I'm looking for a comparison of "Total" Airhead 9v with low end creek/little amps

[williamc]

Hey guys, I have a Total A. on order from headroom with a pair of HD580's. This my very first amp and headphone other than widely hated sony's

to own and i'm really looking forward to it.

However, i'm hearing alot of people say that there's an immense differece between the Total Air and the Low end Headroom Little and Creek amps which both run just a little more in price than the TA. So, my question is:

On LOW end audio equipment, aka: a nice sound card and 400 dollar or less cd player just how much difference would upgrading from the TA 9V to a baseline little or creek make? And what would the difference be in? This is assuming i'm using an AC adapter for the TA most of the time and not running off the 9V battery. Though i guess its certainly an inexpensive power supply-)

 

[DeanA]

Is portability an issue or will your source always be stationary?

 

[legoman]

I had a TA (2001 version) and now own a (pre Summer 2001, old model) Little. I never had them side by side, since I sent back the TA to get the Little, but with my AKG 501s it wasn't even close. I cannot think of a single department where the TA was superior or equal. More importantly, with the Little I never worry about the equipment, the music is the dominant concern, with the TA there was always something to the sound that I noticed. Also, if you like crossfeed as I do, the problem is that the TA did not have a filter to compensate for the attenuation of high frequencies which to me is necessary for all but the worst recorded CDs.
The new Little is supposed to be even better, and you have a clear upgrade path.
If money is an issue: Call up Headroom, see if they have any B-stock (fully warrantied but with some cosmetic flaws, e.g.).

Legoman.

PS: Note that I never used the TA with a wallwart

 

[williamc]

Not a portability issue, the little looks small enough that i can take it with me when i take my pc to a friends house for the weekend or something.

Its more of a cost vs performance issue, i've never had an amp or nice headphones before so i'm sure even the TA will be significantly better than nothing. Question is, is the little or creek enough better than the TA 9V to justify the increased 100-150 dollars? I'm lookin at this from the angle of this being my first real audio equipment and i'd definitely have to wait a while and save up some more for the extra 150....

 

[DeanA]

The TAH is a whole lot better than no amp with portable sources. The Little, which I believe is only $60 more than the TAH, at least has an upgrade path.

 

[darkclouds]

 

[darkclouds]

Get the Little from headroom now so you can do a comparison. Then you can keep the one you like and not have to wonder.

I overall, the Little is better. You can upgrade it later on to a very nice amp, one step at a time. The TA is a dead end, unless you're only using it for portables.