[boomy3555]

When you come out of a Headphone out of a non-Ipod source then you are basically double amping the source as the player it'self is an amp. If you turn the volume up above 50% on your souce then you start to get distortion caused by the double amping. It's best to turn your source to around 50% then adjust your amp to give you the volume you need for your headphones. if it's not load enough, then you can then "up" the volume on the source. Or if you experience distortion then, drop the source volume down.
Your right. An LOD does not even apply to the original question as the volume level out is set.

 

[boomy3555]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadhanaputra /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah. I've been using a laptop myself and I've been wondering how I should balance the volume levels on the laptop, the player software, and the amp.. Changing the volume on my laptop seems to only change the volume level of the operating system. So it's on a software level still. How do I change the volume level of the hardware/sound card? And what level should I use with an amp?

Do you use a USB/DAC amp or do you run from the headphone out. With windows you go to control panel and then to sounds and open the "Advanced Volume Controls" Make sure that the "Wave" volume is not muted or turned too low. Unlees you're using an external sound card or USB/Dac amp the Windows Media Player or Winamp, Or Itunes, etc. controls should control the internal sound card's volume as well.

 

[iareConfusE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patwrik /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't mean to thread jack...but just for informational sake... What if the source is not an IPOD. Everyone seems just to avoid the question and say, "JUST GET AN LOD." what if the source you have does not have a "line out" option. For example a cowon d2 or sansa clip/fuze/etc. Is there proven method that we can settle on as the correct way of using the headphone out with an amp?

I don't even know if the line-out jack is any different from the headphone jack. I have an iRiver H320, and when I plug my interconnect into either the headphone jack or the output jack, I can hear no difference...

 

[patwrik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iareConfusE /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't even know if the line-out jack is any different from the headphone jack. I have an iRiver H320, and when I plug my interconnect into either the headphone jack or the output jack, I can hear no difference...

You can control the source volume via line out jack? Based on my knowledge, you should not be able to if its was line out.

 

[thornygravy]

EDIT: NVM

 

[sadhanaputra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomy3555 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you use a USB/DAC amp or do you run from the headphone out. With windows you go to control panel and then to sounds and open the "Advanced Volume Controls" Make sure that the "Wave" volume is not muted or turned too low. Unlees you're using an external sound card or USB/Dac amp the Windows Media Player or Winamp, Or Itunes, etc. controls should control the internal sound card's volume as well.

Headphone out, of course. Using a DAC would bypass any volume control from the laptop

Oh ok, so the software does control the hardware? Cool. It's like the ghost in the machine thing

Quote:

Originally Posted by iareConfusE /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't even know if the line-out jack is any different from the headphone jack. I have an iRiver H320, and when I plug my interconnect into either the headphone jack or the output jack, I can hear no difference...

I read somewhere that there's actually no Line out jack in an iPod. It's actually the same as the headphone jack with the volume level cranked to a predetermined volume.
Therefore we have the iMod, which really bypasses the iPod's amp and thus makes the ouput clearer.

I don't know if the same thing applies to iRiver.

CMIIW.

 

[boomy3555]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadhanaputra /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone out, of course. Using a DAC would bypass any volume control from the laptop Oh ok, so the software does control the hardware? Cool. It's like the ghost in the machine thing I read somewhere that there's actually no Line out jack in an iPod. It's actually the same as the headphone jack with the volume level cranked to a predetermined volume. Therefore we have the iMod, which really bypasses the iPod's amp and thus makes the ouput clearer. I don't know if the same thing applies to iRiver. CMIIW.

The Ipod 5 gen 80 gb video has an amplified headphone out on top with a NTSC video output through the same jack. so you can run an adapter cable directly to any TV or VCR with RCA inputs. The LOD is a direct analog audio souce that comes from the #2, #3,and #4 pins on the base docking port and has a preset pre-amp volume level. it uses the Ipod DAC but by-passes the equalizer and onboard amplifier.

 

[thatguyoverthere]

I use Westone 3s from the headphone out of my ipod. On my classic, I noticed a HUGE loss of quality when I put the volume to about 80%. On my video I didn't really notice any, but I don't have that great ears, so that's not to say that there wasn't any.

I also do not use an amp.

 

[Acrog]

30ohm phones at 80% on an ipod? Are you sick?

on topic: Battery life should not change if you are going through an amp. Most amps have an input impedance in the thousands, therefore the current draw is almost unnoticed by the dap's amp. So it isn't a matter of battery life, but preference. I run with the ipod's volume at full volume, and never have noticed any clipping or distortion. I notice more noise when at <50%, as the headphone amp is just amplifying more source noise and less signal.

 

[iareConfusE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patwrik /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can control the source volume via line out jack? Based on my knowledge, you should not be able to if its was line out.

Yeah, I can control the volume from the line out jack through the source. Both the line out jack and the headphone jack seem to be identical. The volume adjustment is identical no matter which the amp is connected to.

Right now I have my amp connected to the headphone jack since its in the most convenient location, not blocking my volume knob which is right above the line out jack.I figure it wouldn't even matter since I can't fnid any difference between the two.