I'm still waiting for my second LiPo to arrive - but when it does I'll try the T50s on my DT1350 filter/amp. Obviously, they won't sound 'right' but it'll give an idea of the potential to drive the T50s as a portable. As I mentioned above, I'm using +/- 12v with NJM4556 opamps. As far as I'm aware, these are about the most powerful delivering double the current compared to the usual alternatives.
Hi Ian,
Just an update on the T50/portable amp question.
I've now tried the T50s with the DT1350 filter/amp and although it drives them to reasonable volume it doesn't really get a grip of them. There's a definite lack of oomph so I guess it's over to the O2.
To be honest, I'd be suprised if there are any battery powered amps that would drive these sufficiently. They sound great on my Panda (0 ohms) but you'll never get that kind of power from a portable (and still be able to carry it :
.
Hi Dicky,
Yes, they need a lot of current to really push them properly. I was quite surprised. You get sound ok from a Neco but if you turn up the volume or get big peaks, it soon becomes apparent that it's running out of steam.
It's not the 'average' volume I'm talking about. I think when I mentioned it elsewhere, I wasn't really understood.
You're quite right, the reason I'm wanting to hear the O2 is the power output for mobile use. (or portable since even that caused confusion :
I'm using the T50 to work with and the T40 for music since it sounds so good. The T40 is slightly less sensitive than the T50 since it's a modded pair and it needs an extra kick in order to bring it to life. Believe me, on the end of a big amp, it becomes very lively.
If the O2 works, then I'll beg the maker for one .......
I have a friend who owned up to having one so I'll try it.
From what I heard on another site, they tend to sound a bit thin. Whether that's just the source and gear being used or the amp, I'll find out soon enough though. I thought it a bit odd that an amp made that much difference because in my experience, most amps are pretty good and you have to be a nit picker to detect major differences like that.
The other option is to make a box that solderdude is designing that allows the connection of a headphone to speaker outputs. Funnily enough, I used to do this in the 70's with a big NAD amp. I don't know whether it was placebo or what, but I remember at the time, I was convinced that it was a major improvement since my headphones became extremely dynamic and lively. I get almost a feeling that headphone amps today actually dampen them down by comparison!! They seem to try to control them too much .......
There was a little bit of jiggery pokery going on in the box in order to get the imedance matching right and also protect the headphones, but I actually did like it, although mine was a little bit more noisy than a standard headphone amp.
In those days, the headphone output jack was often connected directly to the output with resistance in line. I have no idea what the output impedance of those sockets were but that may account for the massive variation that you could get in sound from them!!
An amp that I really liked was the big version of the NAD amp. Forgotten the number of it. (not the 3120 but a bigger version) I could bridge them into mono and so have two mono amps for left and right stereo with a lot of power. Loved that set up. Bridging them from stereo to mono gave you a lot of power/headroom.
Then I went all squeaky clean due to those blasted reviewers telling us what we needed to do and so I moved to this low powered (for me) Cyrus 2 amp. Didn't like it really and then to a squeaky clean Naim setup with a Linn Sondek. That was OK. Still a bit squeaky clean and clinical though!!
I loved the dirty sound of the NADS in bridged mode.
So, for the T40 which is a lovely headphone, I need something with lots of current available that is portable. It's not just the loudness, but the appearance of clipping on highly dynamic tracks that I want to clean up if possible.
My Aune S2 struggles. That's gone home now so I'm back to the MF V8 or T1 or Horizon or my old Aune amp or my Neco Bosfet. Lots of choice. The biggest output is the Horizon which does actually drive it. I love the Horizon too but it's not the kind of thing that I can easily carry around hotels.
Perhaps good quality, high powered battery amps are difficult to come by? I wouldn't mind even if it had a big battery in it; especially if it were rechargable. It seems that the trade off though is low battery life but the O2 has 8 -10 hours, which for me is about 2 days.
I'm working in Norwich at the moment so hopefully, when I'm back, I'll get my hands on the O2 and see exactly what it does. It's only about £95 to buy in any case so it's not a massive outlay.
For some reason, I seem to be quite sensitive to dynamics and in my experience, quite a few amps run on the borderline being just sufficient to drive headphones properly. Just. If you push them with something really dynamic, the problems start to appear on peaks in particular.
In the 70's with the NAD, I didn't mind the noise levels so much, since I could 'tune' it out, but on a headphone, the sound seemed as though it was in a big hall with plenty of space, so you could turn the band up louder and it still seemed to fit in the space without touching the walls. (That's the closest analogy I can think of) Many modern headphones seem to be powerful, but in the wrong sized 'room' (virtual room) so the sound grows too big and congested if you turn up or the music demands big peaks.
How's that for a non-technical person describing sound?
I'll probably get slammed down now eh? ;D
That's where the Neco, as nice as it is starts to show cracks. It starts to sound compressed on peaks when pushed. Then again, it has a great battery life so you can't have it all!!
Horizon is best for power output though. Frans did an amazing job on that one and the quality of that one teamed up with great support from Jeremy makes it a fantastic buy!! (although it looks as though I'm going to have to justify why I need a new amp to get my ears on the new one that is about to appear!!!!)