Quote:
Originally Posted by Gothamm /img/forum/go_quote.gif
you make it seem like portables can't drive the 650's period.
enter the Vivid V1
vividaudiotech.com - Headphone Amplifiers
- High power operational amplifier
- Voltage boost technology (This boosts the amplifier supply voltage higher than the battery voltage)
- Precision virtual ground reference
- USB DAC (16-bit; 32, 44.1, 48 kHz)
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I see they conveniently omit the power output. I'm sure they know what it is, but decided that the number wouldn't exactly sell much product.
The "voltage boost technology" is nothing special and absolutely nothing new. It is probably a
voltage multiplier of some kind, but they wanted to give it a different name to make it sound like they came up with something unique. You can also use transformers to increase the voltage, but I doubt it has those inside.
The rub with devices that increase voltage is that doing so will decrease the amps. A battery only has a limited amount of power. You can increase the volts while taking away the amps, and have a small net loss from running it through that circuit. You can't create energy that isn't there to begin with. A typical circuit in a house will give you 15A or 20A of current at 120V.
In contrast, a 9V gives you, well, 9V of power and between 500-800mA of current. If you want to step up the voltage, then you're going to take a big hit on the current and there won't be much left to play with.
If you're using a transformer to step up 120V to 350V off a socket in your house and the amp wants 1.5A of power to do that, well, no problem. You'll probably still have enough amps left over to run a washing machine.
Sure, portables can make headphones louder, but the quality of the sound is not as good as something pulling lots of power. Lots of power gives you the headroom you need, allows for class A operation, and the amp will not sag when you hit the big transients.
Another angle is heat. Suppose, hypothetically, you got a portable amp to deliver 1W and run in class A. One of those tiny boxes would get hot. Really hot. Too hot to hold in your hand and too hot to comfortably carry in your pocket. Further, cramming that much heat into a tiny box would likely get it to cook itself off within a few weeks of use.
If you want power and the corresponding heat, you need a big, heavy case with appropriate ventilation, heatsinks and room to breathe.
I know portables have a devoted following, but you cannot substitute them for a full-sized amp that plugs into the wall. Physically, electrically and sonically, portables are compromised.
