[pp312]

Quote:

 
I also switched out my amp for about 15 minutes today.  I dug up an old (2007) Headroom Micro and it aggravated my tinnitus something fierce at all volume levels, but it had no problem driving the LCDs at all.  I've got a Schiit Lyr on order - maybe the combo of the solid state with tubes will be nicer for me.

So let me get this straight. Are you saying that one amp will aggravate your tinnitus more than another? If so, do you have any technical explanation?
 
 

 

[ddoyle777]

That is what happened. Everything else in my audio chain was the same except the amp and the cables used to connect to the receiver.
Almost no ear ringing with the Woo WA6, fierce ringing at all volume levels with a Headroom micro (2007 purchase). When I went back to the Woo, the ringing stopped.
The switch took 2 minutes, so I don't think time was a factor.

If you have some other thoughts I'd be interested in them.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

If you have some other thoughts I'd be interested in them.

I'm still hoping for a rational explanation.
 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Hey guys, long time reader - first time writer. You punks have made me take the plunge! My LCD-2's are now ordered, and my girlfriend thinks I've lost it. Ha!

A question - I'm a producer and engineer first and foremost. I see a lot of you use a separate headphone amp with your cans. The headphone amp on my best-in-breed mobile firewire interface (what I intend these cans for) has the following specs. Can someone confirm it will drive these cans ok?

"While headphones with lower impedance would be expected to go louder than those with higher impedance, the ULN-2 headphone output is suited to a wide range of impedances.

The maximum drive current is roughly 40 ma.

The maximum output voltage is +/- 16v.

Depending on the impedance of the headphones, the driver can provide up to about 9/10 of a Watt of power; most headphones are easily driven by the headphone amp."

Thanks guys! Appreciate any input.

 
The Metric Halo ULN-2 is a pretty good all-in-one solution. You'll be fine.
 
I'd personally opt for an amp with more current output, but I don't think you'll be unhappy.
 
 

 

[DeadEars]

Quote:

 

Wow, same here, went to a double bass duo concert. Very bizarre combination, they pulled it off though.
 
Recorded it with my LS 11 and it actually captured the concert very well. 

What is an LS 11?  Some form of digital recorder?
 
My sister is a professional musician, formerly first flute for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and a sub for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, but now living in Geneva, Switzerland.  What I find interesting is how much her ears are trained to hear the whole musical event.  I expected her to be "wowed" by listening to my rig with LCD-2's, but she pretty much ignored the sound quality and went right to the music.  We were listening to one of the Brandenbergs' and her comment was, "Gee, the second violin was really late at the beginning of that movement!"  I've found in the past that she can be happy with an iPod and cheap headset, since she is exceptionally good at recreating the whole musical event in her head.  It just reminds me of how much of our music listening is a psycho-physical event.  Audiophiles like me tend to obsess too much about the SQ, and perhaps miss the essence of the music.  Nice to get out frequently to concerts to re-calibrate.
 
Frank

 

[DeadEars]

Quote:

DeadEars
 
I haven't heard any of Hewitt's Chabrier and Couperin - oh boy! More to buy!  Thanks for the suggestion.  BTW: Suggestions for Well Tempered Clavier you like?
 
I haven't noticed anything of the ringing you mentioned on the loud choral works with the LCD-2s, but then I've only listened to a single Messiah recording.  I'll pay a bit of attention to that now.
 
I also switched out my amp for about 15 minutes today.  I dug up an old (2007) Headroom Micro and it aggravated my tinnitus something fierce at all volume levels, but it had no problem driving the LCDs at all.  I've got a Schiit Lyr on order - maybe the combo of the solid state with tubes will be nicer for me.

 
I was spoiled by hearing a rehersal of the Well-Tempered Clavier at Tanglewood about 10 years ago by a young pianist whose name I cannot now recall.  I was entranced!  Since then, I haven't found a recording of it that moves me as much.  Just one of those things, I guess.  I have several recordings on vinyl.  There's a Rosalyn Turacek version that is pretty special.  Other good Bach recordings I've heard lately are Andrei Gavrilov's French Suites, which is pretty recent (if you consider 1988 recent), and of course Laura St. John's recordings of the Works for Violin Solo.  Lately I've been spending a lot of time with cello music.  Revisiting Pablo Casals -- so soulful! -- and the nice recording by the Yale Cello's of Bach Chaconnes.  If you are a Bach lover, you should check out Eric Siblin's best-seller "The Cello Suites" which is a modern look at the Cello Suites, and a fun read!  After reading that, I went out of my way to hunt down early Casals recordings and I've been having a lot of fun with that. 
 
I'm not a huge fan of most piano music -- 10 years of forced lessons as a child soured me on the instrument.  Occasionally I get hooked by the music quality.  Last fall, I worked my way through the absolutely marvelous Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle produced by Claude Frank.  These are among the most moving musical works I've heard in years!  Highly, highly recommended, especially if you can find a copy in vinyl, but even the box set available at Arkiv music is quite wonderful -- and a treat via the LCD-2's (back on topic).
 
I've only heard the Shiit Lyr at a meet.  You should definitely check out the tube rolling thread, since it can be hugely improved over stock with the right set of tubes.  I was underwhelmed by the stock tubes.
 
Best,
 
Frank
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Hey guys, long time reader - first time writer. You punks have made me take the plunge! My LCD-2's are now ordered, and my girlfriend thinks I've lost it. Ha!

A question - I'm a producer and engineer first and foremost. I see a lot of you use a separate headphone amp with your cans. The headphone amp on my best-in-breed mobile firewire interface (what I intend these cans for) has the following specs. Can someone confirm it will drive these cans ok?

"While headphones with lower impedance would be expected to go louder than those with higher impedance, the ULN-2 headphone output is suited to a wide range of impedances.

The maximum drive current is roughly 40 ma.

The maximum output voltage is +/- 16v.

Depending on the impedance of the headphones, the driver can provide up to about 9/10 of a Watt of power; most headphones are easily driven by the headphone amp."

Thanks guys! Appreciate any input.

It is somewhat unclear as to how suitable this amp will be for your purposes.  What will it deliver into a 50 ohm load?  Once you answer that question, you'll have something to go on.
 
+/- 16v p-p is roughly 22v rms.  If the amp can deliver 20VRMS and 40mA into a 50 ohm load, that will be 8W RMS of power.  Can the amp actually do that and still have a low enough noise floor and adequate gain for your purposes?
 
 
 
 

 

[ddoyle777]

Frank,
 
I agree - I read the Cello Suites on vacation a couple of years ago while listening to Casals.  It was a very enjoyable experience.  Since then I've added a few sets of the Suites to my collection.  If I want power I listen to Zuill Bailey on Telarc, if I want to meditate - It's Isserlis on Hyperion.  Many, many good recordings here.  I've got the Tureck WTC, it hasn't impressed me too much yet, but I've only listened a few times.  I guess I will pull it back into the rotation. I'll also check out Frank's Beethoven cycle - I'm not at all familiar with that.  
 
The Lyr should be in the mail tomorrow.  I've decided to reread the tube rolling threads.  It appears you can spend almost as much on new tubes as the Lyr costs itself!  I've also got the Bifrost on order.   I hope I like the products as much as I like the company.
 
I'm settling in with the LCD-2s, If I believed in break in I'd say that they were doing fine, but I actually think that I'm paying better attention to what they do well and keep being pleased by the power of these phones.  Nothing laid back at all with them.  One thing a good headphone will do is help you discover your music collection all over again.  It's almost (almost!) worth the price of admission to feel like I have a new lease on the 1607 albums in my collection.  I still keep adding stuff, but the old gems take a new shine with new phones.  
 
Enjoy,
 
Dave

 

[bcg27]

Quote:

It is somewhat unclear as to how suitable this amp will be for your purposes.  What will it deliver into a 50 ohm load?  Once you answer that question, you'll have something to go on.
 
+/- 16v p-p is roughly 22v rms.  If the amp can deliver 20VRMS and 40mA into a 50 ohm load, that will be 8W RMS of power.  Can the amp actually do that and still have a low enough noise floor and adequate gain for your purposes?
 
 
 
 

 
I think you mean 11 Vrms...
 
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I think you mean 11 Vrms...

No, I meant 22VRMS.  +/- 16Vmax is 32V p-p, which is 22.7VRMS
 

 

[JIGF]

 
Quote:

What is an LS 11?  Some form of digital recorder?
 
My sister is a professional musician, formerly first flute for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and a sub for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, but now living in Geneva, Switzerland.  What I find interesting is how much her ears are trained to hear the whole musical event.  I expected her to be "wowed" by listening to my rig with LCD-2's, but she pretty much ignored the sound quality and went right to the music.  We were listening to one of the Brandenbergs' and her comment was, "Gee, the second violin was really late at the beginning of that movement!"  I've found in the past that she can be happy with an iPod and cheap headset, since she is exceptionally good at recreating the whole musical event in her head.  It just reminds me of how much of our music listening is a psycho-physical event.  Audiophiles like me tend to obsess too much about the SQ, and perhaps miss the essence of the music.  Nice to get out frequently to concerts to re-calibrate.
 
Frank

 
Yeah, I have read something like that before in another thread, maybe it was from you too.
 
This is an LS 11.
 
 

 

[bcg27]

Quote:

No, I meant 22VRMS.  +/- 16Vmax is 32V p-p, which is 22.7VRMS
 

Assuming we are talking about a periodic sine wave across one period here:

 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Assuming we are talking about a periodic sine wave across one period here:

C'mmon, who are you kidding?  Roughly, p-p to RMS value is simply (p-p value) / (sqrt 2) or, in this case, 32Vp-p / 1.414213562373095 = 22.62741699796952 V RMS.
 
He didn't say 16v p-p, he said +/- 16V max.  That's 32V p-p.  One period is 32V, 16V is one half period.
 
BTW, welcome to Head-Fi, mild, and sorry about your wallet.  

 

[bcg27]

Are you saying a sine wave with an amplitude of 16 is not 32 peak to peak?

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Assuming we are talking about a periodic sine wave across one period here:

 

Wow, is this still HeadFi?