New
Total BitHead (Clear) here. Out of the park, Tyll.
Due to a number of reasons, I've been lugging my laptop with me almost everywhere I go, even more than usual, limiting my stationary seat time needed to hang with the desktop rigs. Velcro'd to the back of my screen is the new 2006 Total BitHead. Plugged into that is a Sennheiser HD650 (with the 2006 Cardas cable), a SHURE E4c, or a Sennheiser CX300 (my Sennheiser PXC300 also just arrived, so I'm going to try that later, too).
I've been powering the Total BitHead pretty much exclusively from USB, and I'm loving this thing. The crossfeed is a noticeable improvement over your previous mobile-type amps, with (as you've described) less effect on tonal balance than previous versions. I drive the E4c and CX300 on low-gain and the HD650 on high-gain--all of these phones driven very well by the 2006 Total BitHead.
Sonically, this latest generation amp is a very significant step up from my now-previous-generation Total AirHead, both with crossfeed off and on (I prefer "on" most of the time)--and that previous generation was a big step up from its predecessor. Eyes closed, this latest generation sounds more like a good desktop amp than any other small amp I've got, and it's awesome that I can Velcro it to my laptop this way, and feed and power it via my Inspiron 9300's USB. Good imaging. Ample drive. Pretty solid bass. Nice air. Black background, even with the CX300, which can draw a mild hiss out of some of my other amps.
Until the new Total BitHead arrived, I was missing my desktop rigs like crazy. Yes, I still look forward to getting good seat time with my excellent desktop setups again, but I'll be plenty happy with this latest Total BitHead until then, and miss the big rigs a lot less than I did before this little thing arrived.
Again, Tyll,
out of the park, man.
Now back to work....and listening.