[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowmoses /img/forum/go_quote.gif When i switched the gain of the Mk III from +4 to +10 after i got a pair of HD650s, i found the amp to exhibit a lot more hiss and splutter, which of course is unacceptable. i reduced the gain to +5 and things were better. Any idea why this is so?

Could be a bad power tube. Is the hiss and splutter only on one channel ? I went through something similar way back when I first bought my MK III. It turned out to be a bad power tube. The amp should be dead quiet (unless the recording is noisy) at gain +10 with 650's. Swap the power tubes around...if the noise follows the swapped tube (from left to right channel or vice versa) the tube is toast. Another possibility is heavily oxidized pins on the tubes...that shouldn't produce the splutter though..

Make sure your feeding the MK III with a line level signal...if you overload the input you'll get all kinds of nasties reamplified making hiss and splutter extremely loud.

I think that covers it other than cable issues...

Peete.

 

[ducktailjiver]

Hi all,
I seem to have mixed my power cord in with a few others and cant decide what one goes with my little dot 3. Can someone help me identify it, markings, a picture, whatever to help. Thanks a million

 

[Max F]

Don't worry about it. The power cord is really cheap POS. Mine died on me (would not turn on). I used a power cord from one of my computers (that got fried by lightening) and it works much better.

 

[ducktailjiver]

Question, could I use the little dot 3 between my cd player and receiver to warm the sound a bit? On its lowest gain setting of course.
 
Ducktailjiver

 

[ducktailjiver]

anyone?

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I wouldn't unless your receiver has the ability to split ( jumpers on the back panel that connect the preamp to amp sections) the preamp section from the power amp section (essentially making it appear like separates). The MK III output is a preamp function. If you want to warm the receiver add a tube based buffer in it's tape loop or in between the source and receiver. Using the MkIII in this way is double amping the source signal and will sound really bad no matter what gain level you set on the MK III.
 
Peete.

 

[sferic]

@Negatron. Wow - I've been tube rolling a bit on my LDMKIII and noticed gain settings had a LOT more to do with the sound than just headphone impedance. Your explanation brought it all into tight focus, thanks.

 

[AirX]

I've been playing with the LDMK3 and my Senn HD-600s and the gain settings. The funny thing is that each time I've changed the gain settings, the loudness stays pretty much the same. Meaning that I didn't need to adjust the pot settings after I've changed the gain. Usually that shouldn't be the case.....
 
The sound does change though, as if I go for higher gain, I get a tighter sound signature but sound a little more condensed. While if I lowered the gain, it gets a little more open sounding and less condensed. Has anyone else felt the same and any reasons why? The funny thing is that I didn't need to adjust the pot setting even though I've been changing the gains....

 

[casperry]

yes, the exact same experience here. I ended up matching gain settings to my headphone impendance which is high, so both switches in off position. Neither sounds better or worse, just different, got confused which one to use lol, thought would use switches like they were intended by the designer, off for high impedance phones and on for low impedance.

 

[silversurfer616]

Also have a LD MK III with Sennheiser HD 650/AKG 702/Alessandro M1i and have done a lot of experimenting with the gain settings.
In the end Gain 5 works best for me because I like the sound of it.Each setting changes the sound from airy,not much bass,wide soundstage
to more focused,tight,narrow soundstage and more punch.Don't worry about impedance anymore!

 

[icehole]

Quote:

Also have a LD MK III with Sennheiser HD 650/AKG 702/Alessandro M1i and have done a lot of experimenting with the gain settings.
In the end Gain 5 works best for me because I like the sound of it.Each setting changes the sound from airy,not much bass,wide soundstage
to more focused,tight,narrow soundstage and more punch.Don't worry about impedance anymore!

Not to dig this thread up from the grave, but I recently purchased a LD MK III to run pair of HD650s.  I had no clue that changing the gain setting would change the sq so much.  It arrived at gain of 10.  I switched to 4 and yeah, to my suprise, the bass decreased a bit and the soundstage opened up more with better separation of instruments.  At 4 the bass response was a tad anemic for my tastes, but I have found that at a gain of 5 it is a good compromise.  Glad I came across this thread.

 

[Stereonut]

I just purchased an "almost new" (the original owner purchased this unit in August, 2012) Little Dot Mk. III this past week from a fellow Head-Fi'er.  I am listening to Sennheiser HD598's (50 ohms impedance) through this amp.  
 
 
I have a copy of the reference guide, but what I am looking for is a set of close-up pictures and/or diagrams of the underside of the Little Dot Mk.III that shows exactly where the switches are and what positions relate to which settings, so I can understand the gain adjustments better.  As much as I hate to admit it, I have no idea of what I'm looking at!
 
A YouTube video would be ideal!  
 
Thanks!
SN

 

[mAurelius]

 
I have a copy of the reference guide, but what I am looking for is a set of close-up pictures and/or diagrams of the underside of the Little Dot Mk.III that shows exactly where the switches are and what positions relate to which settings, so I can understand the gain adjustments better.  As much as I hate to admit it, I have no idea of what I'm looking at!

SN, if you are still looking for this information, here are a couple photos that hopefully will help you out.

1. Here is a a view of the bottom. You are interested in the 2 holes closest to the front:

2. Here is a close-up of one of the Gain switches. If the switch is on the "ON" side, obviously that means it's on My recommendation is to use a small flathead screwdriver to flip the switch to where you want it to be. The most important thing is that both sides match (Channel 1 and 2), so whatever you do on one side make sure to replicate on the other.


Hope this is helpful!

 

[VGoghs earfrmsc]

well its helped me, so thanks

 

[jebuizyhar]

I know the LD is not ideal for planars, but what do you think the ideal gain setting would be for the HE-500's or the LCD-2's?