Antique sound lab UHC, SIGNATURE HEADPHONE LISTENING DEVICE

[soloclass]

Anyone tried that ?

http://www.divertech.com/asluhcsignature.html

If I understand, your power amp drives the headphone through this transformer.
I have a passive preamp (ASL) and a two channel Rotel power amp.
My headphones are ATH-W1000. What do you think ?

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloclass /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone tried that ? http://www.divertech.com/asluhcsignature.html If I understand, your power amp drives the headphone through this transformer. I have a passive preamp (ASL) and a two channel Rotel power amp. My headphones are ATH-W1000. What do you think ?

I have one & it does do the job,& it will work for you.
Actually a full review was done on it a few years back,do a search.

 

[soloclass]

Can't find.

How do you compare the UHC with a normal head amp

 

[papomaster]

If you can vouch a few bucks more, you can get the ASL HB1. Great stuff with the AD2Ks, but may not work work with the W1Ks (have never heard them, sorry).

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloclass /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can't find. How do you compare the UHC with a normal head amp

It must have been deleted,I believe Rick42 was the reviewer
A dedicated headohone amp is better but will cost a lot more.

But it also depends on the quailty of power amp you use with the UHC.
The Uhc gives you alot of options & I consider it well worth the cost.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons /img/forum/go_quote.gif it also depends on the quailty of power amp you use with the UHC. The Uhc gives you alot of options & I consider it well worth the cost.

Definitely. It basically gives you the sound signature of your power amp. If you have a clean-sounding amp, the UHC will give you that sound.
Quote:

Originally Posted by papomaster /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you can vouch a few bucks more, you can get the ASL HB1. Great stuff with the AD2Ks, but may not work work with the W1Ks (have never heard them, sorry).

It is my understanding that the HB1 is more of a tubed buffer circuit with a volume pot & no gain. It relies either on a source with a strong output voltage, or an active preamp in the chain. It also costs at least double the UHC, which requires a power amp. Other than both having headphone sockets, they have different intended uses.

That being said, I believe that the UHC is no longer in production, so it may be slightly more difficult to obtain, at least new.

 

[soloclass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons /img/forum/go_quote.gif It must have been deleted,I believe Rick42 was the reviewer A dedicated headohone amp is better but will cost a lot more. But it also depends on the quailty of power amp you use with the UHC. The Uhc gives you alot of options & I consider it well worth the cost.

If I understand properly, the UHC would work as well no matters which headphone you use (low or high impedance). And if I understand properly, what yout electronics "sounds" is what you will get to your headphones through the UHC, without coloration from a dedicated head amp.

Since one spend time & $$$ to build a stereo system (source - preamp - power amp - interconnect) to go along with a set of speakers (Magnepan in my case) that fit one's preference, would it not be "easier" (without saying cheaper) just to match headphones (using the UHC) with these electronics without having to add the difficulty (and $$$) needed to also match with the proper headamp ?

Or Am I missing some thing here ?

 

[soloclass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is my understanding that the HB1 is more of a tubed buffer circuit with a volume pot & no gain. It relies either on a source with a strong output voltage, or an active preamp in the chain. That being said, I believe that the UHC is no longer in production, so it may be slightly more difficult to obtain, at least new.

I use a passive ASL preamp.
I tough the HB1 was a normal "tube head amp" !
As for being in production (UHC), I don't know but it is still advertised so my guess was that it is still available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Definitely. It basically gives you the sound signature of your power amp. If you have a clean-sounding amp, the UHC will give you that sound. Other than both having headphone sockets, they have different intended uses.

If that is so (which is sort of what I wished), it seems logical to use this device (UHC) instead of a dedicated head amp (as long as you do have a fine power amp). You save lots of $$$ and get the "sound you put together" choosing your electronics. So you can put your $$$ toward a "good power amp" and headphones without also budgeting for a headamp.

Again, what am I missing ?

P.S. : I don't understand the "different intended uses"

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Definitely. It basically gives you the sound signature of your power amp. If you have a clean-sounding amp, the UHC will give you that sound. That being said, I believe that the UHC is no longer in production, so it may be slightly more difficult to obtain, at least new.

Not actually true, sorry James, the UHC is a transformer coupling device, as all transformers in the audio signal path, including the ones used in many very expensive tube amps, it indeed introduces anomalies and non linearities on the signal, altering the signal at the end, I rather use a resistive network, will be more linear than a transfomer, easy to get and to make.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloclass /img/forum/go_quote.gif it seems logical to use this device (UHC) instead of a dedicated head amp (as long as you do have a fine power amp). You save lots of $$$ and get the "sound you put together" choosing your electronics. So you can put your $$$ toward a "good power amp" and headphones without also budgeting for a headamp. Again, what am I missing?

That pretty much sums it up. As always though, your milage may vary depending on your specific gear. Quote:

P.S. : I don't understand the "different intended uses"

What I meant was that the UHC is intended for people who already own a power amp (ex. receiver, integrated amp, or power amp/preamp combo), while the HB1 is intended for people who want to connect headphones to their source. Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not actually true, sorry James, the UHC is a transformer coupling device, as all transformers in the audio signal path, including the ones used in many very expensive tube amps, it indeed introduces anomalies and non linearities on the signal, altering the signal at the end, I rather use a resistive network, will be more linear than a transfomer, easy to get and to make.

That may be true in theory, Alberto. But I am talking "practically" and in my actual experience with the UHC device connected to really good amps.

As an example, we connected the Noise Duality 300b amp's speaker terminals to the ASL UHC, and compared the results to the Noise Duality's own built-in headphone jack (in the same signal path as the speaker outputs). The overall results were that there was no detectable difference. This was using higher-impedance Sennheiser HD600's, and low-impedance Grados (RS-1 & GS1000) & JVC DX-1000's.

Your ears are probably better than mine though.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif That may be true in theory, Alberto. But I am talking "practically" and in my actual experience with the UHC device connected to really good amps. As an example, we connected the Noise Duality 300b amp's speaker terminals to the ASL UHC, and compared the results to the Noise Duality's own built-in headphone jack (in the same signal path as the speaker outputs). The overall results were that there was no detectable difference. This was using higher-impedance Sennheiser HD600's, and low-impedance Grados (RS-1 & GS1000) & JVC DX-1000's. Your ears are probably better than mine though.

Well "practically" all cables should sound the same, and all OPAmps should sound the same as well..."practically" is a term that do not hold to much water while talking of crazy audiophiles like some of you guys...IMO and according to some measurements, the differences while using a transformer are more inside the spectrum offreq we hear, than while measuring cables...

The only experience I have with it, was out of an Audiosource Amp 2, the jack was decent, the UHC addedd some hiss, but the volume were also different, so maybe a lower gain will mask the noise in the case of the jack...

My ears are just two rusty ears, that's it...

 

[soloclass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... The overall results were that there was no detectable difference. This was using higher-impedance Sennheiser HD600's, and low-impedance Grados (RS-1 & GS1000) & JVC DX-1000's. .

All this sounds too good to be true !
This should have put a lot of Head-amp manufacturers out of business, would'nt you say ? I wonder why this device is not more popular if you really can get the sound quality provided by your main system's electronics to your headphones, only by switching the UHC device.

Plus the "no worry" about choosing the proper amp for a specific headphone (even worse if you have more than one set - I plan to add the K701 to my current ATH & Sen)

I will inquire to see the availability.

If I can find one, I'll let you know.

Thanks to you all.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloclass /img/forum/go_quote.gif All this sounds too good to be true ! This should have put a lot of Head-amp manufacturers out of business, would'nt you say? I wonder why this device is not more popular if you really can get the sound quality provided by your main system's electronics to your headphones, only by switching the UHC device.

Well, it does require that you have a very good, quiet speaker amp to start out with.

In the not-too-distant past, such an amp would have cost far more than any dedicated headphone amp would have. The Noise Duality amp I mentioned previously is a five-figure piece of kit. The tubes alone cost more than many people's complete headphone amp.

However, today we have very high-end headphone-only amps that cost in the same ballpark as very good speaker amps. Who would have guessed?

 

[soloclass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, it does require that you have a very good, quiet speaker amp to start out with.

I think (from what I understand) that tube amps are "noiser" than SS equivalent.

My Rotel power amp shows no more than 0,03 % THD - 120 W/C RMS both channels driven in 8 Ohms (according to specs).

Would you consider that a "quiet amp" (or if other specs would be more appropriate) ?

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloclass /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would you consider that a "quiet amp" (or if other specs would be more appropriate)?

Couldn't say. Specs are one thing, reality is another. Assumptions based on theories don't always pan out.

To use my previous example again, the Noise Duality amp is a 300b tube amp with a tubed power supply, and it was dead quiet.

As always, your mileage with your gear may vary.