Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

[willawake]

http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-on...e/portaamp.htm
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-on...e/specials.htm

looks kinda interesting project

main site is http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/

[i4004]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

i think you already have 5 or ten lf amp that hook to headphones, and can't hear any difference between them...

why do you think this one would be so much different....hehe...

when he says it sounds better, it mainly means "sounds better to him", as for the 99% of the rest of us....highly doubtful

but all of it said, what about tube headphone amp?
they glow AND have warm sound!


tv set->tube preamp->cordless headphones base (emitter)-----3m of air-----cordless headphones....


best of old and new

[willawake]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

if you cant tell a difference between them, then your headphones are crap.

i got some new heaphones recently. my soundcard and amp are not doing them justice so i wanna headphone amp and dac for use with the computer which is my main source. so i am looking at some stuff, meier's stuff also. its quite confusing.

i am not experienced in tube equipment. maybe i should do some auditions.

the audio scene is full of bullshit statements. but i do believe it is possible to get a very high end sound at cheaper price with headphone kit. and indeed the computer as source is the common thing now so external dac is something very interesting to get this good sound.

i was interested to know why many external dacs limit the usb input to 16bit/48kHz whilst the spdif/optical are usually up to 24bit/192kHz.

meier explained it on a head-fi thread i was reading.

In principle it is well possible to implement 24bit 92kHz USB using for instance the TAS1020 USB streaming controller chip. However, this would require extensive microprocessor programming and thereby expertise and resources that I simply don't have. Such solutions are only feasable for big companies who build their devices in larger quantities.

it also require drivers to be written.

so i dunno if the spdif of this soundcard will be limiting. i was previously messing around with using the DAC of a DAT player taking coax from the computer, occasionally it did wierd shit. sounded way better though when it was working. i think external dac and good headphone amp will be exactly what i need to drive these new heaphones.

anyway i just thought someone might be interested in that diy project. i wont be getting that but its interesting cos it have usb and is therefore different to other headphone amp projects i have seen.

[i4004]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

>i got some new heaphones recently

make, model, price?

>but i do believe it is possible to get a very high end sound at cheaper price with headphone kit.

makes sense.

[willawake]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

senny 650.
price? come and listen then talk price.

[willawake]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

tubes, like this thing maybe good? http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...3322-a-406368/

[ratdude747]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

my headphones are sentry h4's. some brand i found at big lots (usa discount store). i paid $4 for them. they seem nice. they have the silicone "mushrooms" with the buds being aluminum.

[dood]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

willa- you ever try Grado headphones? I've heard them, but never owned a pair. I've never heard any Sennheiser's.

[willawake]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

actually i havent heard many headphones. i used to own sennheiser 590 but they broke. they had good sound. then someone gave me sennheiser 205 but sound was not good. then i heard these 650 and bought them. quite happy. actually i was real happy until i started reading some criticism on head-fi forums, aaah too much information!

[dood]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

Head-fi is overwhelming at times! That's one of the reasons I haven't gotten into headphones. The other reason is that I still primarily live alone, minus the nights that my GF stays over. Those nights, I'm not too concerned about music or staying up later than her. Some day I might be, and when that day comes, I'll be looking for some Grado's to keep me happy when she wants me to "quiet down". As it is now, I've got three different stereo systems in the house, to keep me happy no matter where I am.

Really old picture, before I got my LCD TV and got rid of the duct-tape couch -

[willawake]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

i was reading a bit about balanced amps for the headphones, seems quite interesting. the senny 650 are supposed to be quite good balanced. hey you can get a cardas balanced cable for them for $300. yeah right there must be a cheaper one lol.

there are a few other interesting diy projects
http://www.amb.org/audio/beta22/
http://djgardner.com/headphone/gilmore/

[ratdude747]

Re: Meier DIY headphone amp with usb dac

my headphones took one for the team... one of my rats noticed they were out and chewed up one of the silicone "mushrooms"... he is ok, and thank god a have spare parts for the phones.