Using Little dot Mk2 ( Love it) What is the next step up?

[Flex2d]

Hello, i have been using a little dot mk 2 with my yamaha as-701 amp for hd6xx headphones. I am looking to upgrade my little dot mk2 to the next 'level up'. My budget is 300-400 and looking to improve the overall sound.
I have been looking on amazon and ebay and been seeing various brands but no nothing about them, whether they are any good or not. Should i stick with little dot brand? or nobsound, xDuoo, Hifi el34.. so yeah feels like i dont know what brand to trust or to go with. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Daniel

 

[Johnny Golden]

What's your source?

Have you tried tube rolling?

The stock tubes are nowhere near the potential of the amp. I've got an LD MkII and I've tried many tubes. It completely changes the character of the amp and is one of the main appeals of having a tube amp. Which the stock tubes you might as well be using a solid state amp. The main difference between the lower end Little Dot's and the higher end LD's is the included tubes. With the right tubes matched to your headphones it will better the LD MKIV with stock tubes.

 

[Flex2d]

What's your source?

Have you tried tube rolling?

The stock tubes are nowhere near the potential of the amp. I've got an LD MkII and I've tried many tubes. It completely changes the character of the amp and is one of the main appeals of having a tube amp. Which the stock tubes you might as well be using a solid state amp. The main difference between the lower end Little Dot's and the higher end LD's is the included tubes. With the right tubes matched to your headphones it will better the LD MKIV with stock tubes.

Ok interesting, Yeah i have been rolling through many different types and think i have settled on mullard 8100 with Yugoslavian tubes. Dont get me wrong it is great sound, but i am looking for the next step up and been advised that the equipment should be the best place to start as hd6xx scale very well and not to get new cans before equipment. I am assuming the DAC in the yamaha as-701 should be fine and not be the issue and best to look and my tube amp as the starting place. I would/assumed that a better valve amp would have better quality components and so providing better sound output. Of course the tube make a massive difference, but though this a better amp might be a better call.

thanks for the feedback

best

Daniel

 

[Yaska729]

Ok interesting, Yeah i have been rolling through many different types and think i have settled on mullard 8100 with Yugoslavian tubes. Dont get me wrong it is great sound, but i am looking for the next step up and been advised that the equipment should be the best place to start as hd6xx scale very well and not to get new cans before equipment. I am assuming the DAC in the yamaha as-701 should be fine and not be the issue and best to look and my tube amp as the starting place. I would/assumed that a better valve amp would have better quality components and so providing better sound output. Of course the tube make a massive difference, but though this a better amp might be a better call.

thanks for the feedback

best

Daniel

Personally I think the newest model in the MK III line, the MK III SE is worth checking out. It was on drop a couple of months ago but it’s no longer available. If you wanna stick with Little Dot, you might be able to find more stuff on their new site.

 

[Johnny Golden]

Personally I think the newest model in the MK III line, the MK III SE is worth checking out. It was on drop a couple of months ago but it’s no longer available. If you wanna stick with Little Dot, you might be able to find more stuff on their new site.

The LD MKIII SE is solid state and aimed at giving some tube flavour to high power planar headphones. Great amp but there are better options for the HD6XX.

Ok interesting, Yeah i have been rolling through many different types and think i have settled on mullard 8100 with Yugoslavian tubes. Dont get me wrong it is great sound, but i am looking for the next step up and been advised that the equipment should be the best place to start as hd6xx scale very well and not to get new cans before equipment. I am assuming the DAC in the yamaha as-701 should be fine and not be the issue and best to look and my tube amp as the starting place. I would/assumed that a better valve amp would have better quality components and so providing better sound output. Of course the tube make a massive difference, but though this a better amp might be a better call.

I have a number of amps and still use my LD MKII in my office with Beyerdynamic T1 gen 2's so no need to worry about how the amp scales to different headphones. If you are set on upgrading however give the Schiit Valhalla a try. Would be best to try and budget for some tube rolling as well though.

Otherwise, moving up the Little Dot ranks does afford you improved sound quality and compatibility with your existing tubes. Look at the LD MkIV

Stick with name brands like Schiit and Little Dot which have a wealth of support and reviews and you'll be mostly fine.

Outside of the above the only other thing I can recommend to you is something by Woo Audio but I think you'll need to budget a bit more for the thing I'm thinking of.

 

[Yaska729]

The LD MKIII SE is solid state and aimed at giving some tube flavour to high power planar headphones. Great amp but there are better options for the HD6XX.



I have a number of amps and still use my LD MKII in my office with Beyerdynamic T1 gen 2's so no need to worry about how the amp scales to different headphones. If you are set on upgrading however give the Schiit Valhalla a try. Would be best to try and budget for some tube rolling as well though.

Otherwise, moving up the Little Dot ranks does afford you improved sound quality and compatibility with your existing tubes. Look at the LD MkIV

Stick with name brands like Schiit and Little Dot which have a wealth of support and reviews and you'll be mostly fine.

Outside of the above the only other thing I can recommend to you is something by Woo Audio but I think you'll need to budget a bit more for the thing I'm thinking of.

Good call, I didn’t see his headphone is HD6xx. I thought I provide him the balance option but I guess in my opinion HD6xx does sound better with pure tubes. Maybe the Little Dot MK 9 is worth a shot as well.

 

[Flex2d]

Thanks guys, Yeah the mk IV looks really nice option and probably think i might just give it a go! one question i do have and not sure if you can answer is, With the output on the back, does this output output the new adjusted tube sound or is it just a pass through? ( hope that makes sense )

Thanks Daniel

 

[Yaska729]

Thanks guys, Yeah the mk IV looks really nice option and probably think i might just give it a go! one question i do have and not sure if you can answer is, With the output on the back, does this output output the new adjusted tube sound or is it just a pass through? ( hope that makes sense )

Thanks Daniel

I’m not exactly sure what you mean? But if you have any technical question regarding to the product spec, check on their site or shoot them an email. https://littledotus.com is the new site, also I saw the old forum is also online now, littledot.net hope this helps you out mate!

 

[Flex2d]

Cheers will check it out

 

[ruinedx]

Hello, i have been using a little dot mk 2 with my yamaha as-701 amp for hd6xx headphones. I am looking to upgrade my little dot mk2 to the next 'level up'. My budget is 300-400 and looking to improve the overall sound.
I have been looking on amazon and ebay and been seeing various brands but no nothing about them, whether they are any good or not. Should i stick with little dot brand? or nobsound, xDuoo, Hifi el34.. so yeah feels like i dont know what brand to trust or to go with. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Daniel

What is your playback source?

 

[Flex2d]

What is your playback source?

so what I'm thinking, as it has an output on the back would be to come from a dac to little dot mk4 , then from the output go into my Yamaha as-701. so the idea being I could get the nice tube valve sound on my hifi aswell. but if the output on the back is just a clean pass through and only the headphones get the nice tube sound. So if I want the tube sound on the hifi would probably need a 1/4 jack to orca connector to go into the Yamaha as-701.

best

Daniel

 

[ruinedx]

so what I'm thinking, as it has an output on the back would be to come from a dac to little dot mk4 , then from the output go into my Yamaha as-701. so the idea being I could get the nice tube valve sound on my hifi aswell. but if the output on the back is just a clean pass through and only the headphones get the nice tube sound. So if I want the tube sound on the hifi would probably need a 1/4 jack to orca connector to go into the Yamaha as-701.

best

Daniel

What is the source unit though? Standalone, PC, etc?

 

[Flex2d]

What is the source unit though? Standalone, PC, etc?

aah sorry yeah the source is a pc

 

[ruinedx]

aah sorry yeah the source is a pc

For the price range you are looking at I don't think you will find a better hpa/DAC than the EVGA NU AUDIO (original, not the pro version):
https://www.provantage.com/evga-712-p1-an01-kr~7EVGA17K.htm

Puts out nearly as much juice as a Sennheiser hdv 820 on the unbalanced headphone output and tonal balance is excellent. I am using it with an HD820+HD700 and it sounds spectacular.

Supports up to 24bit/192khz PCM and native DSD256 that bypasses processing if you wish.

 

[Flex2d]

For the price range you are looking at I don't think you will find a better hpa/DAC than the EVGA NU AUDIO (original, not the pro version):
https://www.provantage.com/evga-712-p1-an01-kr~7EVGA17K.htm

Puts out nearly as much juice as a Sennheiser hdv 820 on the unbalanced headphone output and tonal balance is excellent. I am using it with an HD820+HD700 and it sounds spectacular.

interesting, why would you recommend a new sound card over a new dac on digital?
thanks

Daniel