[ProfFalkin]

It's on YouTube. ZMF has a channel with lots of great info.

 

[raphaelchan]

It's on YouTube. ZMF has a channel with lots of great info.

wonderful! Thank you so much!

 

[OombaGatoonga]

I have an Aeolus on the way and am thinking about tube amps. I've never tried a tube amp before so I was thinking of trying the LittleDot Mk2 to see if I like tubes. If I like the tube feel with the LittleDot Mk2, then I would go for the Bottlehead Crack plus Speedball. Would the LittleDot Mk2 be a good way to find out if I like tubes / be a good "preview" of what the Crack can do? Is this the wrong way to think about things?

I'm a little hesitant to jump in with the Crack having zero tube experience. What if I just don't like it? I was considering other tube amps like the Valhalla or the Darkvoice to test tubes out, but if I'm going to spend about $350 I'd rather pay the extra to get the Crack plus Speedball at $415.

Currently I'm running an E-MU Teak off of a JDS Labs Atom Amp+Dac stack. I like warm and fun over neutral and analytical, which makes me think I'd like the Crack plus Speedball from what I've read on this thread and elsewhere. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone reporting their experience with the LittleDot Mk2 and the Aeolus or if the LittleDot is a good predictor of the Crack / tubes in general.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I have an Aeolus on the way and am thinking about tube amps. I've never tried a tube amp before so I was thinking of trying the LittleDot Mk2 to see if I like tubes. If I like the tube feel with the LittleDot Mk2, then I would go for the Bottlehead Crack plus Speedball. Would the LittleDot Mk2 be a good way to find out if I like tubes / be a good "preview" of what the Crack can do? Is this the wrong way to think about things?

I'm a little hesitant to jump in with the Crack having zero tube experience. What if I just don't like it? I was considering other tube amps like the Valhalla or the Darkvoice to test tubes out, but if I'm going to spend about $350 I'd rather pay the extra to get the Crack plus Speedball at $415.

Currently I'm running an E-MU Teak off of a JDS Labs Atom Amp+Dac stack. I like warm and fun over neutral and analytical, which makes me think I'd like the Crack plus Speedball from what I've read on this thread and elsewhere. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone reporting their experience with the LittleDot Mk2 and the Aeolus or if the LittleDot is a good predictor of the Crack / tubes in general.

It helps to know the 2 different buckets that all tube headphone amps fall into, and which bucket you should pick from:

1. OTL (output transformerless) tube amps are designed to drive high impedance headphones like any of the ZMF dynamics. But OTL tube amps typically don't sound very good with low impedance dynamics like the E Mu Teak.
2. Transformer-coupled tube amps are designed to drive headphones of all impedances, low to high. Some of these have low vs hi impedance settings (variable results w/these, perhaps not as ideal as OTLs for high impedance HPs)

The Little Dot MKII is (I believe) a tube/SS hybrid, which belongs in bucket 2. Hybrids often use tubes as drivers and solid state for the output stages. Often hybrids have a little less of the tradition tube sweetness that full tube amps--but make up for it with bass that a little deeper/hard-hitting than some tube amps can manage.

My advice is the read all the reviews and user comments for this particularly hybrid--to see if "warm" and "fun" show up (vs cold & neutral). I never researched it so I don't know

FYI, Drop has a different hybrid available now (XDUOO TA20) that many users describe as having classic tube sound, but with excellent/strong bass. I'm pretty interested in that one, though the last thing I need is another amp...

https://drop.com/buy/xduoo-ta-20-balanced-headphone-amp

 

[Marlowe]

The Little Dot MKII is (I believe) a tube/SS hybrid

Pretty sure that this is incorrect. The LD MkII, like the MKIII which I have, is not a hybrid, but a full OTL tube amp which uses two tubes (one driver, one power) in each channel. I've not heard the MKII, but the MKIII, which costs roughly $80 more, is a pretty nice beginner tube amp. I haven't used it in a while, but it worked well with the Sennheiser HD700, taming some of its treble harshness. I've never used it with the Aeolus (my current amp for music is the Liquid Platinum hybrid) and should pull it out of the closet and give a listen.

 

[raindownthunda]

I have an Aeolus on the way and am thinking about tube amps. I've never tried a tube amp before so I was thinking of trying the LittleDot Mk2 to see if I like tubes. If I like the tube feel with the LittleDot Mk2, then I would go for the Bottlehead Crack plus Speedball. Would the LittleDot Mk2 be a good way to find out if I like tubes / be a good "preview" of what the Crack can do? Is this the wrong way to think about things?

I'm a little hesitant to jump in with the Crack having zero tube experience. What if I just don't like it? I was considering other tube amps like the Valhalla or the Darkvoice to test tubes out, but if I'm going to spend about $350 I'd rather pay the extra to get the Crack plus Speedball at $415.

Currently I'm running an E-MU Teak off of a JDS Labs Atom Amp+Dac stack. I like warm and fun over neutral and analytical, which makes me think I'd like the Crack plus Speedball from what I've read on this thread and elsewhere. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone reporting their experience with the LittleDot Mk2 and the Aeolus or if the LittleDot is a good predictor of the Crack / tubes in general.

Based on your comment looking for a warmer / fun sound, I don't think you'd regret going straight to the Bottlehead Crack. I have used 3 amps for extended periods of time with the Aeolus: JDS Labs Atom, Eddie Current ZDT Jr., and Bottlehead Crack (with and without speedball and many, many different tubes). The Bottlehead Crack is by far the best sounding with the Aeolus and also most versatile with numerous tube rolling options to find further enhancements in the sound. Even in it's stock (non-speedball) form with stock tubes, the Bottlehead Crack was way more euphonic to my ears than the other two amps mentioned (the Atom being the least euphonic). It's been almost a year with my Aeolus + Crack and don't find myself "wanting" for anything more.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Pretty sure that this is incorrect. The LD MkII, like the MKIII which I have, is not a hybrid, but a full OTL tube amp which uses two tubes (one driver, one power) in each channel. I've not heard the MKII, but the MKIII, which costs roughly $80 more, is a pretty nice beginner tube amp. I haven't used it in a while, but it worked well with the Sennheiser HD700, taming some of its treble harshness. I've never used it with the Aeolus (my current amp for music is the Liquid Platinum hybrid) and should pull it out of the closet and give a listen.

Good catch! I got snookered by a bad title on Amazon w/the word "hybrid" in it:
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2

So you're right: this is an OTL, with the usual +'s & -'s associated w/OTLs.

FWIW, if you haven't yet heard your Aeolus on any OTL, you're in for a treat. The benefits of a proper impedance match between headphone & amp are a bit hard to describe, but easy to hear. At least w/my OTL, the Woo WA3, it's a very nice sound.

 

[Pharmaboy]

and don't find myself "wanting" for anything more.

My brain just won't let me understand those words...

 

[raindownthunda]

My brain just won't let me understand those words...

LOL - I was actually about to go back to edit my post to say "except for yet another, exotic/rare/extremely expensive tube that I just discovered can be used with an adapter...". The tube rolling rabbit hole (addiction) is real.

 

[BlueSundays]

Have a personal horror story to share. I got my used Aeolus in the mail yesterday. I was very excited to say the least. I felt the headband needed adjustment, so I watched Zach’s video on the procedure. After adjustment I noticed one of the gimbal brackets had come completely detached from the ear cup! The threaded screw had literally fallen down inside the cup. I could hear it rattling around inside the cup. I could even see it in there but I couldn’t get it out.

I swear I might have had a small panic attack. I felt queasy and utterly defeated. I went ahead and took the ear cup completely off to prevent further damage. In my despair at around midnight last night, I emailed Zach at ZMF to get his advice. I wake up this morning and already have an email response from Zach.

He’s pretty positive he knows what happened and offered to fix my Aeolus for free. All I have to do is pay for shipping! Remember I bought a used Aeolus, and Zach is still willing to fix my headphones for free! He really deserves all the praise he gets around here. I know he’s won me over.

I went from being so stressed to so relieved in about 8 hours time. Thank you @zach915m!

Zach is awesome like that. I had a Tung-Sol 6080 tube which liked to pop when turning on. I forgot and tried it with my Auteurs. It blew a driver out, I emailed Zach and told him, he gave me instructions to press it back in and I did. It didnt completely fix the problem and Zach told me he could replace the drivers at cost. So I sent it in and he replaced them and just to send whatever shipping was. So totally my fault, not the first owner, and still fixed it for free. Thanks Zach.

 

[Marlowe]

FWIW, if you haven't yet heard your Aeolus on any OTL, you're in for a treat. The benefits of a proper impedance match between headphone & amp are a bit hard to describe, but easy to hear. At least w/my OTL, the Woo WA3, it's a very nice sound.

I agree that I really should give it a try. (I'm lazy though.) FWIW, I also have a Schiit Valhalla 2 in the same closet with the LD MKII. I probably should give that one a try first.

 

[BlueSundays]

Good catch! I got snookered by a bad title on Amazon w/the word "hybrid" in it:
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2

So you're right: this is an OTL, with the usual +'s & -'s associated w/OTLs.

FWIW, if you haven't yet heard your Aeolus on any OTL, you're in for a treat. The benefits of a proper impedance match between headphone & amp are a bit hard to describe, but easy to hear. At least w/my OTL, the Woo WA3, it's a very nice sound.

This is no doubt true. I had a Woo Audio 2 with my Senn 650s and they sounded better in many regards than when I coupled them with a Cary 300 SEI F1. The Cary was uber liquid and faster but didnt have the depth or space or air that the OTL setup had. HD 600s on a standard Cary 300 SEI was the best I ever heard them particularly coupled with a cardas smurf cable which just came out when I owned it. I think it must have added some body to the cans and still had more of the tube magic than the more neutral sounding F1 version.

 

[OombaGatoonga]

Thanks for all the great responses and information guys! I'll be doing some more reading before deciding. Will get back to you with whatever I end up with when I get things set up.

My advice is the read all the reviews and user comments for this particularly hybrid--to see if "warm" and "fun" show up (vs cold & neutral).

From other head-fi reviews of the mk2, warm and lush do show up. Looking like the mk2 could be good for me. I've got an old SMSL M-3 that can power the E-MU Teak. Thanks for the heads up about the low impedance Teaks not sounding so well with OTL amps. On a side note, trying to figure out which bucket the mk2 fit in, I was confused by the same "hybrid" label on amazon. Looking forward to hearing an OTL for the first time!

I've never used it with the Aeolus (my current amp for music is the Liquid Platinum hybrid) and should pull it out of the closet and give a listen.

No pressure to do so, but If you do, let us know what you think! Maybe we'll learn something we didn't know before.

Based on your comment looking for a warmer / fun sound, I don't think you'd regret going straight to the Bottlehead Crack. I have used 3 amps for extended periods of time with the Aeolus: JDS Labs Atom, Eddie Current ZDT Jr., and Bottlehead Crack (with and without speedball and many, many different tubes). The Bottlehead Crack is by far the best sounding with the Aeolus and also most versatile with numerous tube rolling options to find further enhancements in the sound. Even in it's stock (non-speedball) form with stock tubes, the Bottlehead Crack was way more euphonic to my ears than the other two amps mentioned (the Atom being the least euphonic). It's been almost a year with my Aeolus + Crack and don't find myself "wanting" for anything more.

I'm definitely tempted to just get in there with the Crack/Speedball. From what I've read, it's got great value and performance as one of the best amps under $1k, and I do like value plus performance and having something I can be happy with for years. Plus, building your own components is awesome.

 

[Pharmaboy]

cardas smurf cable

I had to google this. Is it a good cable?

 

[BlueSundays]

I had to google this. Is it a good cable?

I think its the around 200 dollar cable they sell now only its grey instead of smurf blue
I like it alot for the 600. I think its the same core cable for my ZMFs but Im not sure. I havent compared it with anything in that regard.