[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Is the opamp upgrade worth it on the TubeMagic D2?  I've been reading a lot on these and I'm pretty damn sure that this DAC would be my next purchase.
 

 
Heya,
 
I guess that depends on what you're planning on doing with it.
 
I use it for it's tube pre-amp output stage, not the solid state pre-amp out stage.
 
Very best,

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

 
I'm very tempted on that unit. Reminds me of the Virtue Audio Two.2 I had. Although, I do like the emotiva more than that virtue audio I had.

 
BITE! BITE! BITE! And report back, please?

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

I've recently made an amp discovery I would like to share. I have been looking for a speaker amp to drive my Paradox headphones, having heard how they sound out of the speaker taps of my Musical Fidelity A1 amp. Having been into audio since the mid 1970s, and having owned and listened to a wide range of very excellent gear, some of it considered reference level, I have a pretty good idea about what constitutes really good sound. But, I admit I am relatively new to the headphone end of things. We are now getting into the realm of speaker amps, and I believe that it's not just a matter of more power, but also the fidelity of said amp. That is likely why people are using Don Garber SE amps, Nelson Pass First Watt amps, and others costing multi thousands of dollars. I need to go the 'economical' route.

In doing a lot of web research, I came upon an amp by TBI called the Millenia MG3. Rated at 30 watts/channel on ac, and 10 watts/channel on batteries, it seemed power wise to be a good choice. There have been glowing reviews which compared the amp to some pretty esoteric gear. The TBI sells for $500 (with a 30 day trial period). Several weeks ago I took the plunge. Jan - the designer - worked with me tirelessly to help get the amp to work properly with my headphones. What needed to be addressed first is the fact that the headphones are single ended and the amps' negative grounds are not shared. Also, there was gain background hiss. He suggested some resistors to use, and described to me how to arrange them ahead of the headphones. Things were promising. Then he came up with what I call his magic box, with some resistors that not only address the above issues, but if I understand it correctly, allow the amp to see a more appropriate impedance match for the amp. End result is astonishing sound quality.

Jan went above and beyond to help me out. I am very grateful to him for that. But with the end result being the level of sound quality I am getting over my Paradox headphones (which continue to prove to be astonishing in their own right), I wanted to put out the word in case any others were interested to check it out.

Here are some links that are relevant to the Millenia. There are others. It also received the Positive Feedback Award last year.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue62/millenia.htm
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue64/awards.htm
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=108242.0

 Could you give more details as to how the resistors are being used.
Thanks.

 

[SMG52]

The resistor arrangements in the interface box are being used to allow my single ended headphones to connect with the amp - which doesn't have shared grounds; to diminish the background gain hiss to an almost entirely inaudible level; and - if I understand it correctly - to allow the amp to see a more 'friendly' impedance load. That's about the best I can do to describe it. Jan would need to explain it more, if needed.

 

[modulor]

I've also recently come across this article for those interested:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/603433/diy-he-adapter

 

[victorcc]

I also ordered a Millenia MG3 to try with headphones and Jan sent me the resistor network schemas to build them myself. One schema for balanced headphones and another one for single ended:
 
Balanced:
 
 

 
Single ended:
 
 

 
 
 
Enjoy!

 

[modulor]

Quote:

I also ordered a Millenia MG3 to try with headphones and Jan sent me the resistor network schemas to build them myself. One schema for balanced headphones and another one for single ended:
 
Balanced:
 
 

 
Single ended:
 
 

 
 
 
Enjoy!

Excellent, and very helpful!  I plan on trying this out on my test bench soon - I assume each value is in Ohms (e.g. on the balanced chart, R1 10 = Resistor 1, 10 Ohms)?  Also, which headphones are you planning on using?

 

[jjshin23]

very nice.  Gotta file this away for later trial.

 

[victorcc]

Excellent, and very helpful!  I plan on trying this out on my test bench soon - I assume each value is in Ohms (e.g. on the balanced chart, R1 10 = Resistor 1, 10 Ohms)?  Also, which headphones are you planning on using?

Yes, you are right, R1 10 = Resistor 1, 10 Ohms

I plan to use it with the HE-6s and LFF's Paradox.

 

[M-13]

Anymore impression of the Emotiva with the HD800?
 
It sounds amazing with my HE-500, but wondering if it would be okay for me to get an HD800 and drive them straight from speaker taps.

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Anymore impression of the Emotiva with the HD800?
 
It sounds amazing with my HE-500, but wondering if it would be okay for me to get an HD800 and drive them straight from speaker taps.

Due to family circumstances I pretty much have access to them way too often. But I never use them on the Emotivas. Noise/hiss is way too high. Unless you can find/obtain a 600ohm additional impedance adapter.

 

[M-13]

Quote:

Due to family circumstances I pretty much have access to them way too often. But I never use them on the Emotivas. Noise/hiss is way too high. Unless you can find/obtain a 600ohm additional impedance adapter.

Thanks for the reply. Bummer about the noise/hiss.

 
I read Preproman's review of the HD650 with the Emotiva and was hopeful... but I guess they're some how different.

 

[modulor]

The various resistor arrays being discussed previously would certainly help lower the noise floor and remove any hissing, it's just a matter of figuring out which configuration works best.  The schematic victorcc posted seems promising...

 

[preproman]

I only got a slight noise with my more sensitive headphones ie.. Denons.  No others..

 

[M-13]

Quote:

I only got a slight noise with my more sensitive headphones ie.. Denons.  No others..

interesting...
 
Well Denons had a pretty audible noise floor even on the Lyr, so I'm not surprised by that. I don't plan on using anything that efficient. I'm just surprised by all the hiss and noise from an HD800, which is 300 ohms with a sensitivity of 102db, which isn't all that efficient, certainly not more than an HD650. Oh well. I guess only one way to find out for sure. I guess I can always pick up another LCD-2 or perhaps I'll try a HE-6, since I have an amp that can somewhat drive them now.
 
BTW:
 
Does anyone know how much current the Mini-X is actually outputting at 38ohms? And 50ohm? and 300ohm?
 
Just curious if anyone knows how to crunch the numbers on that.