[sbulack]

I am posting this question on the DIY forum because DIYers might know better how a PPA works, which is at the heart of answering this question.

I just installed AD8610's into my PPA (had been running it with OPA637/27 for the last year) and noticed that it pops quite a bit louder when turning it on or off, so I want turn it on or off with cheapy headphones plugged in, but listen with my good ones. Mine is a stock PPA (the usual components soldered onto Tangent's PPA PCB v1.0A).

Is this an acceptable procedure for swapping headphones on the PPA while it is ON?

1) ensure that no music is playing into it (the CD player source is on stop or pause)
2) turn the PPA pot all the way down (nothing is heard through the headphones)
3) quickly remove plugged-in headphones and plug in new headphones (takes about 2 seconds) (new headphones now plugged in)
4) turn the PPA pot back up to a normal listening setting
5) restart CD player playing music.

Is following this procedure better or worse (overall) than turning the PPA off and on (with pops) with my good headphones plugged into it? Is there damage done to the PPA following the above headphone-swapping procedure?

Thanks much if you can help me with this question.

 

[amb]

The pops are short in duration and is unlikely to cause any damage. If you are really paranoid you could unplug the headphones before you turn it off (and after you turn it on). It shouldn't hurt the amp to plug/unplug the headphones while the power is on as long as the volume is down.

 

[sbulack]

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[morsel]

Either turn the volume down or pause the music or switch your headphones swiftly.

 

[sbulack]

WOW! Talk about getting the ultimate word from someone who KNOWS! BTW, now that I've finally got around to putting AD8610's in my PPA, I'm loving its sound more than ever! They sound better in the PPA than OPA637/627 to my ears by a substantial margin. Thanks for your help, Morsel.