[senny-ftw]

Hi,

I'm after more power from the Total Bithead to drive HD600s. Anyone tried modding?

 

[sidewinder]

4AA batteries won't cut it for a 300 Ohm headphone. Check a Headroom amp running on 2x9V.

Just to say, mine can run an 600 Ohm AKG at nice dB, so that's gonna be great for your requirements

 

[senny-ftw]

Gonna go buy a car battery and wire it to the TB

 

[Oliver :)]

My Total Airhead always liked being powered from a wallwart. I used a regulated supply that could switch voltage. IIRC the TA would sound great around 15V or so. Check your TBH's manual for what you can throw at it.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally Posted by senny-ftw Gonna go buy a car battery and wire it to the TB

Get a truck battery. It has 24v.

 

[replytoken]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver My Total Airhead always liked being powered from a wallwart. ............ IIRC the TA would sound great around 15V or so.

This has been my experience with the TAH and HD-600's. It seemed to eliminate much of the clipping that I was having when it was just powered on batteries.

 

[Jamey Warren]

Unfortunately the BitHead cannot be powered from an external AC adaptor without modification. You could use our standard AC adaptor with the connector cut off and then wire it directly to the battery terminals. Then switch over to 'battery' power and you should have more voltage available. Just don't tell the repair department I told you

and make sure you put the + wire where it belongs.

 

[senny-ftw]

Thanks

 

[trains are bad]

Could you chop the mini end off a USB cable and wire it in that way? I doubt it, because it's probably switched.

 

[Jamey Warren]

No. The BitHead needs to be hooked up to a computer to receive power through its USB port.

 

[never2clever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamey Unfortunately the BitHead cannot be powered from an external AC adaptor without modification. You could use our standard AC adaptor with the connector cut off and then wire it directly to the battery terminals. Then switch over to 'battery' power and you should have more voltage available. Just don't tell the repair department I told you and make sure you put the + wire where it belongs.

What voltage/current would this modded TBH need to run from?
Would these ELPAC 24v ones that people seem to like be too much?
Is the 9v one for the TAH enough juice to make a difference and drive HD580s or HD650s?

I want to get a TBH since it fits my application/price range perfectly. But I got a great deal on a pair of (hard to drive) HD650s, so I am concerned that a TBH won't have enough oomph. A microstack is out of the price range.

Thanks!

mg

 

[Jamey Warren]

12V is the maximum recommended voltage. You would need a supply with at least 200mA of current. The standard 9V supply would provide more output with your HD650's. 24V is too much.

 

[senny-ftw]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?...=4m3&worldid=3

Is this worth a try? 12V @ 800mA

Is it likely to sound awful?

Thanks very much for the helpful answers Jamey

EDIT: I just noticed that HeadRoom sells adapters seperately, but am a bit confused about the models.

http://www.headphone.com/products/ad...upply-220v.php

Is that the one? It's 15V though. Whichever supply I go for will need to have a UK 3-pin socket - like this one:

http://www.rpelectronics.com/Data/138-450.JPG

 

[fkclo]

I don't really think that the Total Bit Head (which is my first amp to power my ER-4P @ 27 Ohm) is designed with the high impedance phone in mind (e.g. 240DF, HD6x0). So, I would doubt if more juice from outside will help to bring out the real potential of these phones. Although I am not an audio engineer, power should just be one of the many parameters that make an amp sound great with good headphones.

F. Lo

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkclo I don't really think that the Total Bit Head is designed with the high impedance phone in mind (e.g. 240DF, HD6x0). So, I would doubt if more juice from outside will help to bring out the real potential of these phones.

The parts used in the TBH are "rail-to-rail" parts which mean they can output voltages fairly close to the rail voltage, and they are capable of running properly on a changing rail voltages---which is what happens when the batteries discharge over time. So, adding an external supply with a higher voltage than the batteries provide do give the amp more headroom befor clipping. The amp is not designed with any particular headphone impedance in mind, but they do clip a bit with high impedance cans running at fairly high levels. This typically happens sooner on the USB than on battery power as the USB voltage is typically lower than the battery voltage.

My experience is that the TAH and TBH sound best at about 9 volts. With the TAH you can just plug in a 9VDC wall wart, with the TBH you have to hack in something like Jamey mentioned above.