[Mr_Sukebe]

How easy is it to mod the Little Dot 2 so that the volume control is bypassed? I'm guessing it's just a question of resoldering some internal connections, but thought it appropriate to ask.

 

[aristos_achaion]

Assuming that it doesn't use an unusual pot, it shouldn't be too hard. Are you wanting to remove the pot altogether or simply reroute sound around it?

Here's a good video explaining how pots work. It's really straightforward, and pots aren't that hard to understand.

Also, are you wanting the amp to output its full volume constantly? If you were removing the pot entirely, it should be fairly easy to just stick some resistors between the in and out pins and between the out and ground to lessen the volume.

ED: Should probably mention that just bypassing the pot should just be a matter of soldering a wire from the in pin to the out, or desoldering the pot and soldering in a wire from the input to the output, ignoring ground. In theory, since two resistors in parallel have a resistance of R1*R2/(R1+R2), having a (relatively) zero-resistance wire running in parallel to the resistor should bypass the resistor entirely, so bypassing the pot with a wire should be A-OK, and it wouldn't require desoldering. Then again, I'd just get rid of the pot, to be able to recycle it in something else, because it looks neater, and because theory is often only the same as practice in theory.

 

[john57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Sukebe /img/forum/go_quote.gif How easy is it to mod the Little Dot 2 so that the volume control is bypassed? I'm guessing it's just a question of resoldering some internal connections, but thought it appropriate to ask.

Why would you want to do that? No control over the headphones?

 

[googleborg]

i'm smoking pots right now.


cheers, that was great video

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by john57 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why would you want to do that? No control over the headphones?

If the stock pot isn't what he likes (maybe it's introducing channel imbalances or just generally degrading the signal), he doesn't want to / doesn't have room to upgrade to something like an Alps Blue Velvet, and he has another way of controlling volume (say, a uDAC or a computer volume control) he might want to bypass the original pot.

 

[john57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aristos_achaion /img/forum/go_quote.gif If the stock pot isn't what he likes (maybe it's introducing channel imbalances or just generally degrading the signal), he doesn't want to / doesn't have room to upgrade to something like an Alps Blue Velvet, and he has another way of controlling volume (say, a uDAC or a computer volume control) he might want to bypass the original pot.

Still miss my point it would make the headphone jack on the unit useless and adding a pot on the headphone line just makes it worst. If his aim was to have a fixed output there are better ways. Unless we know what his aim is it is kind of speculative at this point.

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by john57 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Still miss my point it would make the headphone jack on the unit useless and adding a pot on the headphone line just makes it worst. If his aim was to have a fixed output there are better ways. Unless we know what his aim is it is kind of speculative at this point.

Not necessarily; I've seen pot-less amps before. I'm not entirely sure why you say that it'd make the headphone jack useless...a pot is just a variable resistor to ground for adjusting voltage drop (with the loudest setting presumably being the equivalent of a plain wire), so wouldn't just bypassing or removing the pot just make the amp always output its loudest setting?

I suppose a more cautious setup would be to just put two resistors in each channel (in -> out -> ground) which add up to the pot's resistance...say, a 10ohm + 40ohm if it's a 50ohm pot. That should do exactly what the pot does, except fixed rather than variable.

What better ways for fixed output were you thinking of? (I'm not trying to be confrontational or anything, I'm genuinely curious!

)

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Sorry guys, I should have set some context by trying to explain my thoughts.
At present I use an SB3 via SPDIF into my Meridian 568.2 processor, which acts as a DAC and pre-amp. I've found the easiest way to link it to my existing headphone amp is to use the front stereo pre-outs (unbalanced) from the processor to my headphone amp. That means that I make use of the DAC and volume control within my processor. The benefits being that I believe the 568.2 to have a rather good volume control, and additionally, I get to use it with remote contol.
As such, I don't need a volume control at all, and my present headphone amp is simply set to max (I did check with Jan Meier before running it in this manner to see if there would be an issue and he said not).