[gammi]

Why do they sell replacement drivers? I mean, unless they're prone to breaking down by whatever method...

Why does Apple sell replacement screens when they work fine for a decade? Why can I buy new wheels for my car when they're solid steel and should last forever?
(people break things)

 

[Polygonhell]

Is it an inherent problem with the ribbons?

No, I have a pair of speakers here with midrange and tweeter ribbon drivers I’ve been using for almost 25 years, and they still sound great.

 

[Buckie]

Well, all right. Now Apple and cars do sell replacement tires, just not overtly. You usually have to contact some dealership or call service to get that ordered for you. That's why I wondered.

Can anyone tell if I can convert my preamp's dBu specs into watts required by TI-1b? All I know at the moment is 0dBFS=18.0dBu (HiZ), 14.45dBu (MedZ), 8.45dBu (LoZ) measured at top (maximum setting) of potentiometer. Not sure if anything can be derived from that. Can I maybe try to connect CA-1a directly to that source?

Also, how do I connect/wire the TRS jack output to a 4-pin XLR on the TI? Is there a pinout diagram somewhere?
Can I also use balanced XLR outputs from my DAC do drive the TI?

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

How's the ribbon longevity for everyone? I was looking at who else was making other ribbon headphones and came across a chinese enterprise. What got me worried was that there are several people in the comments section on their website mentioning how those ribbons gradually loosened up and broke down the more they listened to it. Is it an inherent problem with the ribbons? Has anyone noticed how the sound had changed from when they've first listened to CA-1a to several months later? I'm not talking about the initial burn-in, if there's any, but rather a more gradual process. Of course if the problem was there, we'd have heard about it in the SR-1a section already, but you never know... They do sell spare ribbons for some reason.

My $.02 here....

I've had my SR-1a's for going on two years now....no issues whatsoever, and sound as marvelous as the day I bought them. I owned a pair of Magneplanar 20.1 ribbon speakers for over 10 years....again, no issues...only great sound the entire time. Before that, I had a pair of Apogee Diva's....same story. I literally cannot think of one negative experience I've had while owning a ribbon design of any kind.

 

[KaiSc]

Well, all right. Now Apple and cars do sell replacement tires, just not overtly. You usually have to contact some dealership or call service to get that ordered for you. That's why I wondered.

Can anyone tell if I can convert my preamp's dBu specs into watts required by TI-1b? All I know at the moment is 0dBFS=18.0dBu (HiZ), 14.45dBu (MedZ), 8.45dBu (LoZ) measured at top (maximum setting) of potentiometer. Not sure if anything can be derived from that. Can I maybe try to connect CA-1a directly to that source?

Also, how do I connect/wire the TRS jack output to a 4-pin XLR on the TI? Is there a pinout diagram somewhere?
Can I also use balanced XLR outputs from my DAC do drive the TI?

The dBu specs alone don‘t tell how much power (in W / Watt) is delivered.
The load impedance (Ohm) is needed for a calculation.

Based on the dBu only, I’d estimate something like 0.5 W power at best, a bit short for Raals.


Raal asks for 3 to 6 W into 32, 16 or 8 Ohm, to fully drive their ribbon ‘phones.
If you‘re generally not listening very loud even some less might be sufficient, like has been proven with Felix Audio and Rivieria tube amps.
Still the amp must have some current capabilities, like any transformer the Ti1b/c is not the easiest load to drive.

Tell the name of the amp and I’ll have a look in the net.

 

[Kiats]

How's the ribbon longevity for everyone? I was looking at who else was making other ribbon headphones and came across a chinese enterprise. What got me worried was that there are several people in the comments section on their website mentioning how those ribbons gradually loosened up and broke down the more they listened to it. Is it an inherent problem with the ribbons? Has anyone noticed how the sound had changed from when they've first listened to CA-1a to several months later? I'm not talking about the initial burn-in, if there's any, but rather a more gradual process. Of course if the problem was there, we'd have heard about it in the SR-1a section already, but you never know... They do sell spare ribbons for some reason.

Well, you are extrapolating from the experiences with a particular maker who obviously do not do a good job at it. Hence, any comments is limited to that maker. Contrast the lack of any such issues raised here or in the SR-1a thread. That speaks for itself.

 

[Buckie]

The dBu specs alone don‘t tell how much power (in W / Watt) is delivered.
The load impedance (Ohm) is needed for a calculation.

Based on the dBu only, I’d estimate something like 0.5 W power at best, a bit short for Raals.


Raal asks for 3 to 6 W into 32, 16 or 8 Ohm, to fully drive their ribbon ‘phones.
If you‘re generally not listening very loud even some less might be sufficient, like has been proven with Felix Audio and Rivieria tube amps.
Still the amp must have some current capabilities, like any transformer the Ti1b/c is not the easiest load to drive.

Tell the name of the amp and I’ll have a look in the net.

So to calculate that we need to know the impedance of the TI-1b?
My source is Prism Sound Callia.

 

[Polygonhell]

So to calculate that we need to know the impedance of the TI-1b?

No you'd need to know what impedance Prism measured the 8.45dbU into.
They do quote output impedance, but you need the impedance of the attached load during the measurements to calculate power.
8 dbU's is about 2V, so if it's into say a 32 Ohm load that's only 2*2/32 125mW, which will drive most dynamic headphones adequately, but nothing hard to drive.

FWIW using nothing but guesswork, I think it's unlikely that a pre-amp with an added headphone circuit will drive the TI-1B- Raal well, it's easily the hardest to drive combination in my headphone collection, and that includes the Susvara.

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

FWIW using nothing but guesswork, I think it's unlikely that a pre-amp with an added headphone circuit will drive the TI-1B- Raal well, it's easily the hardest to drive combination in my headphone collection, and that includes the Susvara.

^^^^^ This

 

[Buckie]

No you'd need to know what impedance Prism measured the 8.45dbU into.
They do quote output impedance, but you need the impedance of the attached load during the measurements to calculate power.
8 dbU's is about 2V, so if it's into say a 32 Ohm load that's only 2*2/32 250mW, which will drive most dynamic headphones adequately, but nothing hard to drive.

FWIW using nothing but guesswork, I think it's unlikely that a pre-amp with an added headphone circuit will drive the TI-1B- Raal well, it's easily the hardest to drive combination in my headphone collection, and that includes the Susvara.

Hey thanks, that's been very helpful! I'll raise the question with Prism again who so far have been evasive and can't provide the watts spec...
I really hate all those additional devices in the chain. Are there any suggestions for a decidedly-studio-oriented (like Prism products) preamp that's extremely barebones and transparent in that it tries to add nothing except the power?

And I'm still interested to try wiring the TRS output to the TI, but not sure which wire should go where in the 4-pin XLR.

 

[gammi]

No you'd need to know what impedance Prism measured the 8.45dbU into.
They do quote output impedance, but you need the impedance of the attached load during the measurements to calculate power.
8 dbU's is about 2V, so if it's into say a 32 Ohm load that's only 2*2/32 125mW, which will drive most dynamic headphones adequately, but nothing hard to drive.

FWIW using nothing but guesswork, I think it's unlikely that a pre-amp with an added headphone circuit will drive the TI-1B- Raal well, it's easily the hardest to drive combination in my headphone collection, and that includes the Susvara.

I'll add that I agree the CA-1a is hard to drive to its full potential but I can still get a very pleasant experience on low power amps too.
I hooked up my CA-1a to my Topping G5 portable DAC/amp once (it puts out about 1.2W) as a joke mostly and was surprised to hear it sounded great! Really all it was missing was bass impact.

 

[Buckie]

I'll add that I agree the CA-1a is hard to drive to its full potential but I can still get a very pleasant experience on low power amps too.
I hooked up my CA-1a to my Topping G5 portable DAC/amp once (it puts out about 1.2W) as a joke mostly and was surprised to hear it sounded great! Really all it was missing was bass impact.

Is it mostly the same in sound as trying to drive 300-something-ohm headphones from a tiny DAC? Like exaggerated highs and a very thin sound?

 

[gammi]

Is it mostly the same in sound as trying to drive 300-something-ohm headphones from a tiny DAC? Like exaggerated highs and a very thin sound?

Nah, not that I recall (this was months ago). It sounded great. Really all it was missing was bass impact.

 

[technobear]

And I'm still interested to try wiring the TRS output to the TI, but not sure which wire should go where in the 4-pin XLR.

If you wish to make your own single-ended adapter, the pinout is the regular Headphone Balanced 4-pin XLR pinout:

Pin1: L+, Pin2: L-, Pin3: R+, Pin4: R-.

 

[Buckie]

If you wish to make your own single-ended adapter, the pinout is the regular Headphone Balanced 4-pin XLR pinout:

Pin1: L+, Pin2: L-, Pin3: R+, Pin4: R-.

I've seen that, but I'm not sure how to run that to Ground, Left, Right (TRS). If that's possible at all. Or to two balanced outputs. In those cases it's either one wire too many or one wire missing.