[F15h]

dear all, i am a newbie here...so comes a stupid question

I would appreciate your answer very much. I have read the spces, and seems it has a Audio L+R output and a digital output. how can i connect my headphone (sr-60s) to each of the two interfaces? which one is better? Thanks in advance

 

[Gopher]

an amplifier of some sort with a headphone jack, or a reciever would be what your looking for. If your going to be driving SR 60s and your piecing together a system anyway, try and look for a preamp/int amp/reciever with a headphone jack, as a dedicated headamp might be very beneficial with those particular phones.

Enjoy the source, I'm getting one next week

 

[F15h]

thank gopher. i have some idea about headphone amp, but i am not aware of preamp/int amp/reciever. would you please elaborate these thing a little bit, for example, basic explaination of their machanism. I don't want to bother you too much providing me with a list of available products I can directly jump to. Best if I can first get some idea, know basics about them, restrict my searching scope, then it is time for me to turn to you audiophile to seek valuable suggestion

 

[bobjew]

f15h:

It will be best to use the left and right output from the multi channel (5.1) set of plugs on the back of the 963. Then, of course, into a good or great headphone amp. According to Philips, the Audio L&R outputs are inferior.

Good luck,
Bob

 

[timoteus]

Also be aware of this note from the DVD 963SA Owner's Manual:

"SACD audio is NOT available on the Digital audio output (coaxial or optical) as per the SACD standard."

 

[JPWeight]

bobjew got it right "According to Philips, the Audio L&R outputs are inferior." I can confirm this.

 

[Gallaine]

F15h,

I'll take a stab at explaining preamps, int. amps, and receivers.

A preamp(lifier) basically a separate box that takes the signal from all of your devices e.g. a cd player and an FM tuner and routes it to the power amp(lifier) which amplifies the signal and sends it to the speakers for you to hear. It also provides volume control. Think of the preamp as a switchbox with volume control. Some preamps really are that simple. Some preamps are much more complicated: providing Digital-to-Analog Conversion (DAC), video routing for Home Theater, built-in FM/AM radio tuners, etc. But the result is essentially the same, you select which device you want to listen to and the signal is routed to the power amplifier.

An int(egrated) amp combines the functions of the preamp and the power amp in a single box. Usually these are limited to 2-channel i.e. stereo signals and generally do not handle video. And I think that most int amps do not have DACs or tuners. Of course there are always exceptions.

A receiver also combines the functions of the preamp and the power amp. But it usually also handles video signals e.g. from a DVD player or VCR. And most receivers these days are multi-channel, usually 5 - 7 channels, because of the popularity of Dolby Digital and DTS. And receivers also generally have an FM/AM tuner built in.

These are oversimplifications. But I didn't want to overload you with too much information.

 

[Nefarion]

you could hook directly into the source (phillips) with an rca to mini to coupler adapter (can be bought from radio shack, just tell them you want to plug your headphones into an rca output).

Quote:

but i am not aware of preamp/int amp/reciever. would you please elaborate these thing a little bit, for example, basic explaination of their machanism.

A pre-amp is basicly a very weak amplifier that just puts a very quiet signal out to be amplified. The volume/tone settings are usually on the pre-amp of a system. From the pre-amp we go to the power amp. A lot of the time the power amp is just a box with no controls.. What it does is boost the signal from the pre-amp to go to speakers.. or whatever. A reciever usually has both a pre-amp and the power amp all in one piece. Its more marketable that way, expecially for home theater setups.

Basicly what gopher reccomended is that you find you a pre-amp,amp, or reciever that has a headphones jack. He reccomended this because you are just getting into the head-fi world and a pre-amp/amp/reciever would be more useful than a dedicated headphone amp if you were to decide that you didnt like listening to headphones.

But, if you dont already have something with a headphone jack on it.. You might want to just invest into a budget dedicated headphone amp. Reccomended budget headphone amps are the fixup supermini (www.fixup.net) or a meta (built by someone on here, JMT or ERIC are two that come to mind). You really need to collaborate your headphone amp with your headphones.. So the pair of headphones you decide to use is important in this decision as well. Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[F15h]

thank Nefarion for your helpful information. now I am surfing on the radioshack webpage

 

[wallijonn]

i use a crown d60 amp.

 

[scrypt]

Keep in mind that certain headphone amps also function as preamps. The EAR+ and RKV are two examples, but there are others (some of which are cheaper). Jan Meier makes one, too.

For cheap monoblocks and preamps, you could also look at Antique Sound Labs.

Some foont on the AVS Forum was just going on about the headphone jacks on new Yamaha Home Theater Receivers and how thrilling they were, but I've decided he must be insipid and deranged.

 

[Ebonyks]

Quote:

you could hook directly into the source (phillips) with an rca to mini to coupler adapter (can be bought from radio shack, just tell them you want to plug your headphones into an rca output).

Wouldn't it be impossible to control the volume of that configuration, and with the resistance of the grado's, i would assume would be very, very loud.

I would just get some sort of pre-amp.

 

[Nefarion]

Quote:

Wouldn't it be impossible to control the volume of that configuration, and with the resistance of the grado's, i would assume would be very, very loud.

Actually its not that loud. When i plug my HD600's directly into my Nad its very quiet. With the porta-pros its a bit louder.

There was actually a whole thread where Jazz and I got into a small friendly debate on the usefulness of hooking up to the outputs directly, as a pose to using a headamp. And he actually did his testing on the phillips. Every players output level will be a little different but i think i remember Jazz saying the direct out was a moderate-low level volume. Im trying to think of the name of the product that will allow you to control the volume of the direct outs.. potentimeter? something like that.

Anyhow, plugging in directly is actually a defenite possibility.

 

[scrypt]

In one particular room, I use a MAD EAR+ as a tubed headphone amp and preamp simultaneously. The pre out feeds a solid state two channel amp.

The EAR+ sounds sweet with headphones a la carte but also adds clarity, warmth and luster to music through speakers.

 

[Ebonyks]

I'm skeptical. To give a frame of referance, i've played around with plugging my DVD player (Edit: it's a Nv500s(Edit again: It's also running through an Art DI/O, which seems to add a bit of gain ontop of everything)) into my melos, and then into my TV. At about 10 O'clock, it's about equal to the stock DVD player volume. I listen at about 7 O'clock, and i use a pair of sporta pro's. Keep in mind that the melos has a gain of 19 db's.

I doubt that it would work well. Besides, after all, grado's are 32ohm...