[simreg]

Here was my answer back from  Jorge @ Head Room
Quote:

So our amps definitely work differently than the Emu.  The volume control is a resistive divider circuit that is in the middle of the voltage gain and the output current gain.  Also the RCA output on the back is in parallel with the headphone outputs.  So to find where the unity gain (voltage) would be I put a 2Vpk-pk sine wave into the unit and adjusted the volume until I got a 2Vpk-pk sine out.  This occurred at 12 o'clock on medium gain.  Hopefully that helps out.

 
Now we know!

 

[Paganini Alfredo]

Okay so let me get this straight. So if you set the amp to medium gain at 12 o clock you can use the desktop as a standalone DAC with little interference from the amp itself? Also when I was talking with the guy on the phone last week or whenever, he said that I would have to control the volume with the Desktop itself and not whatever amp I was using down the chain. So wouldn't that make doing this whole thing pointless cause you can't adjust the volume?

 

[aimlink]

The information Jorge gave is exactly what I'd want.  I'd wish a decent analog signal strength from the Desktop Amp to go to the other HP amp.  This would mean setting the Desktop Amp to medium gain and the volume at 12 o'clock. I would then use the other HP amp volume control from there.
 
P'Alfredo, it would seem the advice you got may be for when using another amp that doesn't have a volume control.

 

[Paganini Alfredo]

Ok. Thanks a bunch guys, you probably saved me around $400. Well, that is, if this really works or not! Don't see why it wouldn't. I'm just a little peeved though that I wasn't asking the right questions when I called HeadRoom, or wasn't doing something, when I talked to them cause Simreg did. At any rate, thanks again Simreg for digging a little bit further than I did.
 

 

[simreg]

@P'Alfredo you're welcome! I am glad that my obsessiveness actually had a benefit to someone else for once
 
Let us know how it turns out, and what you end up buying. It seems no one addressed your original question of tube amps. The Little Dot series looks like they are decent amps at a good price. There are also the darkvoice amps. I've never heard any of those (or a tube amp for that matter), I'm just relaying what I've gathered by reading the forum.  You can buy those at audiophilechina.com, and probably a handful of other places, and of course the FS forum here. The LD MKIII is on my list for purchase later this year, but I just got my Desktop yesterday so I'm going to have to wait for a while.

 

[aimlink]

I personally have no interest in tube amps.  Never heard one and not really interested either.  

 

[Paganini Alfredo]

I'm just curious is all really. My Ultra Desktop sounds awesome and will always have a place, so, experimenting is fun too. I almost gave up the idea of tubes ultimately until a week or so ago until the new US company, Schiit, came about. Just didn't seem like there was anyplace I could reliably get a tube amp. They have a five year warranty on their gear and I just get a feeling of security from their company. They've generated some interested over in the amp forum and I think their tube amp is going to be released in August. Yes they might be flavor of the month right now but they do seem like a good company. So I'm gonna see what other Headfiers think of their gear and wait. 
 
Simreg, did you get a Desktop from HeadRoom?

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

I'm just curious is all really. My Ultra Desktop sounds awesome and will always have a place, so, experimenting is fun too. I almost gave up the idea of tubes ultimately until a week or so ago until the new US company, Schiit, came about. Just didn't seem like there was anyplace I could reliably get a tube amp. They have a five year warranty on their gear and I just get a feeling of security from their company. They've generated some interested over in the amp forum and I think their tube amp is going to be released in August. Yes they might be flavor of the month right now but they do seem like a good company. So I'm gonna see what other Headfiers think of their gear and wait. 
 
Simreg, did you get a Desktop from HeadRoom?

Oh, by all means, enjoy yourself.  I was just sharing how I feel, not imposing it. 

 
I'm all for experimenting.  Hence my contemplating an Audio Amphora or RWA Isabellina HPA.

 

[simreg]

Yeah I heard the Desktop at CanJam. I previously had a Micro (2006) but sold it to finance an IEM purchase. I picked up an emu 0404 (USB) for home in the meantime, but wasn't as pleased with it. I use it as a recording input too so it was a good deal. With the discounts HeadRoom offered at CanJam, and Jorge's help, it was a no brainer for me to pick up some new gear.
 
So far I am loving the Desktop. It will not be leaving any time soon. I work from home, so I get the benefit of being able to listen to it for about 12 hours a day, most days.
 
I have an interest in tube amps, but at this point I'm more than pleased with the Desktop. It would likely be for reasons of different rather than better. I know there is better than the Desktop, but at this point it isn't worth the price difference.

 

[simreg]

For anyone who was interested on the real world test of this, I am using the Desktop going to some powered studio monitors via the rear output. I set the monitors to -30db gain (lowest setting) and use medium gain on the Desktop. If there is any degradation of sound, I cannot hear it. I get to about 10 o'clock on the volume, so almost the no-gain point of the amp.
 
It's probably not a big surprise, since this is a recommended use. I would expect it would work fine going to an external amp.

 

[Paganini Alfredo]

Cool. So how do those monitors sound powered by the desktop?

 

[BenThiede]

The intended use of the preamp output on any of our amps is to drive a power amplifier. Whether the power amp is built into powered speakers or a separate amp driving passive speakers. The headphone amp itself is functioning as the preamplifier. In essence, the preamp out is very similar to the headphone out on the front. It is a volume controlled, pre-amplified output signal. 
 
It is not ideal to feed another head amp off this output because the signal will be processed in two preamplifiers. You want to feed an unaffected "line level" signal into your head amp (or pre-amp). You can set the volume control in a position that would output similar to line level (about 2 volts), but since the audio signal is going through the same step in two different pre-amps (headphone amps), you compromise the audio quality.
 
There are no damaging side effects to this setup, but the best sound quality will come from feeding your head amp a line level signal straight from the source (CD player, DAC, etc).

 

[simreg]

I have no complaints with driving the monitors with the Desktop. The speakers could certainly be better, but when I don't want to listen to headphones for 10+ hours a day, they make a good alternative. Any fault is not in the Desktop, that's for sure!