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Its been said before , but a fair response to that would be "what EQ package and settings can I apply to get the sound of this with Headphone X?" (lets make life easy and say an HD650)
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Bottlehead Crack Headphone Amplifier Kit Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Its been said before , but a fair response to that would be "what EQ package and settings can I apply to get the sound of this with Headphone X?" (lets make life easy and say an HD650)
@A.West
"....I notice that tube headphone amps with very high distortion (see also Woo WA7) escape the guillotine, despite not really providing any function besides adding distortion and some gain, and possibly underperfoming a PC headphone jack at normal listening volume (a worthy face-off). Yet receivers and AV pre-pros that do so much more than that like room correction, video switching, switching multiple inputs and outputs, allowing for conversion from X number of input channels to Y number of output channels, get their heads chopped off for arguably inaudible levels of distortion...."
Thats absolutly my opinion! And thats why iam so unhappy with this review. Under the rules for amps this thing deserves a headless. And i see absolutly NO reason why for headphoneamps there should be different rules.
"....I notice that tube headphone amps with very high distortion (see also Woo WA7) escape the guillotine, despite not really providing any function besides adding distortion and some gain, and possibly underperfoming a PC headphone jack at normal listening volume (a worthy face-off). Yet receivers and AV pre-pros that do so much more than that like room correction, video switching, switching multiple inputs and outputs, allowing for conversion from X number of input channels to Y number of output channels, get their heads chopped off for arguably inaudible levels of distortion...."
Thats absolutly my opinion! And thats why iam so unhappy with this review. Under the rules for amps this thing deserves a headless. And i see absolutly NO reason why for headphoneamps there should be different rules.
Robbo99999
Master Contributor
Yeah, you won't know unless you measure it, like Amir has done so I see your point.....but if you wanna change the sound of your headphone to sound more pleasant to you (& maybe more accurate too) then you'd use EQ based on measurements and/or ear. Tube amplifiers would be a silly way of doing it.
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Dont doubt that. But not quite my point. Nor do I believe that was @KaiserSoze point. Not saying all amps sound the same, or that amps with lower order distortion might be more agreeable than those with higher order. Its a point raised about the applicability of measurements to "explain" the user's subjective experience (or likely experience) by looking at any set of measurements.
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But simple FR based EQ wont add loads of 2nd harmonic distortion , will it? As in using any of the usual EQ software.
Robbo99999
Master Contributor
True, I still think it's a silly product, although I can understand people liking the glowing tubes, it's kinda dramatic & warm in it's feel as well as a bit Frankenstein, so it's got a crazy alchemy type thing going on....I think most people are swayed by the appearance of them. I'm not gonna go along with it though, which is why I have a JDS Labs Atom instead.
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I agree. If I had a degree of competency and it was Atom price I might be tempted to try, but at the cost of an A90 or similar, nuh huh.
Helicopter
Major Contributor
I don't think it's silly, but I agree with everything else you say. Tubes are wonderfully nostalgic and beautiful. Even the heat is usually nice in my room. The distortion and harmonics are fun. I would never consider tubes except to compliment transparent solid state primary systems, but I still have a lot of fun with them. This thing is super expensive compared to Schiit or Chinese tube gear, but it is neat.
Also, my HD6XX sounds better with a tube amp than with a good transparent amp, to me, though my favorite combination is Focal Clear + Magnius.
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I knew there was one. As opposed to Peace etc which people are more familiar with Thanks!
Robbo99999
Master Contributor
Yeah, that's your angle & approach, fair enough & like you say we agree on the visual aesthetic impact....people have different approaches to their audio gear, yours is a bit different to mine and maybe the overall angle of this site.....but it's fun to see a review for a tube amp here, something different and helps to have a bit of a curve ball thrown in once in a while, creates some interesting discussion and helps provide some different perspective.
Oh, yes now the description fits with the measurement results.The review should go like this:
This is a 500€ heaphone amp thats totaly shit with headphones under 100ohm. If you use it with headphones that have a higher impedance maybe you have luck and the FR of this effectsbox fits to it. Maybe not, but thats luck or bad luck. But its diy and so you can learn how not to do a headphoneamp in the year 2020. And if it's cold outside you can use it to warm up your hands and be happy about the warm glow of the tubes. Surely a Infraredlamp for 15$ woud be more powerfull but it wouldnt have the same acustic effects.
Effectbox.. that's an apt name.
I built then used Bottlehead Crack for about 2 months and sold it. In some sense I lost money but I’m glad my subjective impressions, and conclusion that I could sell the Crack for the price of a better amp, are backed up by Amir’s measurements.
I should say however, that the Crack was a pleasure to build and had great instructions.
I should say however, that the Crack was a pleasure to build and had great instructions.
Nope, I was referring to the conclusions that can be drawn from this particular set of measurements and listening test.
No it won't. It only 'synergizes' with the HD650 because that particular headphone has an impedance bump in the bass, and its frequency response naturally lacks bass, which is then boosted due to a high output impedance source. And not everyone will enjoy this boost, because it's mostly in the mid/upper bass on a headphone that already has elevated upper bass (as well as rolled-off highs), and so will sound even 'warmer' and less neutral with this boost. And even people who do like this change in frequency response probably won't like it for all music e.g. if a track already has a relatively high amount of mid/upper bass energy in the mix. And that's not even considering the distortion this tube amp adds to the music, which certainly won't be liked by everyone.
Yeah. I built one of the base kits 10 years ago.
OP
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Yes, I have been anxious to review it for a while.
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It's less a matter of that particular headphone than that particular headphone operating principle. If you look at the electrical impedance of ex. the DT880, the AKG K612, or the Focal Clear- or the T1, HD800, K812, or Utopia - you'll see a similar rise in impedance magnitude around the bass, right where it tends to start to fall off. This is because the rise in impedance, in the fairly open moving coil case, is the driver's resonance frequency.
Mind you, with the exception of ex. Focal or Fostex, few open dynamics have substantial impedance rises south of 80hz, which is really where you'd ideally EQ up if you want to avoid overly thickening the lower midrange and upper bass...
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So how 'bout that multitone?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #100
I will see. Was out yesterday and this morning had to tend to the garden.So how 'bout that multitone?
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