990's.  I am not expecting this to drive these exceptionally well for music.  This was bought purely for gaming on my gaming laptop. I have another setup for...

As a USB soundcard for music, this is meh.   I'm sure any $50 DAC will blow it out of the water.   But for gaming, it's nice, and really the only alternative to Creative products.   This looks like it will have Dolby Headphone, EAX support, as well as Dolby Digital Live (via an optical out)...

Quote: I've heard many complain that the Mixamp is marginal at powering K701's.  Some find it acceptable, while others feel it is lacking. Some even run the mixamp output into an E9.   The E9's output specs certainly trounce the mixmap's.   I only have an E9 myself, and it's plenty of...

I've built a CMOY, and am planning building a PIMETA next.   I also have an E9 for comparison.   Can anyone speculate on what sonic differences these circuit level changes make:   What does the 3ch topology do for the sound? What does biasing into class A do sonically? Does the buffer...

Thanks for the all the suggestions everyone.    However, I need a portable solution to drive 600ohm headphones.  Thus I need something that is NOT a desktop amp and can deliver >9v, thus why I made a 2x9v CMOY.     I'm also still trying to get any feedback as to how the following impacts...

Thanks.  That give me a starting point.  Based on what you said, I might give the OPA1642 a try as it seems more my cup of tea.

Quote: Care to comment on how those opamps might change the sound compared to the OPA2134?   I could easily buy buckets of opamps and test all day long, but having a "You might like this better because ___"  one liner for each could help me rule out most of them.   On that note, I might...

While I do have the parts for another CMOY, I don't have a balanced source or a balanced set of headphones, and don't intend on taking that step any time soon.   I was considering using my spare CMOY parts for PIMETA or similar unless one of my friends wanted a CMOY.   Maybe I should...

Does anyone know if the E9 can accept an DC supply voltage above 15v?   I have a 8000mAH battery pack with a 19v output, and I'd love to be able to use it to power my E9 in a portable fashion.    If it has an internal voltage regulator, then it would work out.   Otherwise, I'd need to resort to...

The E9 does not have a DAC built in.   You need to attach a E7 to it (or any other DAC) for it to work that way.  The E9 does have a docking port that connects directly to the E7 to use the E7's pre-amp outputs, and to allow a USB through connection.     I've never heard the Mini3, but I...

  I made a CMOY amp with a JDS labs PCB.    Everything went smoothly, and I am pretty happy with the results.   I had no problem with assembly.  I was pretty hesitant to hook up something homemade to my DT900/600's, but after testing a good bit with some cheapo headphones, I took the plunge...

So I'm not smoking crack when I thought my cell phone sounded better than my laptop as a source.  Granted once I add a real amp in the picture, the differences start to become minor.  Never having heard a uDAC, I have no doubts that for it's price, it's probably the best bang for your buck in...

I'm not really looking for a DAC right now, and I need an analog in for some of my uses.   I do like that it has multiple internal voltage rails including a +/-9v. That seems to be missing from many portables and is needed for the 6000 ohm cans.

I'm looking into headphone amps for my laptop setup, and while I have space and don't need a headphone amp that will fit in my pocket, I'd still like one that doesn't need to run off of mains power to prevent me from having to run more long cables.   I've seen many portable amps that can do...