[Joong]

Small resistor in series can help for damping out the humming?
It can be tried.

 

[Joong]

What is the output resistance of Emotiva mini?

 

[zilch0md]

An update to my previous posts on solder-less options for connecting a 1/4-inch stereo plug to the mini-X A-100:
 

 
http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-BPAA-AU-Audiophile-Angled-Banana/dp/B0010T46E6  (You will need two pair of these.)
 
 

     
 
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009B8EJYU
 
See the specs here (Oxygen-free copper, platinum-plated ends, etc.)
 
 
 

 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HHHGV2
 
 

 
http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Waves-Female-Stereo-Coupler/dp/B0002E52S4

 
 
-OR- 
 
Replace the 3rd and 4th components, above, with this:
 

 
http://www.markertek.com/Audio-Equipment/Audio-Signal-Conversion/Switchcraft-Corporation/SC600.xhtml
 
It has the same jacks on both sides of the box - but there is no connection between the two sides.  For our purposes, we would just plug the two RCA male plugs coming from the speaker taps into the RCA female jacks shown in the picture, then any combination of output jacks is available, as shown, including 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch stereo, or L and R 1/4-inch mono.  
 
Disclaimer:  Use of these solutions REQUIRES that the speaker amp's terminals share a common ground, as is the case with the Emotiva mini-X A-100.
 
Mike
 
 

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Hey MalVeaux
 
This is indeed an innovative solution for using a lot of other headphones with a speaker amp!  As others have said, thanks for thinking of this!
 
On the Meridian Explorer thread, it was suggested that a 6 dB line-level attenuator could be used to solve one user's problem.
 
I just found a 12 dB version of that same product:
 
I'm not sure which approach would give the best results - attenuating at the amplifier's input vs. at the output, but it's something to consider.
 
Harrison makes 3-, 6-, and 12-dB versions that look like this.
 
Mike

 
Purely from a noise performance perspective, it's probably better to feed the full dac output to the amp and attenuate afterwards.
 
Shoving a resistor inline with the output will muck with your damping factor (the effects of which left for others to debate). A resistor divider on the output would do the trick though, and if done right could still maintain ideal amp loads and headphone damping factor. 

 

[ToInfinity]

So maybe I'm missing something...but I've got my setup (minus the pre amp) and the volume gets to about 11 on the emotiva..with my source usually around 90-95%. 

 

[preproman]

Quote:

So maybe I'm missing something...but I've got my setup (minus the pre amp) and the volume gets to about 11 on the emotiva..with my source usually around 90-95%. 

 
 
IMO - your source should be at 100%  What's missing?

 

[ToInfinity]

Quote:

 
 
IMO - your source should be at 100%  What's missing?

I'm waiting for the D2. The only reason I don't have my source maxed all the time is because I don't want to risk shortening my iPods life. I may be wrong, but I feel like constantly being at 100% might do that.

 

[mac336]

Quote:

 
 
IMO - your source should be at 100%  What's missing?

just curious, but what is the reasoning behind having source at 100% as opposed to having it at around 25% and letting the amp pick up the slack ?

 

[preproman]

Quote:

just curious, but what is the reasoning behind having source at 100% as opposed to having it at around 25% and letting the amp pick up the slack ?

 
That's the point.  Is so your amp won't have to pick up the slack.  It really depends on what DAC you use.  On my NAD m51 I have it set at 0, on the PWD2 I have it 100%.  Best the read the instructions on the DAC.  
 
This is only if your DAC has volume control.

 

[Zoom25]

I think I might have figured out the hiss/hum problem that some people have been experiencing with HE-500. I think it's the cables that cause the hum.
 
So before with HE-500, I got a balanced cable and a XLR to banana plugs adapter. Both of these cables were silver and from Headphone Lounge. Absolutely dead.
 
Today I got my LCD-2's back and I'm using the stock balanced cables from Audeze to connect them to the previous adapter. With volume turned down all the way, I noticed some noise. At first when I used the LCD-2, I found the pure blackness of LCD-2 to have somewhat diminished. That's when I noticed the hum. With the music playing at around 9 o clock, I am not hearing the hum, and it sounds quite good. Although it's not as black as I am used to with something like the O2 or Emotiva with HE-500 (all silver cables).

 

[mac336]

Quote:

I think I might have figured out the hiss/hum problem that some people have been experiencing with HE-500. I think it's the cables that cause the hum.
 
So before with HE-500, I got a balanced cable and a XLR to banana plugs adapter. Both of these cables were silver and from Headphone Lounge. Absolutely dead.
 
Today I got my LCD-2's back and I'm using the stock balanced cables from Audeze to connect them to the previous adapter. With volume turned down all the way, I noticed some noise. At first when I used the LCD-2, I found the pure blackness of LCD-2 to have somewhat diminished. That's when I noticed the hum. With the music playing at around 9 o clock, I am not hearing the hum, and it sounds quite good. Although it's not as black as I am used to with something like the O2 or Emotiva with HE-500 (all silver cables).

So your saying if I want to completely eliminate my noise/hum I will need a pure silver banana plugs - XLR ?
 
what about a pure silver banana plugs - female TRS
 
 
hmm, alot of money to spend for something that might not even work

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

So your saying if I want to completely eliminate my noise/hum I will need a pure silver banana plugs - XLR ?
 
what about a pure silver banana plugs - female TRS
 
 
hmm, alot of money to spend for something that might not even work

 
I'm not saying you need silver cables. You might be fine with even copper for example. I think this might perhaps be about quality rather than type of material. I've seen other people use custom copper cables and get no hum. I got a 3 cable piece (balanced cable + 2 adapters) for $200. Yea it is expensive for sure, no doubt.
 
Although I tried the LCD-2s with all other amps and interconnects and different cables. After controlling all variables, it came out to be the stock LCD-2 balanced cable that's causing this. In my case the adapter is the same, the only thing changing is the balanced cable between LCD-2 and HE-500.
 
You could go for TRS since Emotiva is shared, although I'd personally just stick with all XLR's so in the future if I get another amp, which may or may not have shared ground, I can still use it. So it is an investment, a costly one at that. Also I like the XLR feel more, the neutrik pins snap on and off easily.
 
I'll talk to Audeze and see what they might have to say. If something doesn't get resolved, I might get a balanced cable for LCD-2 later on. It'll most probably be silver, just to keep things consistent with my current silver set.
 
Perhaps your first amp could've been perfectly working, but it was just the cables....I'm not quite sure why this is the case at the moment. 
 
EDIT: I also want to add that with silver cable adapter and stock balanced cable on Emotiva gives a lot of treble. Minus the soundstage, the treble quantity is right there with HE-500, although the extension is only lacking by very little. It's more airier and more aggressive. I don't know if this will turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing. Time will tell. 
 
Previously, I used Norse Audio Copper Cables which reduced treble, but overall sounded very smooth and pleasing to listen to. Usually when I went from HE-500 to LCD-2, I'd be like who turned off the lights? It would take 5 mins to get used to it. Right now, there's no pretty much no difference in treble quantity.

 

[DefQon]

This is getting ridiculous. 2 years ago when I joined I was going to run my HD800's on the speaker taps of a mini EL84 tube amp I purchased for my Stax electrets at the time. I read from a lot of places including diyaudio that running it off speaker amp's can either 1. damage the headphones transducer due to overload, 2. blow the transformer on the amp due to the inefficiency link between the headphones itself and the integrated amp powering them, this can be fixed by using a dummy load adapter. It's true that certain speaker amp's can be designed to intake headphone outputs just by matching a resistor to balance the load but is it safe still? It's a fair enough point driving extremely hard to drive inefficient headphones such as the K1000, HE-6 or other beastly orthos, but even with 500ohm impedence adapter's for D5k's and SR-80's I think that is no where near the safe point of driving them without degrading some part of the amp or headphones as those load's are not even close to what the HE-6 and K1000's can take.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

This is getting ridiculous. 2 years ago when I joined I was going to run my HD800's on the speaker taps of a mini EL84 tube amp I purchased for my Stax electrets at the time. I read from a lot of places including diyaudio that running it off speaker amp's can either 1. damage the headphones transducer due to overload, 2. blow the transformer on the amp due to the inefficiency link between the headphones itself and the integrated amp powering them, this can be fixed by using a dummy load adapter. It's true that certain speaker amp's can be designed to intake headphone outputs just by matching a resistor to balance the load but is it safe still? It's a fair enough point driving extremely hard to drive inefficient headphones such as the K1000, HE-6 or other beastly orthos, but even with 500ohm impedence adapter's for D5k's and SR-80's I think that is no where near the safe point of driving them without degrading some part of the amp or headphones as those load's are not even close to what the HE-6 and K1000's can take.

 
What makes you think a headphone amp and speaker amp are inherently different (serious mechanical stand point question)?
 
And what makes you think a 600ohm voice coil and a 500ohm resistor are very different (serious question)?
 
Legit questions, not trying to be rude here.
 
Very best,

 

[eucariote]

What makes you think a headphone amp and speaker amp are inherently different (serious mechanical stand point question)?

Legit questions, not trying to be rude here.

Very best,

seriously?
Wattage = volts * amperes