[nickyboyo]

Try it with a fresh 9V alkaline and see if works as it should. Also, how are you liking the caffeine so far?

 

[nyjets28]

ok well robert advised me to try to recharge using a ac adapter...so i've been charging for a couple hours now. maybe the batteries just didn't come fully charged is what i'm thinking. now if this doesn't work, i'll check again with the alkalines (which worked flawlessly during the entire burn-in period). hopefully the batteries just needed a charge.

btw, i love the sound of the caffeine. i am very happy with getting rid of my t4 in favor of this. i've been listening to the lotr soundtracks....soooo good with this setup.

 

[nyjets28]

yea turned out that i just needed to charge the battery. loving the decision to get this amp so far.

 

[nyjets28]

does it matter what voltage AC adapter you use? i'm not sure but i used a 9v 300mA adapter to charge the first time and it seemed to charge my battery. but then today i had a different 9v 500mA adapter charge my amp for the whole day and the battery is still dead.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyjets28 /img/forum/go_quote.gif does it matter what voltage AC adapter you use? i'm not sure but i used a 9v 300mA adapter to charge the first time and it seemed to charge my battery. but then today i had a different 9v 500mA adapter charge my amp for the whole day and the battery is still dead.

I seem to recall a 12v power adapter works better for charging in the Penguin, while a 9v might be fine for charging another amp like my XM5. You should email Robert at penhuin and ask him about that.

 

[faranka]

Just a quick question to you guys.
I'm using my Cowon D2 -> FiiO E5 -> Audeo PFE combo for quite a while now and enjoying it. Will it be a step up to use a penquin amp instead of the E5? Or won't it bennefit that much?

Cheers,

Frank

 

[yeahx]

I use the FiiO with my PFE for portability at work only because I dont have a belt clip for my caffeine anymore. I think it sounds better, but I dont know if its that huge of a difference. I think soundstage is a lot better with the Caffeine though. I have listened to a few acoustic songs back to back because I didnt think there was much difference but I changed my mind after that. Im not the best person to reply to this probably but I do use both so I thought I would give it a shot.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by faranka /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just a quick question to you guys. I'm using my Cowon D2 -> FiiO E5 -> Audeo PFE combo for quite a while now and enjoying it. Will it be a step up to use a penquin amp instead of the E5? Or won't it bennefit that much? Cheers, Frank

The caffeine is more detailed with bigger soundstage than the E5. I think the Caffeine treble is crisper as well. I can't say I have tried the power limits of the E5, but the Caffeine should be more powerful with it's 9v supply and AD8397 opamp. Based on it's sound, the Caffeine competes with higher rated mid-level amps like Meier Headsix and iBasso D2, even though it's priced with other bottom-level amps. I know that's surprising, but that's what I thought.

 

[GaryPham]

Hi guys, I was reading some old posts where some people have mentioned buying their caffeine amps on ebay. Does anyone know if Robert still sells his amps on ebay? If so, what is his user name and what searchwords would I use?

 

[DoYouRight]

cute little bugger. Might get one for my dad.

 

[yeahx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryPham /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys, I was reading some old posts where some people have mentioned buying their caffeine amps on ebay. Does anyone know if Robert still sells his amps on ebay? If so, what is his user name and what searchwords would I use?

I think he sells on ebay by headphonia which is his company's name and I couldnt see any up for sale on there at the moment. I almost didnt get mine because at the time it was thought they were not available anymore. Then when I was looking to get a BioScienceGeek amp, they were there again. I ordered from the website though instead.

Im glad I could answer that because I want to say something without flooding this thread too much.

I have seen some amps mentioned here that I thought of checking out, even though I planned on this being my main amp for as long as possible. But now after reading what a few people have said in this thread and another about how it compares to others I wanted, I know I can put that money to better use.

I do get pretty lousy battery life though. I swear it's worse when I pause because it dies a lot while I forget Im paused for a few minutes. I have meant to ask about it but was too lazy to start a thread. Any ideas?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Did you see my suggestion about the 9v adapter not being enough voltage for the charging circuit in the Caffeine? I used a 12v, and I think Robert was selling a 15 or 16v adapter for them. I know the battery is only a 9v, but the difference between the adapter's and battery's voltage is important. So, I said to email Robert at Penguinamp and see what he says.

I was getting over 24 hours on a re-chargable, and 50-75 hours on an alkaline.

 

[yeahx]

Yeah I know, I found a nice 12v adapter at a thrift store that works nicely. But I find if I use the amp for a work shift and try again the next day, it dies on me not even half way through the shift. I got the same results before when I only had a 9v plug so I was charging the battery on a charger. This even happens with alkaline too I think. I even bought a new battery when I found that now the energizer ones come as 8.4v instead of the 7.2v of my older one. I thought it might sound better. I have just been too lazy or broke to get one of those weird named 9v ones off ebay. I have it set on low gain, bass boost on, and the volume barely turned up. But I dont mind recharging it, just have to remember more often.

Oh btw, I know all this from your review thread which is where I did all my research on it before buying it

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeahx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah I know, I found a nice 12v adapter at a thrift store that works nicely. But I find if I use the amp for a work shift and try again the next day, it dies on me not even half way through the shift. I got the same results before when I only had a 9v plug so I was charging the battery on a charger. This even happens with alkaline too I think. I even bought a new battery when I found that now the energizer ones come as 8.4v instead of the 7.2v of my older one. I thought it might sound better. I have just been too lazy or broke to get one of those weird named 9v ones off ebay. I have it set on low gain, bass boost on, and the volume barely turned up. But I dont mind recharging it, just have to remember more often. Oh btw, I know all this from your review thread which is where I did all my research on it before buying it

Well, test it and see just how many hours you are getting from an Energizer or Duracell alkaline, and if it's less than 48 hours there is a problem.

 

[shawn_low]

Is it me or have prices gone up? I was on the Penguin amp (international) website and the cosmetically flawed version was US$49. It's US$55 today!