Should I Keep My Portable Amp?
Jan 23, 2005 at 9:53 PM Post #19 of 26
labrat,
Thanks for the suggestion.

Yup. Tried that experiment of listening with the source disconnected...Still has audible noise at 50% volume with ER-4P's.

Someone also suggested that the noise got worse as the battery weakened...but it is still there with fresh batteries.

Maybe they shipped me a regular Air Head instead of a Total Air Head by mistake???

I will inquire about this to Headroom and report back.
 
Jan 26, 2005 at 12:40 AM Post #20 of 26
Reporting back about the slight noise (hiss) with the ER-4P's and even the S's posted above in this thread...In a reply to my email, Headroom said this is normal for the Total Air Head.

This noise is not audible with Senn HD-650's which is what I use this amp for around the house (and where this little portable system sounds terrific).
 
Feb 3, 2005 at 8:01 AM Post #22 of 26
Todd - How true! After much more listening, I really have answered my own question - I'm really happy with the sound/build quality of my TAH.

In regards to the hissing -- I heard no such noise. I listen to my iPod through the line out on its dock, and if I have a song cue'd up and paused, I can barely hear a little white noise out of one ear with the TAH's volume turned all the way up. Maybe not all amps are made equal...?

Thanks for the comments everyone, helped me realize I really am happy with my purchase. Now if my SR325i/flats would arrive...
rs1smile.gif
 
Feb 3, 2005 at 7:22 PM Post #23 of 26
have you considered the maximoy from shellbrook labs
 
Aug 9, 2005 at 9:23 PM Post #25 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by gnagel
I own two sets of headphones---Sennheiser 595s along with Ety ER 4Ps.

My source is a Panasonic portable CD player (SL-S241C). I am connecting the Airhead amp to the line out on the CD player. When I connect the headphones to the CD player, I notice very little (if any) difference in the sound quality or volume level.

My other source is a 3rd generation iPod. When I connect my headphones to the line out on the iPod's docking station, I notice an improvement over using the headphone jack connection. However, I notice very little (if any) improvement when using the Airhead amp versus the direct headphone connection to the line out. Of course, the amp is useful with the line out since I have no other way of controlling the volume.

I encode my iPod songs using either 192 kbps or 224 kbps AAC.

I'm wondering if it makes any sense to "upgrade" to the Total Airhead while I'm within my 30 day return period window. Or, maybe an amp upgrade wouldn't make any difference given the quality of my sources?



You need a better amp in order to get some improvement with a 595. It works so well unamped that if the amp is not very good you might end just adding noise.

The increase of quality with the ipod is due to the bad integrated amp it has. As you already know, you will get the same quality directly from the line-out. That improvement is not from the amp, but because you get rid of the quite bad integrated amp of the iPod (obviously, to be able to change the volume is nice, no doubt about it).

I use to suggest to 595 users to spend money improving the sources instead of going for an amp. You might want to upgrade headphones in the future and it would be better to buy the amp by then, in order to get one with good sinergy with your new cans (if any).

Cheers,
 
Aug 9, 2005 at 11:21 PM Post #26 of 26
I hear definate audible noise with the Total Bithead when listening with sensitive earphones like UE5c or Sure earphones.However, no such noise with HD650 headphones.As mentioned previously in this thread it is not so pronounced using line out, or connected to a PC. It completely disappears when I use my SM3. Best look at something like the SM3 or the new AE-1
 
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