HeadRoom Micro Amp
May 23, 2005 at 2:42 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12

RickG

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I'm thinking about ordering the HR Micro stack sometime in the near future. However, I've got a question in regard to the amp.

On the Micro Amp page...

http://www.headphone.com/products/he...-micro-amp.php

...you are given a choice of the "Micro Module" or the "Desktop Module".

What does this refer to? I can't find any other reference to these options on the site.
 
May 23, 2005 at 2:55 AM Post #4 of 12
Ahhh....

I missed it guy's. Thanks a million!

smily_headphones1.gif
 
May 23, 2005 at 3:00 AM Post #5 of 12
The desktop portable with dac option sounded really good. A completely different flavor, but definately in the same class as the Gilmore lite. SInce I didn't have my emu at the meet, I can only go by memory, but it seemed that the 0404 goes a little deeper into the music and has more energy, while the headroom dac is smoother and easier to sit back and relax with.
 
May 23, 2005 at 9:11 AM Post #6 of 12
Rick,

I'm sending my Coda back and getting the desktop module installed...as soon as I get the word from Jamey that they are ready for installation.

I heard all of them at the meet, and while I like my current Coda, and enjoyed the Micro module installed in the Micro-Amp that I listened to there, I'm still going with the desktop module. I don't have any urgent need for true portability, as I use mine mostly at work with the power supplies. I'll trade battery life (it's supposed to be roughly half the Micro module's battery life of 20 hours) for performance on this amp and be glad for it.

BTW - you'll love the combo. It's a very well designed product...HeadRoom really did their homework on this one.
 
May 23, 2005 at 4:18 PM Post #7 of 12
Thanks for the info S_Dedalus and Tom.

BTW, Tom, in this thread...

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=120288

...you stated:

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom
I have the D-EJ1000, and it does a pretty nice job feeding the Overture DAC. It makes a HUGE difference over the audio output of the PCDP.


What exactly did you mean by "pretty nice job"? Are there any problems? I'll be using my Sony portables (D-EJ01 or D-NE10) with the stack.
 
May 23, 2005 at 11:20 PM Post #8 of 12
Quote:

Originally Posted by RickG
BTW, Tom, (regarding use of the optical out on a Sony D-EJ1000 with the HeadRoom Overture), What exactly did you mean by "pretty nice job"? Are there any problems? I'll be using my Sony portables (D-EJ01 or D-NE10) with the stack.


What I mean is that it's not quite up to the level of a decent CD player/transport. I mean, it's a tiny little portable thing...it's sooooo cute!!

Seriously, the difference in sound quality with the Overture vs the line out on the CD player is like night and day. I'm very pleased, though I think that my iRiver iHP-140 optical out sounds better. I suspect it's got something to do with jitter, but that's just a guess.
 
May 24, 2005 at 12:16 AM Post #10 of 12
Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom
What I mean is that it's not quite up to the level of a decent CD player/transport. I mean, it's a tiny little portable thing...it's sooooo cute!!

Seriously, the difference in sound quality with the Overture vs the line out on the CD player is like night and day. I'm very pleased, though I think that my iRiver iHP-140 optical out sounds better. I suspect it's got something to do with jitter, but that's just a guess.



I spent about an hour switching between a known bit-perfect optical out, and the usb interface, and there is a difference. Its not huge, but it is there. I think the decrease in sound quality with kmixer has been exagerated, and that it really depends on what the card itself does with the signal.
 
May 24, 2005 at 12:21 AM Post #11 of 12
Quote:

Originally Posted by S_Dedalus
I spent about an hour switching between a known bit-perfect optical out, and the usb interface, and there is a difference. Its not huge, but it is there. I think the decrease in sound quality with kmixer has been exagerated, and that it really depends on what the card itself does with the signal.


I would tend to agree with this - the optical input (from either a PCDP or HDP) is superior to the USB input. It's not by leaps and bounds, but it's there. I think this probably has as much to do with the nature of the digital signal from a PC (with it's varied and various fans and other noise-inducing components) and from an optically-driven source.

That said, I listen to my Coda/Overture with my work PC MOST of the time. It's one part convenience, one part flexibility...and it sounds pretty damn good at that.
 
May 24, 2005 at 12:27 AM Post #12 of 12
Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom
I would tend to agree with this - the optical input (from either a PCDP or HDP) is superior to the USB input. It's not by leaps and bounds, but it's there. I think this probably has as much to do with the nature of the digital signal from a PC (with it's varied and various fans and other noise-inducing components) and from an optically-driven source.

That said, I listen to my Coda/Overture with my work PC MOST of the time. It's one part convenience, one part flexibility...and it sounds pretty damn good at that.



I was comparing the usb connection to a bit-perfect usb soundcard's optical out. Usb is probably the best connection if the dac has drivers that bypass kmixer, like the apogee mini-dac's do. The biggest problem for usb would be ground issues, but due to the nature of usb, there should be no jitter at all until after the receiver, and then its a problem with how the dac is implemented, not the connection.
 

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