The HEADSIX, a Head-Fi support sales-action
Mar 25, 2008 at 5:05 PM Post #691 of 917
To further clarify now that I've had some coffee ... Headsix has low gain/high current and high gain/low current modes, but you have to change two jumpers inside rather than having a switch on the outside like some of the other Cordas do.
 
Mar 25, 2008 at 8:06 PM Post #692 of 917
Well, I finally broke down and changed to low gain, and the Headsix is much better for my LiveWires IEM now. Before I was only using Headsix for portable headphones but not earphones and IEM. And, it still drives my Grados and Ultrasones fine in low gain. No point in trying the HD600/650, as I will never use it for those.
 
Mar 27, 2008 at 12:19 PM Post #694 of 917
ok, I m having some troubles with my headsix.

Yesterday, I was playing mysterious ways by U2 through my ipod classic + turbo lod + headsix + se530 and suddenly, the sound became horrible

I was a bit puzzled, tried turning the volume up and down, checked the cable connections, turned the headsix off and back on. But the sound remained bad. Basically, it sounds as if I was listening a fm station that I received very poorly. I dont know exactly how to describe it, I think it can be called distortion of the sound.

Anyway, I switched the SE530 to the headphone out of the ipod. No issue there. So the se530 werent the cause.

I turned the full system back on today and listened to two songs. Mysterious ways first. The issue was gone. It sounded ok. Then Becoming Insane by Infected Mushroom. everything started ok, but at one moment in the song, it started again. Distorted sound. Horrible to listen to.

I tried plugging the headsix in the nano of my gf. Sounded as bad. So I guess the ipod line out isnt the cause.

What s weird though is that it seems when the headsix is off for some time, it will work ok for a few minutes, then start sounding awful again

I d like to be wrong, but I think my headsix somehow became defective. Does anyone know what I should do?


Thanks in advance
 
Mar 27, 2008 at 4:58 PM Post #696 of 917
Once its starts distorting at low volumes means the battery is dying
smily_headphones1.gif
Just pop in a fresh one and it'll be fine..
 
Mar 28, 2008 at 7:29 PM Post #698 of 917
out of curiosity, i tried my headsix in my car.
i usually use just ipod with LOD with my car stereo system.
ipod classic and LOD, headsix, hummer h3's 200watt system with a built-in amplifier.
i dont know how monsoon system compares to others but it's surely better than the bose system in acura cl and inifity g35.
anyway, with headsix stuck between ipod and monsoon, the sound became smoother with more controlled bass. i can hear more details as well.
i love my headsix. for me, theres nothing this guy cannot do!
 
Mar 29, 2008 at 1:26 AM Post #699 of 917
The headsix is a very capable portable amp. Very clear highs and while the bass is not the best, nothing to complain about given the size and price. While it can drive the Beyer 880 as Jan claims, sound distorts during loud and heavy music (classical, and some rock). This would be extreme cases though.
310719028.jpg


While some prefer the low gain setting, i for one am sticking with the default high gain (as Jan recommends). Sound has more immediacy, liveness and the proverbial "air".
smily_headphones1.gif

310719017.jpg

I am also experiencing noise with volume adjustment (tried the WD40 tweak, no effect) and during loud passages (but this might be distortion already from the limitation of the amp's power, im just guessing here).

All in all a great product, the Xin Micro edges it in portability and musicality in my brief experience with it, which takes nothing away from the excellent Headsix. And if portability is not an issue, im thinking the 2Move is an even better deal because of the high current mode(which would be able to drive the big cans better and deliver more bass) and the DAC. It's certainly doing a great job at interim home amp (im waiting for my Beta22), and its taken my mind off my order of the Xin Reference (i may not bother to cancel that one anymore though).
 
Mar 29, 2008 at 2:58 AM Post #700 of 917
Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif
After more than 1000 hours with it. Let's see... About 1.2k hours to be exact. I notice a drastic change in the sound for the headsix. The bass switched from mild to about double to triple the original bass. The treble lessens. But there's a slight decrease in detail.

More noticiable changes
The bass is refined. Very refined. Tight in other words.
Vocals seems to lose a bit of detail. The inhale of a vocalist is not as noticeable as before.


Anyone else notice the bass increase over time?
 
Mar 29, 2008 at 9:44 PM Post #701 of 917
I got mine today - Ordered Sunday, came Saturday - 6 days later.

Sounds very good with HD595s - Bass seems fine. The Blue Nile Walk Across the Rooftops and Rameau's pieces de clavecin (spelling?) which has lots of Viola de Gamba are my test tracks for bass.
 
Mar 31, 2008 at 4:23 AM Post #702 of 917
Question - the only other amp I ever used was a Portaphile. That one seemed to change continually for about the first 100-200 hours.

Any ideas about how long the burn in on this one will take and what will happen in the process? Does it just get better? Bass, treble and mids improve? Does it take any detours?

So far I have read the bass gets better but the high frequencies get less clear, and then someone else said all frequencies get better. Seems like the bass is pretty good already.
 
Mar 31, 2008 at 8:18 AM Post #703 of 917
Mine started off great, and just got better with time, and was done changing by 200 hours. It was more forward and less airy at first, and moved in a positive direction with time. Bass did seem to bump up a little at 300 hours, but not a huge or necessary change.
 
Mar 31, 2008 at 2:06 PM Post #704 of 917
Thanks HPAddict
 
Mar 31, 2008 at 5:44 PM Post #705 of 917
Quote:

Originally Posted by dap_pad /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ya, definetely the battery, happens to all of my amps too. The sounds starts sounding like crap when there isn't enough battery.


This is definitely weird. I'm using a no name NiMH rechargeable battery and after reading your answers, decided to recharge it.

I recharged it for 8 hours. Put it in the amp. Started listening. Things were much better. But still not as good as they used to be. The sound still distorted at certain frequencies and felt less dynamic. It felt like I was hearing less details.

I tried using the headsix with my 12V external power supply. SQ was back to excellent.What s weird there is that my phones are supposedly real easy to drive : SE530... so my half charged battery should have been enough to power the amp to drive them perfectly.

I'm thinking that ni-mh battery may be dead. Or at least damaged. Weird though, I only charged it three times.

I'm gonna try using a non rechargeable battery, see if there are any improvements.

And I'll try to find a good 9V rechargeable battery. Those are pretty hard to come by in France though
frown.gif
 
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