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Post by ktaillon on Aug 29, 2017 12:44:45 GMT -5
Has anyone been using the headphone amp in direct mode via the two jumpers? Looking for your thoughts on the noise level compared to the normal output mode.
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Post by lgcubana on Sept 29, 2017 15:12:06 GMT -5
Look for a review on YouTube, by Zreview
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Post by garbulky on Sept 29, 2017 15:39:54 GMT -5
I sure have! First to understand is that this mode is very very powerful. So you want to use it with either high impedance headphones (200 and above) - I use it with the Senheiser HD600 which is 300 ohms. Or with headphones where they reccomend huge amounts of power - like the hifiman or some of the Audeze units.
So if you are using it as intended, you won't really have any problems. However if you use it with much lower powered headphones....you may encounter problems with noise - or more likely that the volume control is set so low that you encounter channel imbalance - read barely above zero because of the power it puts out. On my HD600, in direct drive if I am not listening to anything, I hear a very low level noise. It is audible. Like a small hiss but only on silence. If I'm listening to music, no hiss can be heard even at reasonably low volumes. I also have a DAC preamp upstream that reduces the volume a bit so that there is a bit more play in the volume knob. I actually adjust the volume knob till there is no channel imbalance. Then I use my DAC as a preamp basically. So the mini-x acts as a power amp. This way I have remote control capabilities and my DAC is running near the top of its range resulting in no real signal loss that I can hear. (My DC-1 uses analog resistors for volume control).
With the resistors in the circuit (jumpers off), there is no hiss. In both modes there is tons of power. However I prefer the direct drive mode with my headphones - despite the low level hiss. Because, let's be real, it's utterly fantastic this unit. I really think it compares to $1000 headphone amps from companies that provide value too.
So use direct drive with the appropriate headphones and you won't have problems. But if you use sensitive in ear headphones or 30=50 ohm headphones, honestly I wouldn't recommend this - UNLESS those headphones are meant for huge amounts of power for optimal drive - like 1 to 4 watts. In that case I'd simply use it with the resistors engaged. And be done with it. Cuz it sounds fantastic.
On my headphones....the resistors engaged version (the lower power version) has a warmer more "neutral" sound which I really like. With the resistors bypassed (high power), it has less of a bass focus. It still sounds AMAZING and the bass resolution is incredible. But ....it's just a different tone. I still prefer the resistors bypassed version due to its incredibly good dynamics and pretty much all around excellence.
If you look at that review when he takes it apart, you can see that....yeah you've never seen a headphone amp built like this.
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