[sephka]

I'm not sure if this is normal for the MG Head, as I thought I read somewhere that it distorts rather early, but my own model begins to distory heavilly around 12 `0 clock. This is an uncomfortable listening level, to be sure, but it isn't unbearable. My question, then, is should I be worried, and what can i do to fix this problem? I'm just not comfortable with it distorting this early, and hope I can rectify it.

 

[stan23]

whoa there... If you have either the MK1 or MK2 OTL , they should not distort anywhere near 12 'o clock.

Have you tried different tubes?

 

[richpjr]

I couldn't possibly listen to my MG Head at 12 o'clock - my ears would be bleeding!

 

[Orpheus]

well, theoretically, the knob postion doesn't really reflect your listening volume. it's a combination of both the volume of your source, and the knob position. so, if your source is really quiet, you may have to max out that knob... if it's really hot, then you may only have to turn it to 9:00 before deafening levels.

anyway... i have not turned up my mg head high enough to hear any distortion at all... by that time i would already be deaf if using normal headphones.

so, if you hear distortion at less than unbearable volumes, either you are going deaf, or your unit is broken.... the tubes or whatever. or what you think is distortion is really just your ear drum being torn into little tiny pieces.

 

[sephka]

This isn't good news at all. The MG Head OTL i was sold had the following problems: Infamous left-ear buzz (corrected,) reversed channel balance in transformer jack, and apparently it distorts early. I assure you I can listen to it at 12 o clock, and what I hear is definitely, without a doubt, distortion.

Quote:

Originally posted by stan23 whoa there... If you have either the MK1 or MK2 OTL , they should not distort anywhere near 12 'o clock. Have you tried different tubes?

The most DIY work i have done with the Head is moving a wire to fix the left-ear hum. Not sure if tuberolling is going to be something I can do, but I probably could manage. However, I may just ask for a return, which is an option, according to the seller.

 

[stan23]

If you got the head recently, you should send it back.


Even with the MKII I just got, I had gotten 2 lemons before getting a good one on the third try.

 

[Orpheus]

heh he...my first mg head was screwed up. my second one too... but i ended up fixing it and extensively modding it so it would work okay. asl sucks. i had 4 different asl units, ALL 4 were broken out of the box.

 

[sephka]

Well, good news now, I think. It may have just been the one audio track which was distorting. It was the song Daylight, by Coldplay (off A Rush of Blood to the Head,) if anyone cares. When the song starts up and the bass kicks in, I noticed some distortion. The rest of the album seemed ok at the same volume, as did other albums. My friggen ears are a little numb now, from playing stuff so loud. Even with the sound being distortion-free (I think,) I couldn't imagine anyone enjoying music at those volumes. Now that this issue seems to be resolved, I have to work on the reversed channel balance (transformer mode only.) Orpheus, you're right about ASL's craftsmanship sucking, but the sound is quite nice in my opinion.

 

[stan23]

I have that album. No distortions on my end with my MKII... but seriously how loud do you listen?

 

[sephka]

My Head's OTL jack requires a notch or two more volume than the transformer jack to reach the same level of loudness. I'm not sure if this is normal. Anyways, i usually listen around 5 or 6 `o clock (3 or 4 transformer jack.) It's at the brink of loud, but i'm quite sure it's nothing too drastic. When i was testing i went up to 2 or higher....I won't do that again. Also, for comparison, i listen at 12-14 on my Nomad Jukebox 3 with my Sennheiser PX200's (without the amp!) That goes up to 25.

 

[lextek]

I think we need a better refernce for volume settings. Don't go by the dot on the knob. Go from all the way counterclockwise=no volume (6 o'clock) turn clockwise. I'm at the 9 o'clock postiont and volume is fine.

 

[lextek]

I think we need a better refernce for volume settings. Don't go by the dot on the knob. Go from all the way counterclockwise=no volume (6 o'clock) turn clockwise. I'm at the 9 o'clock postiont and volume is fine.

I'm in the transformer mode.

 

[Orpheus]

well, i've been trying to make the point that the knob position does not necessarily reflect your listening volume... you could have that knob maxed out and only hear a whisper, or turned all the way down and blow your ear drums out. but no matter the knob position, your mg head is capable of putting out a deafening amount of volume with normal headphones.

but anyway, yes i agree, when your mg head is working perfectly, it is a really sweet piece of equipment, at any price. unfortunately, as i have said before, i had 4 brand new ASL units, and NONE worked out of the box.

 

[usc goose]

except the one you sold me right?

(well close enough)

 

[Orpheus]

heh he... well, i did tell you upfront what problems there were with that particular unit. although yours was no different from the other otl-h's.