[funkymartyn]

External amps should always be put on the line out.

If you put an external amp on the headphone out, it would get ‘double amped’ which will usually only add extra gain and distortion that is not desirable.

You got me thinking now, as always thought people stuck little headphone portable amps like NX1. Coming out of the headphone output....as most players have only the one....

 

[funkymartyn]

Line out is a high impedance, low power delivery circuit. You can't draw much power from a line out.

Well up to now I have been using the X3 lineout to go into my hifi amp using my spare tuner outputs with a. Y lead
And to be honest tgevoutput volume is very good....I know its set at max 100........
But I didn't know if its ok to put a portable headphone unit like the Topping NX1. Between....? So X3 into NX1 from lineout, then into Hifi amp tuner circuit......what you think ?
Or even. X3. Headphone output into topping NX1 into Hifi amp tuner.....etc

 

[EmPathWalker]

Well up to now I have been using the X3 lineout to go into my hifi amp using my spare tuner outputs with a. Y lead
And to be honest tgevoutput volume is very good....I know its set at max 100........
But I didn't know if its ok to put a portable headphone unit like the Topping NX1. Between....? So X3 into NX1 from lineout, then into Hifi amp tuner circuit......what you think ?
Or even. X3. Headphone output into topping NX1 into Hifi amp tuner.....etc

The NX1 output is a headphone out ( low impedance, high power delivery ). In lowfi situations, that probably doesn't make a noticable difference to the tonality of the sound but will usually be noticable with high end kit at the back end of the chain. The 'hi-fi' line in is a high impedance matching circuit for a line out from the source device.

In general, using 'headphone' low impedance outputs to supply a signal to high impedance inputs is not good. Yea, even Sony will tell their cusomers to do it but only with low budget devices that were built without line outs. Bottom line, IT WORKS, kinda . . . .

 

[funkymartyn]

Empathwalker....you have lost me a bit if I'm honest....so to summarize. ....It's ok to use portable headphone amps from the players headphone output......I have done This with a few players, even minidisc.. And was ok

But what I think you mean , if going from the players Lineout ( if it as one ) , to go into a proper hifi amp, via say the Tuner circuit using a. Y. Lead......with portable headphone amp in between, this is probable not the best way.

Well thanks for all this info....

 

[EmPathWalker]

errr, perhaps I'm confusing you with the concept of high power delivery ?

POWER = volts X current. ( current is what exhausts the battery, by the way )

Percieved volume is volts. If those volts ( or millivolts ) are not backed up by high current delivery capability in the circuit, those millivolts will collapse quite drastically when current is drawn from the circuit by the receiving device. At the very least, that means signal distortion.

Similarly, but not as drastically, a low impedance output will distort ( not as fuzz ) if the receiving device is NOT drawing as much current as the sending circuit is designed to expect.

Electronic circuits are very much like water plumbing circuits in that way. Pressure in the cold water tap is like the voltage. The amount of water flow when you turn on the tap is like the current flow. If there is not enough available water flow before the tap, turning on the tap will immediately drop the water pressure.

Or am I confusing things even further. . . . . . . . ?

 

[funkymartyn]

Gone very deep for me...lol......And I'm a electrician. ....lol......electronics as never been my best part...
Think I'll leave it there....and re-read your answers a few times.....lol

Thinking about it....which would yiu say would be the best output to use on the. X3.
Lineout.....or. Headphone out.....???
Or the best way to use both.....for different scenarios. ...
Would like to know what you Think.....as lots of players only have line out...
So you think the headphone out uses more battery at normal volume say 60.......compared to the Lineout which goes full max at 100.
Anyway thanks for input....always good to hear stuff.

 

[mbwilson111]

Lineout.....or. Headphone out.....???

Headphone out directly to headphones, iems or buds.

Line-out as a source to a portable amp or tube amp etc with the headphones, iem, or buds connected to the headphone out of that amp.

 

[Slater]

Gone very deep for me...lol......And I'm a electrician. ....lol......electronics as never been my best part...
Think I'll leave it there....and re-read your answers a few times.....lol

I think you’re thinking way too hard about this friend!

Here’s the very simplified version:

If you’re source has only 1 jack (cell phone, Walkman, cheap tiny DAP) then you can plug an external amp into that.

If your source has 2 jacks like the xduoo X3 (a headphone jack and a line out jack), then you should plug an external amp into the line out jack.

At this point, don’t worry about impedance and current and balanced output and all that jazz. Just K.I.S.S.

I hope that clears it up for you.

 

[mbwilson111]

If you’re source has only 1 jack (cell phone, Walkman, cheap tiny DAP) then you can plug an external amp into that.

Some DAPs that have only one jack like the Cayin N3 have a menu option to switch that jack to lineout mode. It has never been clear to me whether this actually bypasses the internal amp circuit or not. Possibly it just changes the output to 100%.

 

[funkymartyn]

Thanks to all your replies, very interesting to say the least, always good to clear things up...just in case I'm missing out...As don't really want to spend Big money on a top end dap....Even if I would like one ..lol

One thing I would like to understand is my recording formats.. I don't even know if I'm getting the best out of what if got ....Right then this is it..........I copy my cds onto Windows pc, which uses Media pkayer.
I ticked the largest file that this will copy at...think it was 192 kbs. ?
And I can see most of my players can play lots of different files....flac, ape, dsd, mph, ....etc
But what I would like to know is what have I been saving all my cds in ? ....Assume its WMA...? But what is bit known as.....Flac or not.......As a friend is doing me some sd cards and he uses Flac.

 

[EmPathWalker]

The files you have already made from CD rips that are WMA or whatever other lossy format are what they are and don't even think of converting them UP to a higher resolution. If you still have all the CDs, you can start from scratch and make higher resolution format files from them. Remember that CDs are 44.1k 16 bit. That's the best you'll get so no point going for anything higher. FLAC and ALAC (apple ) are lossless formats. So is WAV but that's a space guzzler.

 

[funkymartyn]

Thanks for that, so what I recorded when burning my cds, (which i still have ) Are defo WMA . And I clicked the file rate at. 192 kbs.... So hopefully I'm ok and not cocked up.....as takes loads of time to copy most again...
So how do you burn in Flac then ? ... Do you have to use a program. ...and not Windows media.

 

[EmPathWalker]

I've never used WMP for CD ripping so I can't advise you about the possibilties in the options, if it has any.

I use 'Exact Audio Copy' but there are loads of others to choose from.

 

[funkymartyn]

I wish I'd known more about all this when I first started burning my CD collection onto the pc, and now lap top, Then back up onto my external drives.... But I have always used Windows media as that's what was easiest at the time.
As it brings artwork , tracks, cd info......Most of the time......but thanks for info..

 

[EmPathWalker]

Most of the other software for CD ripping will take care of artwork and track info too. The one I use uses the freedb on line database to get the info ( using the embedded ID code on every factory made CD ). It almost never fails to find the right info. Artwork too. Sometimes it fails but usually grabs a good'n.

I should add, tho', that I do have to use a decent TAG editing software to keep things tidy and consistent because the on-line database is supplied by user's input and that can be varied in it's formats. I use 'Tag and Rename'. I've used it for years and know it like the back of my hand, which is the all important factor if 'productivity' matters, which it always does for me. I always want to get the job done, not faff around learning new software environments instead.