[SpudHarris]

He answered that one already...
 
AudioMinor.

 

[TheDreamthinker]

My apologies, I didn't see that.

 

[Zerius]

What caps are you using?

 

[3602]

An iPhone needs cap-out not.

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

An iPhone needs cap-out not.

answer's NOT dude. no ipod/iphone need a cap out - just a lineout or LOD to amp. cap outs only to iMod or similiar mod'd ipods cos they have a mod'd output direct from DAC sans internal (ie cheap & awefully sound degrading) dc coupling caps meaning these iMod devices, beside output music in AC current, they also pump out approx 1.3v of potentially harmful DC current.
 
the caps in the special iMod LODs which serves to block the DC current, are generally much much better in quality & (hopefully) sonics so's to provide the best SQ. thats what the cap-outs for but ofcos, best SQ is to use no cap. for instance, if one knows that the downstream connected amp is cap coupled (&a lot are), one can use a normal LOD (sans caps) for best SQ.
 
FWIW, i do a direct LOD out from my diy iMod to amp. 

 

[keroro]

 
Quote:

answer's NOT dude. no ipod/iphone need a cap out - just a lineout or LOD to amp. cap outs only to iMod or similiar mod'd ipods cos they have a mod'd output direct from DAC sans internal (ie cheap & awefully sound degrading) dc coupling caps meaning these iMod devices, beside output music in AC current, they also pump out approx 1.3v of potentially harmful DC current.
 
the caps in the special iMod LODs which serves to block the DC current, are generally much much better in quality & (hopefully) sonics so's to provide the best SQ. thats what the cap-outs for but ofcos, best SQ is to use no cap. for instance, if one knows that the downstream connected amp is cap coupled (&a lot are), one can use a normal LOD (sans caps) for best SQ.
 
FWIW, i do a direct LOD out from my diy iMod to amp. 

sry if i interpret it wrongly, u mean you use a normal LOD instead of an imod LOD? wont it spoilt the amp or something? thx in advance for the enlightenment.
 

 

[grokit]

Some amps like the ATH-HA5000 have two sets of inputs, one for regular "DC direct" and one with caps in the input, I think it may be a Japanese market thing.

 

[scottiebabie]

well lets put it this way. i measured a true 1.27v DC out of my diy iMod. if one were to input that directly into an amp with a gain of say....8, theres a potential DC output of 1.3v X 8 = 10v at amp output. now this mite (& i stress MITE & only mite) overheat the headphone transducer's voice coils & fry them. as a rule, up to 50mv of DC is deemed acceptable & anything above is def frowned upon.
 
that said, alot of amps are capacitor coupled - ie they have a cap somewhere along the signal path before the amp out. therefore, any errant DC will be blocked before getting to the headphones (or speakers). barring the amps schematics, best way to check is to measure the amps output via a DMM. any DC reading of 50mv & above are def signs of abberant behavior in the amp &or other upstream gear. 
 
otherwise, going with no cap is always golden as the best cap is no cap.

 

[grokit]

Still it was pretty cool running my iMod directly into the capped circuit of that amp, seeing as I don't really know much about practical electronics, don't have the math worked out, don't want to fry those coils lol. For regular components I used the DC direct input, at least I did my homework!

 

[SpudHarris]

Well every day is a school day - Thanks scottiebabie, I will test my amps this evening with the DMM and see what gives...

 

[keroro]

Quote:

well lets put it this way. i measured a true 1.27v DC out of my diy iMod. if one were to input that directly into an amp with a gain of say....8, theres a potential DC output of 1.3v X 8 = 10v at amp output. now this mite (& i stress MITE & only mite) overheat the headphone transducer's voice coils & fry them. as a rule, up to 50mv of DC is deemed acceptable & anything above is def frowned upon.
 
that said, alot of amps are capacitor coupled - ie they have a cap somewhere along the signal path before the amp out. therefore, any errant DC will be blocked before getting to the headphones (or speakers). barring the amps schematics, best way to check is to measure the amps output via a DMM. any DC reading of 50mv & above are def signs of abberant behavior in the amp &or other upstream gear. 
 
otherwise, going with no cap is always golden as the best cap is no cap.

kindda understand what u'r saying. so basically can amp get fried right? and tat means an imod LOD which has capasitors such as  blackgates/sonicap/vcap and which are more expensive is just a marketing scheme? basing on ur explanation, if best cap is no cap that means these capasitors will only degrade the sq?
one more thing that comes to my mind is that if the capasitors tend to limit the output, why cant we connect our headphones directly without using an amp? that will save us the expensive Interconnect too....

 

[SpudHarris]

Well in my limited knowledge the reason people use the dock from the bottom of the ipod is because it outputs a clean line level signal as opposed to plugging your phones into the headphone out which is an internally amplified (dirty/poor) signal. So clean line out signal into an amp which in theory should enhance the output further against the headphone out??.....
 
The reason caps are needed in an iMod LOD is because the caps etc inside the ipod have been bypassed as they are considered poor quality and degrade the signal and the dc needs blocking as explained by scottiebabie.
 
I have an iMod but never even considered using one of my standard LOD's. Obviously gonna do the necessary checks with the multi-metre before plugging phones into my amp but definately gonna give it a try tonight though...

 

[keroro]

 
Quote:

Well in my limited knowledge the reason people use the dock from the bottom of the ipod is because it outputs a clean line level signal as opposed to plugging your phones into the headphone out which is an internally amplified (dirty/poor) signal. So clean line out signal into an amp which in theory should enhance the output further against the headphone out??.....
 
The reason caps are needed in an iMod LOD is because the caps etc inside the ipod have been bypassed as they are considered poor quality and degrade the signal and the dc needs blocking as explained by scottiebabie.
 
I have an iMod but never even considered using one of my standard LOD's. Obviously gonna do the necessary checks with the multi-metre before plugging phones into my amp but definately gonna give it a try tonight though...

hi, that's not what i'm trying to say. what i meant was that yes we do an imod, and connecting the dock from the bottom directly to our headphones thru the imod dock/cap without an amplifier and IC. since the capasitors already limit the DC output.
 
sry, i dun really know regarding the proper term to describe all these.(eg: dock, caps),,might had used it wrongly.

 

[jpelg]

Pls take iMod capacitor discussions elsewhere.

 

[keoni]

 
I do need a new player. =p