[lilranny24]

Hello everyone!

I just recently, within the past year, have embarked on a mission to up the quality of sound I hear from my computer. I currently own the Ultrasone HFI-780 and Klipsch Image S4 for my portable uses.

I am currently happy with my setup, which is just listening to music (generally mp3's but I have began acquiring FLAC files as well) with my desktop HP computer, my HP laptop and Ipod when I am on the go. However, I have some extra money to throw around so I decided to look into purchasing a headphone amp/dac to further enhance my listening experience and after a fairly small amount of research I ended up buying the Total BitHead.

I received my Total BitHead yesterday and was hopeful that this would improve (maybe not drastically, but at least fairly noticeably) the quality of sound that I hear. I switched back and forth between the Total BitHead and the standard headphone jack on my PC several times and also did the same with my Ipod. Unfortunately though, I hear a difference, but it is very subtle and not worthy of the 159 dollar expenditure that I threw down on the Total BitHead.

So that leads me to a few questions that I have. Is the Total BitHead just not suitable for my setup given the 2 headphones I own (Klipsch Image S4 and Ultrasone HFI-780 with either my PC or Ipod, typically mp3, but beginning to acquire some FLAC)? Or, are my ears possibly just not of audiophile quality and the difference should be more apparent with my current setup??

Any help with my problem would be appreciated!! If anyone can also provide some recommendations on maybe what amps, amps/dacs that I should be looking at in place of the Total BitHead if that seems to be the problem, or even if I can get the same amount of quality for what I would deem a more reasonable price, since I am new to the whole headphone amp market and not so knowledgeable (preferably cheaper than Total BitHead, but would probably throw down approximately $200 if it was worth it)??

I know I wrote pretty much my life story haha, sorry! but hopefully there is someone more knowledgeable than I who can help me out! Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[ashtray9]

That's too bad you're not getting much out of the bithead. I was almost going to buy it, but decided on getting a separate DAC and amp. I am using a laptop as well. Anyway, I have a feeling that the bithead is just mediocre and is not an upgrade unless your laptop sound is awful. I'd personally drop a bill on a DAC and a bill on a tube amp. I just got a little Bravo amp for $60 that has made a world of difference in my setup, and I have a AMB y1 on the way for a great source.

Can you return the bithead? Your ears are probably as good as most.

 

[aloksatoor]

i found the bithead to be a revelation but that was my first foray into headfi

.... as of now its relegated to driving a pair of audioengine speakers from my thinkpad which has crappy sound ...... im not too happy with its amplifier but the dacs clean and a bargain at 150 buks

 

[Justin Uthadude]

I had a total bithead connected to my hp laptop and it made a noticeable difference. Perhaps the small difference you are hearing may be due to quality level of your music, e.g. mp3's. Maybe there's nothing more to hear. What bps are your mp3's compressed to? Try listening to your new flac files and see if it doesn't sound much better. Just a guess.
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[lilranny24]

I can actually return the Bithead since there is a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so that is not too much of an issue at this point as I received it yesterday.

My mp3's are mostly 192 or 128 kbps. I also have a fair share of 320 kbps and last night I tinkered with several different bit rates, and also a few of my FLAC files as well. Like I said, I noticed a difference just it seemed to be fairly subtle to me across the board and regardless of bit rate, FLAC, or mp3. I did notice on some mp3's that were poorly encoded that the defects became pretty obvious, more obvious than they are without the BitHead.

Does anyone think it would have anything to do with the program that I use to play my music with? Currently, I am using Winamp which is what I have used pretty much forever, but am open to trying a new program if that might help.

Also, there is this high gain/low gain switch on the BitHead, I haven't really messed with that yet, but maybe I should??? lol

I am going to continue playing around with it, but if anyone else has any ideas or recommendations it is certainly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows of other reasonably priced amp/dac's around the same price range as BitHead or cheaper, then I am interested in hearing any of those suggestions as well. I appreciate everyones time! thanks again!

 

[ashtray9]

Foobar2000 is an excellent program that allows you to bypass Windows mixer. I noticed an improvement using the ASIO4all component. Regardless, you should get a huge improvement in sound quality with your upgrades when one is at such rudimentary level of hi-fi, dig? Diminishing returns and subtle improvements should only occur after you've spent some coin on an existing hi-fi rig.