[Sonic Defender]

Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts. Zombie_X is already trying to help me out, but I wanted to not bother him alone so much. Here is my problem. I purchased the Auditor amp which is fantastic, but my problem is that I need to use adapters for the RCA output from my Rega Apollo CD player. This results in a significant cut in the available voltage from the Auditor. With my 600ohm 880s I have to turn the volume to 100% on the Auditor to get close to normal listening levels.
 
We had thought of putting the signal from the CD player through a preamp first to get the gain boost, but would that not just mean that in essence I am hearing the preamp in terms of sound quality anyway, in other words just use the preamp? If that is the case the Auditor is wasted for my 880s. Is there anyway to take an RCA feed from the CD and get its gain boosted without having the signal processed before it gets to the Auditor? Thanks for any suggestions. I'm so bummed as I bought the Auditor for the 880s. At least my 650s get loud enough, but I really want to use both headphones if I can.

 

[brunk]

Sounds like you need a signal amplifier or a new CD player...
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts. Zombie_X is already trying to help me out, but I wanted to not bother him alone so much. Here is my problem. I purchased the Auditor amp which is fantastic, but my problem is that I need to use adapters for the RCA output from my Rega Apollo CD player. This results in a significant cut in the available voltage from the Auditor. With my 600ohm 880s I have to turn the volume to 100% on the Auditor to get close to normal listening levels.
 
We had thought of putting the signal from the CD player through a preamp first to get the gain boost, but would that not just mean that in essence I am hearing the preamp in terms of sound quality anyway, in other words just use the preamp? If that is the case the Auditor is wasted for my 880s. Is there anyway to take an RCA feed from the CD and get its gain boosted without having the signal processed before it gets to the Auditor? Thanks for any suggestions. I'm so bummed as I bought the Auditor for the 880s. At least my 650s get loud enough, but I really want to use both headphones if I can.

My two cents and opinion.
So your 300-Ohm Sennheiser HD650s play louder then then your 600-Ohm Premium DT880 on this Auditor amplifier.
Could it be that the Auditor amplifier is just not good for working with 600-Ohm headphones?
Sounds to me like your Auditor amplifier is a waste of cash
Your Rega Apollo CD player comes with the same DAC (WM8740) as the $80 Fiio E10 portable DAC/Amp.
I would advise getting an external (and better) DAC, with a coaxial digital input that you can connect to the Rega's coaxial digital output.
Then maybe a tube amplifier, like the Little Dot MKIII, I would "guess" the Little Dot MKIII has enough juice to drive 600-Ohm headphones.
 
Something cheaper to solve the problem.
On eBay they sell low cost tube pre-amps, for under $100, might help boost the signal from the Rega to the auditor.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Thanks both of you. No, the Auditor is a very good, and well regarded amplifier. Zombie_X is one experienced head-fi member who has one and uses it with 600 ohm Beyerdynamic headphones and he says it drives them very loud, and extremely well. The lack of volume is simply a function of the loss of a balanced signal once an RCA output is factored in. The problem isn't the CD player, the Apollo is a nice mid-fi unit and also quite capable. The DAC section alone is only one aspect of the performance of a CD player as I am sure you know, the analogue section and design shape the sound perhaps even more than the DAC, at least as I understand it.
 
Apparently the preamp really shouldn't do much to the signal at all beyond amplifying it so I will attempt to make this work. My integrated amp has a preamp output so I will try that if SQ degradation isn't a concern. Thanks again, and anybody feel free to offer your thoughts/opinions.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I have decided to purchase an Audiolab 8200CD as it has a very nice DAC and balanced out with enough voltage to drive the amp properly so this should address two needs at once.