[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markmaxx I have to say what a pleasure it is to deal with such a well organized, profesional group of people. Headroom is that and more.

Well, we're getting there, but thanks.

 

[donunus]

How is the new airhead's crossfeed circuit compared to the micro in terms of sound character and transparency?

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

We did dial around the crossfeed values. It is a little different mix of stuff than the modules. Basically, we've found the higher quality the electronics the more crossfeed we can mix in without significant tonal effect. So the AirHead/BitHead crossfeed is lower in level than the other electronics modules.

All in all, I would say it has about the same impact on the tonal nature of the sound which is a slight warming (but one we believe is also more accurate in some cases) but it is significantly less of an effect than previously (which was overly warming).

 

[plainsong]

We've heard about the omph, but now what about the "ohhh"? I'm talking about IEM friendliness. There's nothing worse than plugging Sensas or UE's directly into a laptop, so will the new tbh go that low?

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong We've heard about the omph, but now what about the "ohhh"? I'm talking about IEM friendliness. There's nothing worse than plugging Sensas or UE's directly into a laptop, so will the new tbh go that low?

I just pluged my new Total bitthead in my Toshiba, and the other end into my Grado RS-1s and can say I am quite happy with the sound from this combo.

Good over all sound no hiss from my Grado's at all

I have the cross feed on and I like it! The gain switch is set on low. The power right now is from the USB port as there are no AAA batteries in the house

. My music files are all lossless.

I am not reviewing this

I am just a happy customer, wanting to tell anyone waiting to hear from some headfiers who have listened to the Total bitthead.

I think if you are looking for a reasonable priced headphone amp. and you want to listen to your computer too. I would tell you that you should give this fine product a listen.

Plainsong the sound from my Ety ER 4P's are very nice little or no hiss or static or white noise what ever you want to call it, not as black as my SR-71 just a hint of noise at very high volumes and with my S adapter and the Ety's the bass is nice. The sound is crisp and just feels good.

Very nice Headroom. This remake or up grade is for real. This was a pleasent surprise for sure Thanks Tyll.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markmaxx Thanks Tyll.

You're welcome, Mark!

 

[ricksome]

I need to agree with the post above. Got my Total Bithead last week. Very pleased with this purchase

 

[bobfa]

Tyll,

Thanks for all the information both here and on your web site. Also emails from your team have helped me a lot. I trimed my budget a lot to walk into this river instead of diving in, so Clear Total Bithead ordered tonight.

I have not been able to listen to a lot of hardware yet, so these forums' help a lot.

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens We did dial around the crossfeed values. It is a little different mix of stuff than the modules. Basically, we've found the higher quality the electronics the more crossfeed we can mix in without significant tonal effect. So the AirHead/BitHead crossfeed is lower in level than the other electronics modules. All in all, I would say it has about the same impact on the tonal nature of the sound which is a slight warming (but one we believe is also more accurate in some cases) but it is significantly less of an effect than previously (which was overly warming).

So what you are saying here is that since the micro is more transparent and detailed than the total bithead/airheads, you just put more crossfeed on the micros and less on the bithead/airhead for all of them to come up with a similar tonal signature without losing too much detail. The micro still being a little better for overly panned recordings because of the extra crossfeed.
Is this about right?
Side question: Can the total bithead be used directly from a portable players digital out? How close is the DAC quality on these to the micro DAC? and lastly what kind of optical cables are these that hook up to a portables hybrid output(headphone/line/digital) as in the later crop of sonys

I currently have an order at headroom and might add this amp if i feel I need it right now hehehe

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus So what you are saying here is that since the micro is more transparent and detailed than the total bithead/airheads, you just put more crossfeed on the micros and less on the bithead/airhead for all of them to come up with a similar tonal signature without losing too much detail. The micro still being a little better for overly panned recordings because of the extra crossfeed. Is this about right?

Yup. That's about right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus Side question: Can the total bithead be used directly from a portable players digital out?

No. The unit decodes USB only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus How close is the DAC quality on these to the micro DAC?

The MicroDac is quite a bit better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus and lastly what kind of optical cables are these that hook up to a portables hybrid output(headphone/line/digital) as in the later crop of sonys

It's a Toslink cable with mini-plug on the end.

 

[donunus]

Thanks Tyll, I guess the airhead is the good way to go nowadays for portable players, hehehe. Oh Did you mention that it can be plugged directly to the wall if needed? Replacing AAA batteries in the country I'm in is expensive and they cant be bought at the outskirts of town either. Plug power is definitely a must for me(220volts)

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

The AirHead can be plugged into the wall, and I do believe we have 220 wall warts. The BitHead can NOT be plugged into the wall, but if you'll be doing a reasonable amount of computer listening it's the way to go.

 

[plainsong]

Thanks Mark, are you talking about the new tbh? It kind of answers my question, because Sensas (and UE's I think) are more sensitive than etys.

So I take it that it doesn't go that low then?

 

[donunus]

just about nails all I need to know about these amps thanks

 

[jude]

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.