[Paul_Bui]

Today for a kick I plugged the Decware MLB (My Little Buddy) headphone amp to the SB2, and my cans the Beyerdynamic DT831 to the MLB.  Played were tracks from "Amore per Rossini" sung by Jennifer L'Amore and London Chorus.  

My earlier impression of these headphone heard thru the MLB and Underwood modded Shanling SCDT200 CDP has been that, while very detailed (more so than the Sennheiser HD6500) and three dimensional, its brightness in the upper extension tends to make listening fatigue set in quickly, thus preventing me from a long session.  Switching back and forth between tube and solid state outputs of the CDP didn't help much.  I blamed either the cans, the tube amp, or the Redbook CD recording technology.

How wrong have I been!  Listening to Ms. Lamore today via the only new component in the system - the SB2 - is a pleasing turnaround.  Not only that tons of inner details now keep being revealed in an analog way (as opposite to sterile details that we associate with solid state & digital), depth and ambience of sound stage get clearer; her voice as well as choir's singers can be heard in different layers.  It become easier to follow vocal parts accompanying the lead singer.  Her voice has never sounded this real (as if she was standing in front of (or under) the microphones, with the chorus behind her, singing out loud).  Her voice has never been this meaty, rich, throaty, and dynamic.  It seems easier for me to tell when she makes a head gesture, let alone inhaling and exhaling during the song.

I find myself cranking it up without being fatigued, and that IMHO indicates a very low noise reproduction.  Best of all, listening to the loudspeaker/ClariT amps/SB2 yields an almost similar result.  There's a low level hum with the tube amp, there's no room acoustics to affect the cans (sealed type) listening.  Otherwise, they both share the ANALOG and SPOOKY sounds.

My guess is, a ClariT, modified for driving the cans, will push the envelope further.  By the same token, a pair of Definitions will likely do the same.

[Vinnie R.]

Today for a kick I plugged the Decware MLB (My Little Buddy) headphone amp to the SB2, and my cans the Beyerdynamic DT831 to the MLB. ...

Hi Paul,

I'm glad you tried your modded SB2 as a source into your headphone amp, and thanks for posting your impressions!  

Does your headphone amp have a volume control, or are you using the SB2's internal volume control?  I am very happy with the performance of the SB2's internal volume control, and use my modded SB2 directly into my Clari-T (amp only, no volume control) and the results are grand!  Not having to use a passive volume control in the signal path definitely adds to the "spooky realistic" factor of the sound (i.e., amazing transparency)    

Enjoy!

[Paul_Bui]

Vinnie,

Glad you asked.  The headphone amp does have its own volume knob.  I think it's an Alp pot.  Can I ask you to remove it, so that there will be only the SB2's internal volume control in the signal path?  Although the sound is sweet and full body now, I'd prefer it without the tube/transformer's hum.

On the horizon I will be looking at a ClariT amp dedicated to headphones and the DT831 with removable adaptor to work with that amp.

[Jon L]

Vinnie,

Glad you asked.  The headphone amp does have its own volume knob.  I think it's an Alp pot.  Can I ask you to remove it, so that there will be only the SB2's internal volume control in the signal path?  Although the sound is sweet and full body now, I'd prefer it without the tube/transformer's hum.

On the horizon I will be looking at a ClariT amp dedicated to headphones and the DT831 with removable adaptor to work with that amp.

Just make sure you don't tie Clari-T's L and R ground together (same with Sonic Impact).  Most headphones have L and R grounds tied together at headphone plug, so in order to use such headphones, one has to split the L and R ground channels from the headphone and use 4 separate leads into Clari-T.

I've done this with AKG K340 before, but the AKG K1000, of course, will plug straight into speaker terminals of Clari-T.

[Paul_Bui]

Thanks John for the heads-up.  Yes, Vinnie warned me about this so I would ask him to make me a ClariT amp dedicated to headphones AND modify the connector to work properly.

[Vinnie R.]

Thanks John for the heads-up.  Yes, Vinnie warned me about this so I would ask him to make me a ClariT amp dedicated to headphones AND modify the connector to work properly.

Hi Paul,

Yes, this can be done, and I also plan to connect power resistors in parallel with the outputs, as the Tripath chip prefers to see a load (6-ohm gives the flattest freq. response).  

I've used the Clari-T on a pair of AKG-K1000s, Senn (651s?), and a few others with very good results.... I think you will be very surprised  

I'll also have to adjust the gain based on listening to your headphones, and will install a custom connector  

Regards,

[Jon L]

Sennheiser HD650 probably like this one

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=USHD650

I've never been able to try HD650 on T-amp due to having to mod the headphone cables, but HD650 probably can benefit greatly from Tripath speed and clarity.  

Vinnie, is there an easy way to make Tripath chip compatible with normal headphones without having to mod the headphone's cable itself?

[Paul_Bui]

I had the opportunity to A/B the HD650 with the DT831 when the SB2 wasn't available yet.  I listened to both, one by one, on an MP3 player, said nothing, and handed them over to my nephew, owner of the Sennheiser and a good violin player.  He said, "The Beyerdynamic sounded better.  Brighter but clearer!"

I had to agree.  There's a warmth in the HD650 sound that didn't let me "see" through the recordings as well as the DT831 (YMMV).  And miraculously, the somewhat sterile, whitish top end which I could also hear on the Shanling/MLB/DT831 setup, went away when the modded SB2 replaced the Shanling (see previous post).  Now I feel that the DT831 is a very accurate transducer that can be unforgiving on lesser upstream sources.  I have a hunch that the light residual hum will go away when I replace the MLB, which sounds very good otherwise, with an RWA custom ClariT.

[Jon L]

I had the opportunity to A/B the HD650 with the DT831 when the SB2 wasn't available yet.  I listened to both, one by one, on an MP3 player, said nothing, and handed them over to my nephew, owner of the Sennheiser and a good violin player.  He said, "The Beyerdynamic sounded better.  Brighter but clearer!"

I had to agree.  There's a warmth in the HD650 sound that didn't let me "see" through the recordings as well as the DT831 (YMMV).  And miraculously, the somewhat sterile, whitish top end which I could a ...

That would be the "Sennheiser veil" that's so often mentioned.  I believe most of this "veil" goes away once a better Sennheiser replacement cable is used, such as Zu Mobius.  This combo out of a stiff headamp really doesn't sound veiled to my ears, other than sounding a wee bit over-refined for my tastes.

I've never heard DT831, but having compared DT880 with HD650/Zu, I will say there will definitely be people who identify more with one or the other.  it really is a taste thing at this level.  My tastes happen to coincide with AKG (K340, K1000), but there are so many excellent headphones/headamps out there and not enough time and $.  I wouldn't mind owning the  HE90/Orpheus at some point, for example..

[Paul_Bui]

In addition to the Beyerdynamic cans, I also have the AKG K240DF.  I tried them first and while finding them evenly balanced overall they seemed less 3D than the DT831/DT880 (yes I tried these too).

Thanks for telling me about the Zu Mobius.  Do you think I could have the DT831 cables upgraded to it?  Perhaps the Zu people will be able to modify their cables in the first place so that they will work with the ClariT.

Maybe I will have to get the AKG1000 eventually.

[Paul_Bui]

I was listening to music through the SB2/headphones, and interferences took place.  Turned out the cell phone that I kept nearby was ringing.  The headphones I am using is a sealed type, so I would not know someone's calling if the SB2 didn't tell me.  I find it kinda cute!