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Post by nat72sherman on Jul 3, 2012 0:30:43 GMT -5
Hi all,
I just bought a XDA-1. I also have a Marantz 4200 AVR and Mission speakers. I am was planning to hook the XDA-1 to a new power amp and new speakers.
But I need a headphone jack. If I hook the xda-1 to the AVR and hook up the amp in the preout, are there any sound degradation? Are there power amps with headphone jacks?
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Post by garbulky on Jul 3, 2012 5:35:42 GMT -5
No emo amps have headphone jacks. However there are headphone jacks that can recieve the balanced output from the xda-1. The XDA-1 pushes a signal to both the balanced and unbalanced outputs so you could just use one of those outputs for your headphone amp.
The XDA-1 has a very good analog stage. Somebody had a marantz pre-amp and hooked up to the xda-1 found that the marantz pre-amp was limiting the audio quality. The XDA-1 connected directly to a powe amp sounds very good. It's really upto you to experiment. It's always possible that an AVR may affect the quality of the signal depending on the design.
An AVR has to do so many things that sometimes audio quality can take a backseat. There are a good amount of people that do use the pre-outs on the avr for their power amp though. So, I think you should experiment.
A few things to note:
The xda-1 has a digital volume control that looses information when it is turned down from maximum volume (80). Whether this is audible or not at quiet volumes is upto you.
The XDA-2 will not lose information as it is turned down and will have an analog volume control. It will also have a headphone jack and a "badass headphone amp" according to the head of emotiva.
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jlafrenz
Global Moderator 
I don't want to jump in, unless this music's thumping
Posts: 7,722
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Post by jlafrenz on Jul 3, 2012 18:03:14 GMT -5
If you connect it like you stated, you would want to use a "Direct" mode of sorts so that there is no processing done to the signal and it is passed to the amps.
What amp are you using? As, garbulky said, you can use one set of outputs to go to the amp and the other to a headphone amp.
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Post by nat72sherman on Jul 3, 2012 22:47:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions.
I need a headphone out for just xbox gaming, not really for serious listening. My concern for sound quality only pertain to what comes out of speakers. An HP amp is probably not what im looking for. Plus it's usually pretty pricey. Then again, further down the line I probably decide I do need one.
As far as amp, I don't have one right now. I'm looking to buy. So far the UPA-200 looks good. Any choices I should consider?
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jul 3, 2012 23:16:28 GMT -5
You might be able to get a cheap fiio e5/6/11 $20-60 and just Y it off the RCA jacks. Youd get your good output and headphone output. You'd need some RCA splitters.
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Post by nat72sherman on Jul 3, 2012 23:37:41 GMT -5
yes i have one of those fiio portable headphone amps. i was wondering if i could use it. But the amp im looking at right now (UPA-200) only have unbalanced ins.
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jul 4, 2012 0:52:08 GMT -5
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jul 4, 2012 0:54:57 GMT -5
I don't think that you should have any significant issue putting inputs on the XDA output, but you could always ask.
The other option, if you ONLY use the headphones iwth the Xbox, might be to have the 1/8" --> RCA from the XBox's analog outputs (if it has them.)
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Post by nat72sherman on Jul 4, 2012 1:51:43 GMT -5
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Post by garbulky on Jul 6, 2012 13:25:39 GMT -5
Are you replacing your processor with that?
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