Q: Headphone amp as preamp?
Mar 19, 2008 at 5:38 PM Post #17 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's a bit early to report on that because they are still breaking in. I like what I hear so far though. Refined, spacious, and detailed. Have no regrets so far.


I have these speakers for over 5 months now. And they are getting better and better. I believe I can hear all the details that I want with these speakers, so I am actually planning to sell some of my headphone gears and get the fund needed for a spec out Headroom Desktop Amp with the Power brick to replace my Hornet and micro DAC setup.
 
Mar 20, 2008 at 2:42 PM Post #18 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by solvexyz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I have these speakers for over 5 months now. And they are getting better and better. I believe I can hear all the details that I want with these speakers, so I am actually planning to sell some of my headphone gears and get the fund needed for a spec out Headroom Desktop Amp with the Power brick to replace my Hornet and micro DAC setup.


Good to hear. I am really diggin' them. How do you have your EQ switches set?

I actually tried raising my speakers a bit higher (6 inches) on a stack of books and they do seem to sound better. The mids sound a bit more even, and I think the detail is better but now the tweeters are above my ear level when I'm actually sitting (my desk is a bit high). I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands
 
Mar 20, 2008 at 6:21 PM Post #19 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands



Well, of course there is, I may be a nut-case, but I'm not an idiot!
biggrin.gif


I'll give you another tip: go down to your local Target or some such place and look for "Wall Cubes." They look like this:

p_p188_pip_WE07A284D_SP07_061130094258_PIP_hero.jpg


They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and make dandy desktop speaker stands. Not cool and ajdustable like our new stands, but a great, cheap 70% solution.
 
Mar 21, 2008 at 5:29 AM Post #20 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Good to hear. I am really diggin' them. How do you have your EQ switches set?

I actually tried raising my speakers a bit higher (6 inches) on a stack of books and they do seem to sound better. The mids sound a bit more even, and I think the detail is better but now the tweeters are above my ear level when I'm actually sitting (my desk is a bit high). I'm not sure which I like better, but there is merit to what Tyll said about using the stock Dynaudio stands




I am setting the EQ at flat. I do like the stand out mid of this settings. About the positioning of the speaker, I actually do not like the sound when the speaker points towards my ears directly. You know the triangle position. The bass reverberation produced by this position kind of annoys me.
 
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:26 PM Post #21 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by solvexyz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I am setting the EQ at flat. I do like the stand out mid of this settings. About the positioning of the speaker, I actually do not like the sound when the speaker points towards my ears directly. You know the triangle position. The bass reverberation produced by this position kind of annoys me.


I usually find that I tilt the speakers so that the tweeter is slightly farther away than the woofer, and usually point the speakers inward but not so far that they are pointing directly to my ears. Being slightly off axis like that seems to make the sound a bit smoother and more to my liking. This is only a generality, of course, and different speakers require their own adjustment.
 
Mar 23, 2008 at 2:27 AM Post #22 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I usually find that I tilt the speakers so that the tweeter is slightly farther away than the woofer, and usually point the speakers inward but not so far that they are pointing directly to my ears. Being slightly off axis like that seems to make the sound a bit smoother and more to my liking. This is only a generality, of course, and different speakers require their own adjustment.


Tyll Thanks for the suggestion. Yah, I guess what I am planning to do is to raise the speaker to my ear level first. the reflection off my glass desk might be why the triangular position is not to my liking.
 
May 8, 2008 at 2:52 AM Post #23 of 26
I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?
 
May 8, 2008 at 4:21 AM Post #24 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?


I want swear to it but I do not see why not for I put my MicroDAC before my NAD receiver. it's not like plugging headphones or passive speakers directly into the DAC. you are putting a line level signal output before the line level input of the amp that's built into the speakers.

before I got into these headphone amps I was originally looking at some Roland active monitors that had a built in DAC connected by fiber optic to the source. because I knew I wanted a DAC between my computer and output, it led me to be psyched about getting the MicroStack.
 
May 8, 2008 at 2:22 PM Post #25 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I might be headphone amp-less for a while. If I can control the volume level using the Windows volume control, can I plug my active speakers directly into the output of the Micro DAC? (original 9V model) Is it completely safe to do that in the electrical sense? Will the impedance match be ok? Will there be any degradation besides the fact I'm using Windows mixer?


That should work okay. It's possible that the output from the Micro DAC may be a bit hot (high voltage) for the self-powered speakers; if it is, you'll get crunchy noises at the program peaks. Oh ... come to think about it, if you are going to adjust the volume with the k-mixer that won't be a problem. Do your active speakers have a volume control? If so I'd suggest turning the k-mixer volume up as high as you can without any distortion and then ust the powered speaker volume control for volume adjustment.
 
May 8, 2008 at 3:57 PM Post #26 of 26
thanks. So I'm good to go then. No, the Dynaudio's don't have a volume control. It has an input sensitivity (-10dB/0/4dB) for pro vs consumer outputs, so I think I'll be ok in that respect.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top