[JHouser]

I have owned a Pair of HP2's for about 7 years. They have always
been nice headphones. Until I finished my MINT tonight I have NEVER
heard them amplified. You guys weren't kidding. I have never realized
how much background noise there is in the CD's i own. I swear I can
hear the sound engineer moving the sliders on the boards. Anyways thanks
for you help everyone... Dynahi, here I come

BTW: Sorry for the stupid question. What is the purpose of the rail splitter? Will the amp operate without it?

 

[robzy]

Haha, good to see you like 'em so much.

The rail splitter turns an 18v source into a 9v and -9v power source, no idea why, but thats what the opamp needs (Im sure someone will expand on that).

Rob.

 

[Talonz]

From what I understand, the rail splitter helps to keep the two lines equal. Otherwise, one 9v battery with a higher voltage then a partially drained one can damage the amp.

There's something about it on Tangent's site.. I can't seem to find it anymore.

 

[skyskraper]

the rail splitter takes a single ended source. like +9v and splits it in two to create +/-4.5v and a ground. you guys should check out tangents page on virtual grounds. its a goldmine

 

[tangent]

Music is an AC signal. That means roughly half the signal goes "negative" relative to ground, and half goes positive. Since an op-amp (or buffer) can only respond to signals between its rails, and you want the most dynamic headroom possible, you want that ground to be directly between the rails. Traditionally, you do this with a dual power supply, which provides V+, ground and V-. The rail splitter concept allows you to do something similar with a single-voltage power supply, such as a battery.

No, the amp will not operate without it.

 

[roadbuster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangent No, the amp will not operate without it.

Sure it will. It'll just bring new meaning to the word, "distortion"

 

[robzy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadbuster Sure it will. It'll just bring new meaning to the word, "distortion"

Haha, very nice.

Rob.