Little Dot I+ Tube Rolling
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bundy
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Hi to all, i'm looking for a bit of advice please. I was given an op amp with the code LT1366 cn8 can this be used in my little dot. I have tried looking but i can't find any information on it but that doesn't surprise me as i'm new to computers & even newer to valves & op amps. Any help please.
gibosi
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I see that you asked this same question about two years ago and I guess you never got an answer....
http://www.head-fi.org/t/364043/little-dot-i-tube-rolling/1905#post_10648824
I have no experience with this op amp but it looks to be pin-compatible with the op-amp socket in the LD. However, as you note, searching google doesn't turn up anything very useful. So I think the best course of action is to contact Little Dot directly and ask them.
bundy
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Thank you very much for your help. I am sorry for repeating the question, i have had a few strokes & it affects my memory. Do you know if it would do any harm to try it?
gibosi
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I do not "know" for sure that if it would not cause any harm. That said, I seriously doubt that it would do any harm. And as I tend to be more willing than most to try new tubes and op amps, I would definitely give it a try.
But again, if you wish to be cautious, I would suggest that you contact Little Dot directly at <little.tube@gmail.com>
Several years ago (2013), I wrote to them about trying the MUSES01 in my LD and I got a response the very next day.
Good luck!
But again, if you wish to be cautious, I would suggest that you contact Little Dot directly at <little.tube@gmail.com>
Several years ago (2013), I wrote to them about trying the MUSES01 in my LD and I got a response the very next day.
Good luck!
bundy
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Thank you for the advice gibosi I wrote to the address you provided & I to received a reply the next day. The good news is I can use that op amp (LT1366cn8) in my amp, I will try it later today.
gibosi
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Great! And I hope you will let us know how it sounds.
Cheers
Cheers
bundy
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I will for sure
happy days
Supurderek
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Just wanted to say thank you for all the info! I am afraid this is just a long road of addiction...
WilliamLeonhart
Headphoneus Supremus
Been quite a few weeks since I receive the V5 SS from Burson and I've been writing a review for the I+ V5 combo. Below are some of my first impressions on this spectacular combo with my beloved Grado SR325e. But first, some photos!
The V5 SS is really much bigger than other opamps.
Which explains why I can't close the lower panel of my I+
The I+ have remained pant-less during these past few weeks.
The box that the V5 came in next to my LD.
These impressions with the SR325e are just a part of what I intend to say about my V5 I+ in the future. There will be a ATH-AD2000, a THX00, an AKG K7xx (and perhaps other headphones) in this review as well, but I'll have to wait till July to receive the ATH-AD, so the review will only be completed by then. So without further ado:
My most favorite headphones of all time: Grado SR325e. So favorite that I've sold and bought it again for 3 times (if you also count the 325is, that's 6 times). The SR325e is perhaps one of the most Grado-ish of all Grados with crunchy bass, highly energetic trebles and sweet refined mids, even though the mid-range here can be considered a bit more neutral and less forward than its siblings RS1i or SR60e.
What would the I+ V5 brings to my 325e? First of all, with the right tube it retains all the thing I love the most about the 325 line: aggressive trebles and textured, forceful bass.
Take my reference Metal track for example: I Remain by Paradise Lost. Each guitar notes rings out really nice into the soundstage, each cymbal crash or snare beat can be felt with the satisfying "crunchie" that I've come to love from the 325 line. Most beautiful and addictive of all is the distorted guitar sound: one again, it's as if you can count each layer inside the riff. Think of the words that are often used to name those Metal subgenres. "Groove", "Grind(core)", "Industrial", "Thrash" etc. The riffs on my V5 I+ 325e combo are going to turn all those lousy names into reality.
The Burson V5 SS must play some role in bringing out the bass and the low-mid sections from my SR325e, as my old MUSES8820 reduced these to ...And Justice for All level. That was the reason why my GE JAN 5654W never got much love while the MUSES was driving my I+, but now with the V5 SS I can certainly enjoy the sparkly trebles and the slightly accented mids.
On the other hand, it's quite obvious to me that the V5SS gives a smoother, more laid-back sound than the 8820. No wonder my Siemens 5654W turns out to be too smooth, too laid-back to pair with the V5 SS on my I+. These tubes practically muffle everything from November Rain (Guns n' Roses) to Angels (Within Temptation).
It can be said that the level of smooth-ness and forward-ness determines which tubes pair well and which don't with my I+ V5. My Voskhods 6ZH1P-EV, while also belong to the "warmer" group, doesn't take the bites away from my SR325e. Or, my CV4010 would turn my Nightwish listening session into a bombastic cinematic experience that any Tarja Turunen fan should have the chance to enjoy. It's is with this combo that Over the Hills and Faraway fires its denied-for-10-years emotions into the oceanic soundstage.
Wait, what did I say? "Soundstage"? Yep that's right, with the I+ V5 now my SR325e actually has a big one! Ask any Grado fan (like me) about these Brooklyn handmade's weakness and the first word comes to mind should be soundstage. Thankfully the I+ V5 is here to help! Actually, my tubes and the Little Dot already opens the soundstage a bit in comparison to the benchmark O2 ODAC sound, but it's with the V5 SS that a Grado fan can experience the spacious feeling that, say, AKG K612 users are used to. Now instead of me sitting onstage with the guitarist, the bassist and the drummers, I can hear them playing onstage with me taking a comfortable sip in a middle-row seat. Sure, it does take a bit of intimacy away, but that's totally acceptable for someone who's not really into Jazz like me. It's interesting to hear the wife proclaim "Oh, it sounds really wide!", which she never did on a Grado.
That all said, the soundstage here is more wide than deep, and it's still not as 3D as what you'd have on a true crossfade amp/DAC. But don't be surprised if upgrading the stock opamp to the V5 SS feels like you just switched headphones.
Details have never been a strength of the SR325e in comparison to its higher-priced siblings in the RS, PS and GS lines, but at least on my I+ V5 there's no such thing as "I can hear this on the $700 RS1i but it's nowhere to be found on the SR325e". The quality of those details is another matter, but I think the Eagles diehard in me is quite pleased with what I got on Hell Freezes Over. And let's face a somewhat unpleasant truth: the LD I+ is a cheap tube amp, so in the stock configuration more often than not it would take away those micro details we crave rather than accent them up. The V5 opamp and more detail-oriented tubes like the GE JAN and the Voshkhods would help resolve that problem, though much cheaper opamp like the MUSES8820 and 8920 can also do that. Anyway, just take away the stock opamp and put into the I+ something of quality and you can enjoy nitpicking those details out of your favorite Indie tracks.
My beautiful, beautiful SR325e.
One thing I like the most about Grados is how easy it is to change the sound by changing the pads. This adds another dimension to the tune-ability of the whole sound signature. On songs where even the V5 SS cannot help the bass to be more prominent, I'd change to using the Sennheiser HD414 pads. Normally, this would result in a very unpleasant trade-off: the Grado soundstage, small as it is, would get reduced even more. Even Radiohead or Pink Floyd would become claustrophobic in that case. This is one more instance where the expansive V5 soundstage helps: it helps balance out the closeness that the Sennheiser pads bring, allowing me to enjoy the bass without any particular trade-offs.
All in all (for the SR325e), experiment all you can, but I think how much you'd like the V5 on your LD I+ really depends on what kind of tubes and what kind of headphones you're using. For me, the tube shouldn't be too laid back.
The V5 SS is really much bigger than other opamps.
Which explains why I can't close the lower panel of my I+
The I+ have remained pant-less during these past few weeks.
The box that the V5 came in next to my LD.
These impressions with the SR325e are just a part of what I intend to say about my V5 I+ in the future. There will be a ATH-AD2000, a THX00, an AKG K7xx (and perhaps other headphones) in this review as well, but I'll have to wait till July to receive the ATH-AD, so the review will only be completed by then. So without further ado:
My most favorite headphones of all time: Grado SR325e. So favorite that I've sold and bought it again for 3 times (if you also count the 325is, that's 6 times). The SR325e is perhaps one of the most Grado-ish of all Grados with crunchy bass, highly energetic trebles and sweet refined mids, even though the mid-range here can be considered a bit more neutral and less forward than its siblings RS1i or SR60e.
What would the I+ V5 brings to my 325e? First of all, with the right tube it retains all the thing I love the most about the 325 line: aggressive trebles and textured, forceful bass.
Take my reference Metal track for example: I Remain by Paradise Lost. Each guitar notes rings out really nice into the soundstage, each cymbal crash or snare beat can be felt with the satisfying "crunchie" that I've come to love from the 325 line. Most beautiful and addictive of all is the distorted guitar sound: one again, it's as if you can count each layer inside the riff. Think of the words that are often used to name those Metal subgenres. "Groove", "Grind(core)", "Industrial", "Thrash" etc. The riffs on my V5 I+ 325e combo are going to turn all those lousy names into reality.
The Burson V5 SS must play some role in bringing out the bass and the low-mid sections from my SR325e, as my old MUSES8820 reduced these to ...And Justice for All level. That was the reason why my GE JAN 5654W never got much love while the MUSES was driving my I+, but now with the V5 SS I can certainly enjoy the sparkly trebles and the slightly accented mids.
On the other hand, it's quite obvious to me that the V5SS gives a smoother, more laid-back sound than the 8820. No wonder my Siemens 5654W turns out to be too smooth, too laid-back to pair with the V5 SS on my I+. These tubes practically muffle everything from November Rain (Guns n' Roses) to Angels (Within Temptation).
It can be said that the level of smooth-ness and forward-ness determines which tubes pair well and which don't with my I+ V5. My Voskhods 6ZH1P-EV, while also belong to the "warmer" group, doesn't take the bites away from my SR325e. Or, my CV4010 would turn my Nightwish listening session into a bombastic cinematic experience that any Tarja Turunen fan should have the chance to enjoy. It's is with this combo that Over the Hills and Faraway fires its denied-for-10-years emotions into the oceanic soundstage.
Wait, what did I say? "Soundstage"? Yep that's right, with the I+ V5 now my SR325e actually has a big one! Ask any Grado fan (like me) about these Brooklyn handmade's weakness and the first word comes to mind should be soundstage. Thankfully the I+ V5 is here to help! Actually, my tubes and the Little Dot already opens the soundstage a bit in comparison to the benchmark O2 ODAC sound, but it's with the V5 SS that a Grado fan can experience the spacious feeling that, say, AKG K612 users are used to. Now instead of me sitting onstage with the guitarist, the bassist and the drummers, I can hear them playing onstage with me taking a comfortable sip in a middle-row seat. Sure, it does take a bit of intimacy away, but that's totally acceptable for someone who's not really into Jazz like me. It's interesting to hear the wife proclaim "Oh, it sounds really wide!", which she never did on a Grado.
That all said, the soundstage here is more wide than deep, and it's still not as 3D as what you'd have on a true crossfade amp/DAC. But don't be surprised if upgrading the stock opamp to the V5 SS feels like you just switched headphones.
Details have never been a strength of the SR325e in comparison to its higher-priced siblings in the RS, PS and GS lines, but at least on my I+ V5 there's no such thing as "I can hear this on the $700 RS1i but it's nowhere to be found on the SR325e". The quality of those details is another matter, but I think the Eagles diehard in me is quite pleased with what I got on Hell Freezes Over. And let's face a somewhat unpleasant truth: the LD I+ is a cheap tube amp, so in the stock configuration more often than not it would take away those micro details we crave rather than accent them up. The V5 opamp and more detail-oriented tubes like the GE JAN and the Voshkhods would help resolve that problem, though much cheaper opamp like the MUSES8820 and 8920 can also do that. Anyway, just take away the stock opamp and put into the I+ something of quality and you can enjoy nitpicking those details out of your favorite Indie tracks.
My beautiful, beautiful SR325e.
One thing I like the most about Grados is how easy it is to change the sound by changing the pads. This adds another dimension to the tune-ability of the whole sound signature. On songs where even the V5 SS cannot help the bass to be more prominent, I'd change to using the Sennheiser HD414 pads. Normally, this would result in a very unpleasant trade-off: the Grado soundstage, small as it is, would get reduced even more. Even Radiohead or Pink Floyd would become claustrophobic in that case. This is one more instance where the expansive V5 soundstage helps: it helps balance out the closeness that the Sennheiser pads bring, allowing me to enjoy the bass without any particular trade-offs.
All in all (for the SR325e), experiment all you can, but I think how much you'd like the V5 on your LD I+ really depends on what kind of tubes and what kind of headphones you're using. For me, the tube shouldn't be too laid back.
sayitaintsoap
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Anyone know a good place to buy a pair of M8083 tubes? I don't see any on Yen's Audio store, practically the only trusted place I've read about.
AzraelDarkangel
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I tried the Burson in my Little Dot 1+ but I like the Sparkos Labs op amp better. But the Burson is a bit darker so might suit bright headphones better. I just felt the Burson was a bit more closed in or even congested compared to the Sparkos. I have Audio-Technica AD1000X headphones.
gibosi
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Just for the record, I have considerably more than 1000 tubes, most of which have been purchased from a large number of eBay vendors. So. From my perspective, the notion that Yen's Audio is the "only" trusted place seems unnecessarily cautious. But perhaps the British company, Langrex, might be acceptable to you.
http://www.langrex.co.uk/
And fortunately, they have a presence on eBay and are offering matched pairs of Mullard M8083:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/M8083-EF91-SPECIAL-CV5377-MULLARD-MATCHED-PAIR-NOS-/260735396781
sayitaintsoap
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Oh no, I meant that I am very little versed on the subject of tube buying and from the little research I have done, I have only heard of Yen's audio store being a good to go vendor from the Headfi community. I'm sure there are plenty of others and I will check out Langrex. I've only had my little dot, my first tube amp for a few weeks, haha.
gulakpi
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I also have good experiences with Langrex.
I bought a pair of tubes from them awhile ago. The tubes were received good, but one piece lost sound after 4 days. They shipped me a new tube promptly without any questions!
I bought a pair of tubes from them awhile ago. The tubes were received good, but one piece lost sound after 4 days. They shipped me a new tube promptly without any questions!
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