[sugbob21]

i just purchased Beyer 880-600 ohm phones to us e wuth my Little Dot iii.  Can someone recomend a solid state amp to pair with these or a reasonable upgrade i can look into down the road ?  Most interested in a solid state right now as an alternative to Little Dot.    thanks.

[hibuckhobby]

Price range would be helpful.  The Burson 160, the Headroom desktop, or
one of the Meier line would all pair well.  In the more cost effective range,
the Fiio line isn't too bad and a number like the O2 objective amps.
Hibuck...

[FireGuy]

This one from Schiit is worth considering.  Their Asgard model and the price is awesome.

[sugbob21]

price range $500 to 800  give or take. Thx for suggestions so far

[adydula]

Hello,

I owned the Schiit ASGARD, Schiit LYR with many tubes, SOHAii, several other amps I have tried but after a few years mucking around I have (2) Objective 2 amps and ODACS.

The amp is relatively inexpensive and is totally transparent, staight wire with gain....this means garbage in, garbage out, but also when you play well recorded stuff its wonderful.

98% of cans can be played with authority ....and you can even do this with PURE DC power from (2) 9v rechageable batteries....

JDSLabs sells these as an amp and also in and integrated amp and dac...

This amp, solid state op amp design....has a very low output impedance...and you can read about this at the designers site at www.nwavguy.com

You can also buy a populated and tested board and mount in your own case...or even just buy the pc circuit board and build it from parts..etc all this info is on that site.

I bought a populated board and installed it in a small box...and I built one from parts...

This amp has been compared to amps much more expensive like the Vioelectric V200, Burson HA160, and several others.

Heres a link to a guy who has these cans and the O2: http://www.overclock.net/t/1292237/beyerdynamic-dt880-review

Good luck...

Alex

[grsimmon]

Violectric and/or Lake People.   

[Noseyears]

Yes, the O2 is a good value unit for the price, ideal for a transportable rig. Some folks report problem on certain headphone pairings though,
http://www.headfonia.com/nwavguys-objective-2-by-jdslabs-and-epiphany-acoustics/

Another options are the Matrix M-stage, or if you want a full size unit with plenty of power the 160Ds.

[Quiet Earth]

Violectric and/or Lake People.

Hi grsimmon,

Do you have one? I would love to hear a little more about the v200 or v181 from someone who has spent a little time with one. They are nice looking amps . . . . 

Wow, there are so many to choose from. I's hard to keep it all in perspective as a reader.

[germay0653]

Burson Soloist.

[soundbitten1]

This one from Schiit is worth considering.  Their Asgard model and the price is awesome.

I second the Asgard   

[grsimmon]

Hi grsimmon,

Do you have one? I would love to hear a little more about the v200 or v181 from someone who has spent a little time with one. They are nice looking amps . . . . 

Wow, there are so many to choose from. I's hard to keep it all in perspective as a reader.

I got to borrow a Violectric from a friend for about a month last year.  As a result a couple of their amps are on my very short list for next purchase.  I feel like the Violectrics do their job well,  nothing more or less which is how I like it.  I guess you could say I am in the NwAvGuy camp  - thinking that headphone amps can and should be well designed and with full specs available from the manufacturer (currently I'm thinking of Benchmark, Grace, Violectric, maybe also Bryston, Meier/Corda).   I previously had a Grace m902 and regret that I sold it.   There really is just a dizzying array of headphone gear in the market, especially over the last 5 years.  And there is a relatively high chance of mismatching equipment due to a variety of factors including size of your head/ears,  intended use, and large disparities in impedence requirements between headphones and amps.  This is only confounded by headphone amp manufacturers that don't know or don't disclose the output impedence of their amps.  Contrast this with home audio amplifiers, where full disclosure of basic amp specs is much more the norm rather than the exception.   Rant over 

[sugbob21]

hi  ,,,,,,just a quick question regarding the O2 amp.    when i order one on JDS Labs site , i need to oreder the A/C adapter also.  Is this correct ?

[JohnR]

If you don't have one - it needs (IIRC) 14V AC to charge the batteries. Most small 12V AC supplies put out that much when unloaded (that's what I use).

[adydula]

Yes you need to specify that you want the AC adapter, its extra on the JDS Labs site...you also can look at the instruction manual on the site and see the other AC to AC adpaters that are recommended.

That said the AC transformer is a critical component. The O2's power supply needs at least 13.5 volts AC.

The ideal AC transformer would be rated at 13-16 VAC and 400 ma or higher.

The Mouser Triad WAU-12-200 is rated at 12 volts but is really about 13.5 VAC with NO LOAD and with a 120VAC line voltage works just fine for anything but FULL power sine wave testing OR driving LOW impedance power hungry cans. I have actually measured the no load AC voltage and its 13+ volts but varies with the line voltage flucuations.

If you line voltage is actually below 117 VAC and/or you plan to drive difficult low impedance cans (like HiFiMan planars) ...a 14+ VAC transformer at 400+ ma is suggested. The covers the worse case both for line voltage and low impedance cans....

The best Mouser transformers are the WAU16-400, 412-218054 or WAU16-1000 CUI. But those are more expensive than the WAU12-200.

Having a AC transformer that provides a 13.5 VAC no load is right on the edge of letting some ripple through under the worst case conditions.....so if your O2 is used with low line voltage, for serious sine wave testing, continous tones, or using lower impedance power hungy cans having a higher voltage AC supply is highly recommended.

I have the 12-200 and the 18-500 and do not hear any real world difference in listening with AKG 701/2's, LCD2's, Grado 325i's.

Nwavguy states on his site:

"The WAU20-200 doesn't result in any higher output into high impedance headphones (because the O2 uses a regulated power supply internally) and it has less current for low impedance loads. The WAU16-400 is the best transformer for any headphone.
The 18 and 20 volt transformers do put more of a thermal "strain" on the O2 as the regulators run hotter."

Also note if your going to use the O2 as a desktop amp for your cans, remove the batteries.

Alex