[mecano]

Since I m on the market for a soundcard- I have >100GB full of uncompressed .wav in my PC-the Bithead seems like a fine solution : USB DAC and amp in a box .But 270$ for this small plastic box is not cheap I think…The amp part is not that important for me because I can easily build a mint meta with high specs for 60 euros(70$)And anyway the cans I m going to use or planning to get(Grado 225,ATH A900/A1000) don t need killer amps to sound good..It's the DAC part of the TBH I m interested: how good is it?I hope its better than a M Revo otherwise why spent almost 300$ when I can get a Revo for 1/3 of that?Or better still spent the money on a better SC.Given that the price difference between TAH and TBH is 70$ my guess is that the internal DAC/card is nothing special and not better than even the Revo.So why not get smth like M-Audio Delta line (the Delta 410 and Audiophile 24/96) or RME DIGI96/8 PAD?I ve hever heard these SCs myself but seems many people here like them.

 

[EasyRaider]

I am wondering about the quality of the DAC, too. But I guess it's a bit early to ask. Few have heard it and the revised BH won't be available until June.

Off-topic note: Why uncompressed wav? You could save lots of disk space with lossless compression like FLAC. HDD space sure is cheap these days, but >100 GB...

 

[mecano]

Quote:

Originally posted by EasyRaider Off-topic note: Why uncompressed wav? You could save lots of disk space with lossless compression like FLAC. HDD space sure is cheap these days, but >100 GB...

Yes i know...I have two 120GB HDDs and i still have lots of free space.But im planning to get into the Team Flac soon

back on the topic:the MAudio 2496 goes for 150$new on ebay.Seems like a great deal.And even combined with a Headsave mint the cost will still be less than the TBH.

 

[Wodgy]

You would probably get better sound quality by going the separates route, but I have not heard the TBH so take that with a grain of salt.

You can find specs for the DAC used in the TBH by searching for "PCM2902 datasheet". It's not a very high end chip.

 

[cpw]

FWIW,
I have a TBH and have been very happy with it. I couldn't imagine how much better a more expensive amp could sound. When I got my HR-2, I listened to that exclusively for about 10 days and when I went back to the TBH the difference was very apparent. Still, not fair to compare TBH w/ an amp 3x more expensive. I still feel the sound is very good for a portable and the convenience of DAC w/ my laptop is great.
An unexpected benefit was just brought to light by Jamey in a thread I'd started called "line out on TBH". Apparently, one can use TBH to get analog sound into computer. They never mentioned that but I think it's very cool.
As to the quality of DAC, I'm undecided. I use my TBH mostly w/ an iPod equipped w/ SIK iMP to provide a "line out" and I feel that the DAC in the iPod sounds better than my laptop thru the TBH. It's not a huge difference but IMO noticable.
No one else seems to share this view w/ me. At least no one else has posted it.
All in all I'm very happy w/ my TBH.
CPW

 

[EasyRaider]

Quote:

Originally posted by cpw As to the quality of DAC, I'm undecided. I use my TBH mostly w/ an iPod equipped w/ SIK iMP to provide a "line out" and I feel that the DAC in the iPod sounds better than my laptop thru the TBH. It's not a huge difference but IMO noticable.

If an iPod beats it, I don't think it's worth for me to consider.

Oh well, guess I'll have to find a good soundcard and a separate amp.

 

[gsferrari]

For the price of a Bithead here is what I would do :-
-----------------------------------------------------------------

1] Xitel PRO USB DAC (Optical and RCA outputs)
2] MINT amplifier by JMT (www.jmtaudio.com)

you have the flexibility of a portable headphone amp, portable laptop sound card (the combination of the two is a soundcard

but the processing is still done by the CPU which is the case even with the Bithead)

I think the combo will offer better sound quality because I think the amp section of the bithead and airhead is the same. And I liked the sound of the CMOY better than the sound of the Airhead

 

[mecano]

Quote:

Originally posted by cpw FWIW, As to the quality of DAC, I'm undecided. I use my TBH mostly w/ an iPod equipped w/ SIK iMP to provide a "line out" and I feel that the DAC in the iPod sounds better than my laptop thru the TBH. It's not a huge difference but IMO noticable. CPW

You believe that the iPod DAC is better that the TBH?Very dissapointing...I expected something better from Headroom.

 

[cpw]

As i said, afaik, no one else has expressed the same opinion. My experience has been that the iPod w/ IMP line out seems fuller sounding than the bithead from laptop playing the same files. Maybe the bithead is actually a more accurate/detailed conversion. Maybe it's a coloration issue. Maybe its a gain issue. The TBH w/ laptopsounds very good but just not quite as "full" to my ears. I've tried to get other Head-Fiers to confirm this impression but so far have not heard anyone else express the same opinion. I guess there may not be that many TBH/iPod/iMP users out there at this point who could make the exact same comparison i"m making. Please don't judge the TBH solely based on my impression. I'm very new at the headphone game. In fact the TBH was my first dedicated hp amp and I've only had it a handful of weeks. Unfortunately for my wallet, it was the beginning of the end! I've since bought HD600, ER-4P/S, Ray Samuels HR-2, Meridian 508.20, cabinetry and expensive cables! But I repeat, I'm really nooooo!
I've got some experience w/ speaker based systems but not much experience w/ DAC's and headphones. Again, I like the TBH very much and have no intention of replacing it w/ a soundcard. For me, the TBH is for listening to MP3/AAC files (not critical listening) either on my laptop or (more often) w/ my iPod and ETY's using the analog in which sounds awesome. No, it doesn't sound like the Meridian/HR-2 but no one should expect it to.
CPW

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by mecano You believe that the iPod DAC is better that the TBH?Very dissapointing...I expected something better from Headroom.

The iPod DAC is definitely better than the TBH DAC, if you're going by measured specs. No question.

 

[cpw]

Quote:

The iPod DAC is definitely better than the TBH DAC, if you're going by measured specs. No question.

interesting, I wonder if Headroom has any intention of revisiting the choice of DAC when they bring out the revised TBH. It doesn't sound like they are. It's nice to know that my ears aren't to blame.

Still love the product. The analog in sounds absolutely wonderful.

CPW