[lost&confused]

saying that..... I thought the new bf4 game had horrible stereo positioning with my headphones and sound card .... or it could be my zxr sound card,

  

 

[skeptic]

  Welp, just placed my order for the Crack with speedball upgrade, for powering the HD650... and the wait begins! What I really wanted was the SEX, but unfortunately can't justify the extra expense. I didn't even mean to order the speedball at the time, that just kinda...happened. Hah.
 
I'm curious if anyone has had any experience with listening to low-impedance cans using the Crack and an impedance adapter? I know the Etymotic ER4P has an impedance adapter that can "turn it into" the ER4S. I'm curious if using an impedance adapter with other headphones would make them more suitable, like Grados or even single-driver IEMs. Just a thought.

 
As I understand it - an impedance adapter basically takes you in just the opposite direction from the standpoint of impedance matching.  It effectively increases the output impedance of the amp, rather than effectively increasing the impedance of the headphones - while eating some noise en route.  This is why people who are looking to emulate the sennheiser ss amp's ~40ohm output (which, enhances midbass on hd800's based on its impedance curve), will add impedance adapters to their 0 ohm output amps (like GS1's, dynalo's, etc) to raise the amp's effective output impedance and create the same resulting FR as the Senn amps.  (Google up hd800 and IEC 120 ohm standard for more on this.)
 
I used to use a small (~30ohm) impedance adapter with my westone 4's, when plugged into my note 2, so the phone's hiss wouldn't drive me bonkers, but it did change the sound of the headphones, and not for the better IMO.  Of course, this is greatly complicated by the fact that westones are multi-driver iem's while etymotics only use a single "full range" ba driver.  Never totally understood why etymotic claims that er4's (or 4p's + adapter) have more accurate FR than the ordinary 4p.  Maybe all they are really saying is that this particular driver best matches their target FR curve when amped via 75 ohm ouput impedance?  

 

[NightFlight]

Anyone going in for a Mainline this weekend? Its %10 off if you buy two ($120) and $200 on top of that.  I'm looking to partner up with someone. 

 

[krikor]

Got around to finishing the base. Not perfect, some blemishes, and I should have used some conditioner before the stain. Used some panhead cabinet screws to hold down the top plate, countersunk into the edge of the base.
 

 

[JamieMcC]

  Anyone going in for a Mainline this weekend? Its %10 off if you buy two ($120) and $200 on top of that.  I'm looking to partner up with someone. 

I have already bit the bullet and am planning to thin out my collection of spare Crack tubes collected over the last few years to help fund the purchase.

 

[NightFlight]

Dammit!
 
I've almost funded the whole thing with Lyr tubes!

 

[NightFlight]

  Got around to finishing the base. Not perfect, some blemishes, and I should have used some conditioner before the stain. Used some panhead cabinet screws to hold down the top plate, countersunk into the edge of the base.
 

Looks good. Is that just gloss enamel spray paint?

 

[JamieMcC]

  Got around to finishing the base. Not perfect, some blemishes, and I should have used some conditioner before the stain. Used some panhead cabinet screws to hold down the top plate, countersunk into the edge of the base.
 

 
Understated yet funky, what are you using for the feet, spikes sat on disks?

 

[ZachPtheDude]

I have already bit the bullet and am planning to thin out my collection of spare Crack tubes collected over the last few years to help fund the purchase.

I'm sure some of us Head-Fi bottleheads could help you get rid of those tubes

 

[krikor]

  Looks good. Is that just gloss enamel spray paint?

Yep, ACE Hardware spray paint. Went on good, but can scrap off easily.
 
 

   
Understated yet funky, what are you using for the feet, spikes sat on disks?

 
Yes. Had a bunch of extra spikes sitting around that I got cheap from Parts Express, came with matching discs. They screw into threaded inserts I drilled into the bottom corners of the base.

 

[jlucas]

  Anyone going in for a Mainline this weekend? Its %10 off if you buy two ($120) and $200 on top of that.  I'm looking to partner up with someone. 

Very tempted but probably not the right time as I'm still only 3 months into my Crack+SB and have a Geek Pulse XFi coming soon.

 

[Utopia]

A question about noise: when people say the Crack should be dead quiet, is that at listening levels? Or should it be dead quiet when turning the volume up to 100 %, without any kind of hum or buzz? I'm asking because I do get noise that starts at perhaps 75 % of max volume and then increases. I've tried reflowing solder joints (didn't make any difference, but I did skip some).

 

[nailbunny7]

  A question about noise: when people say the Crack should be dead quiet, is that at listening levels? Or should it be dead quiet when turning the volume up to 100 %, without any kind of hum or buzz? I'm asking because I do get noise that starts at perhaps 75 % of max volume and then increases. I've tried reflowing solder joints (didn't make any difference, but I did skip some).

For me, I stopped getting noise when I swapped out my potentiometer for a stepped attenuator. Not that this matters much, as long as there is not noise at volumes you listen to (for me, 75% volume would have been way too high).

 

[NightFlight]

  Anyone going in for a Mainline this weekend? Its %10 off if you buy two ($120) and $200 on top of that.  I'm looking to partner up with someone. 

 
I pulled the trigger.

 

[NightFlight]

The potentiometer is one of the sacrifices made on the Crack made to keep the price down. Putting a better one is pretty much straight replacement. The bottlehead forums have threads on it.