[bluemonkeyflyer]

  How does the Ember compare to the Emotiva? Was a big fan of the Sunrise 2 with the HE-500, but just lacked a little bit of grunt, but otherwise had very good synergy together.

First off: I don't know if I could reliably tell one from the other, if blinded.
 
Sighted comparisons...Beware of Loosey Audiophile Terms:
 
Ember has plenty of power for orthos and lots of spare headroom. It edges out the a-100 on clarity or definition, for lack of a better term. Very smooth with no grain. I like it better than a-100 with both types of headphones. I think Ember digs deeper with better bass extension, quality, texture, and speed. Ember sounds better than a-100 with HD-800 which sounded a bit hot out of the a-100. I found myself wincing and reaching for the volume pot due to discomfort in the upper register on some cuts. I have a NOS Telefunken E88CC tube in Ember - my favorite tube. It's very pricey but there are other tubes available for little money ($15 to $20) that sound almost as good. The Russian tubes come to mind.
 
Emotiva a-100, modified, also has power to spare. It's performance was generally satisfying with both types of headphones. It offered a bit less resolution than Ember but this was with sighted comparisons. I think I could tell them apart in the "clarity or lack of grain" department, though.
 
Emotiva a-100 is plug and play...set it and forget it.
 
Ember offers tone shaping options by rolling tubes. While tube rolling is fun, it's time consuming and costs more initially and in the long run than the solid state Emotiva. 
 
With all this in mind, my personal preference is Ember for its sound quality, tuning capability, power, clarity, small form factor, and its cool color glow. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the changeable LED colors. The deep purple glow in a darkened room somehow adds an extra layer of pleasure to my listening experience. But, hey, this is psychoacoustics...if it sounds better, it Does!
 
If cost is a factor, and I assume it is at this mid-fi level, I would buy the a-100, modify it with robrob's design, stick to planars (my preference), and "Be happy...don't worry
 
If I wanted  better clarity, tone shaping options, and multi-sensory experience I'd pay just a little bit more and get the Ember..... and never look back.

 

[robrob]

  That's great, thanks Rob.

Can you explain when you would recommend using each of the different R2 and R3 values?  I understand that they raise the attenuation but when does it get too much?

 
The amount of attenuation you need is situation dependent. If you have just a little noise floor hiss or just need a little more volume control then 12dB might be appropriate. If you need more then 18 and if you're using a 100+ watt amp then 25dB or more might be warranted. For most people going with 18dB to start with is probably best.

 

[DaemonSire]

   
The amount of attenuation you need is situation dependent. If you have just a little noise floor hiss or just need a little more volume control then 12dB might be appropriate. If you need more then 18 and if you're using a 100+ watt amp then 25dB or more might be warranted. For most people going with 18dB to start with is probably best.

Thanks for the info.
 
Would this wire be suitable for the internal wiring?
http://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/elenco-22-gauge-black-25-ft.html
 
I can get it pretty cheap in Canada and get different colours.  It's 22 gauge but you mentioned in your guide you would go with 20 next time - would this be good enough for long term or should I look around for 20?  Also it is solid...is solid better than stranded for these uses?
 
 

Description

• 25' #22 gauge black hook-up wire
• Useful for prototyping on breadboards 
• Maximum recommended current: 7A

The Elenco 25' #22 Gauge Black Hook-Up Wire is the solid copper hook-up wire for use with breadboards or general wiring that will not undergo repeated flexing. The insulation is rated for 300V and the maximum recommended current is 7A.

 

[bassboysam]

Maybe a stupid question for you guys but I want to make sure this will work.  I'm currently using a Fiio A1 (not common ground) to drive my LCD-2.  I'm using a banana plug > female 4 pin XLR and then the audeze balanced cable.  I'm thinking of getting a pair of Hifiman and I am wondering if I could use the same banana plug to XLR cable + the hifiman balance cable? 

 

[davidsh]

  Maybe a stupid question for you guys but I want to make sure this will work.  I'm currently using a Fiio A1 (not common ground) to drive my LCD-2.  I'm using a banana plug > female 4 pin XLR and then the audeze balanced cable.  I'm thinking of getting a pair of Hifiman and I am wondering if I could use the same banana plug to XLR cable + the hifiman balance cable? 

You can indeed do that 

 

[bassboysam]

excellent, thanks!

 

[manbear]

Banana to balanced is always safe, as long as your headphone cable is truly balanced, meaning + and - to each channel.

 

[IwasDerp]

Hey guys,

I got a computer about a month ago and when I first plugged in my computer and the Topping TP60 into the same power bar, I heard a loud whine from my HE-500s and I was really confused about the problem so for about a week I didn't use the amp. For the time being I used my E17 as the DAC and Amp and then I got the idea that I would use a power outlet from a nearby room for the Amp and that fixed the problem. However 2 weeks later we moved and the same problem persisted but this time, using another outlet in an adjacent room didn't fix the problem so I am stuck here using my E17 again.

I did some research and found that it probably is a ground loop issue but I am not entirely sure. I was thinking if using an RCA ground loop isolator would fix the problem since unplugging the RCA while the amp was on and connected to the HE-500s caused no sound interference. Also to note that when I was getting the interference, I could hear my clicks in the interference so it could be I need a USB isolator. Another interesting thing is that when I used my phone as a source, there was no interference. Which leads me to believe the problem is my computer but I am not sure but I would really like listening to the HE-500s with the speaker amp again.

These are the things I was thinking might fix the issue but not sure.

http://www.amazon.ca/RioRand-Channel-Isolator-Connections-Reduction/dp/B00LGJYV9A/[1]

or

http://www.amazon.ca/Pyle-PLGI36R-8-Inch-Stereo-Isolator/dp/B004HJ1QGM[2] (using an AUX from E17 instead of RCA)

 

[Armaegis]

Do you get the same whine when plugging the e17 into the TP60?
 
If you're on a laptop, did you try running on battery power?

 

[IwasDerp]

  Do you get the same whine when plugging the e17 into the TP60?
 
If you're on a laptop, did you try running on battery power?

 
Thanks for the suggestion, going to try that in a second. Didn't think of that and the whine is there regardless if I use the E17 as a DAC or use the AUX end straight into the computer. But there is no whine when I tried to use my phone or DAP as the source. 

Edit: Just tried it with my laptop, with battery and while plugged in and there's no hiss/whine. So I guess it is just with the computer since I do have a 750W power supply if that has anything to do with it. 

 

[Armaegis]

One of those ground loop isolators that you linked earlier should do the trick then.

 

[DaemonSire]

  Hey guys,

I got a computer about a month ago and when I first plugged in my computer and the Topping TP60 into the same power bar, I heard a loud whine from my HE-500s and I was really confused about the problem so for about a week I didn't use the amp. For the time being I used my E17 as the DAC and Amp and then I got the idea that I would use a power outlet from a nearby room for the Amp and that fixed the problem. However 2 weeks later we moved and the same problem persisted but this time, using another outlet in an adjacent room didn't fix the problem so I am stuck here using my E17 again.

I did some research and found that it probably is a ground loop issue but I am not entirely sure. I was thinking if using an RCA ground loop isolator would fix the problem since unplugging the RCA while the amp was on and connected to the HE-500s caused no sound interference. Also to note that when I was getting the interference, I could hear my clicks in the interference so it could be I need a USB isolator. Another interesting thing is that when I used my phone as a source, there was no interference. Which leads me to believe the problem is my computer but I am not sure but I would really like listening to the HE-500s with the speaker amp again.

These are the things I was thinking might fix the issue but not sure.

http://www.amazon.ca/RioRand-Channel-Isolator-Connections-Reduction/dp/B00LGJYV9A/[1]

or

http://www.amazon.ca/Pyle-PLGI36R-8-Inch-Stereo-Isolator/dp/B004HJ1QGM[2] (using an AUX from E17 instead of RCA)

here are two more to choose from:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084402&p_id=6909&seq=1&format=2
 
http://www.amazon.ca/Stinger-SGN20-Ground-Loop-Isolator/dp/B002ZRQ3PW

 

[IwasDerp]

  One of those ground loop isolators that you linked earlier should do the trick then.
 

Quote:

  here are two more to choose from:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084402&p_id=6909&seq=1&format=2
 
http://www.amazon.ca/Stinger-SGN20-Ground-Loop-Isolator/dp/B002ZRQ3PW
 

Thank you for the suggestion guys, I went ahead and bought the monoprice one as it was the cheapest.  

Should be here next week and hopefully this should do the trick. Then I can finally start listening to the HE-500s at full potential, missing out so much right now.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Maybe this is a stupid thing to even consider, but it never hurts to ask. I have the HE 560, and I have a Yulong A18 amp that should pair very nicely with the 560. However, the cable is short so I am considering whether or not making long speaker taps is a good idea (actually buying long speaker taps as I won't go the DIY route now). Here is the kicker, my integrated amp is a very powerful NAD M3 which can provide 180w into 8ohms. The volume control is very good so I believe I can keep the amp from destroying the headphones, but there is a great deal that I do not know to even take into consideration.
 
How does one know when the amp itself is just too powerful and there will be a great deal of noise at any functional setting on the volume knob? Really the lure is that I would have SE quality via the A18, but if I could do the speaker tap with my M3 I would have a balanced option (plus be able to sit back and use a remote control for volume). I hate to ask anybody to do the heavy lifting for me, but sadly my knowledge of electrical circuits and attributes is low enough that I can't look at the specs for the M3 and see if this will work or not. In hopes that some kind soul who understands these matters is willing to take a few minutes here is the link from the NAD site http://nadelectronics.com/products/masters-series/M3-Dual-Mono-Integrated-Amplifier
 
Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts.

 

[robrob]

Sonic D, Unless someone has tried your headphones with your amp you'll just have to hook them up and give it a try. Just have the volume knob at zero and turn it up slowly and decide if you like it. You may hear some hiss since it's a powerful amp but only you can decide if it's acceptable. If it isn't you could add a resistor network to attenuate the amp's output or simply give up on that amp.