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I've been drooling over the Headroom Deskop Amp for use in a computer desktop system at my office. It would bridge from the computer to active monitors and also be the input selector when i want to use an Olive server to which the computer can't stream wirelessly at the office. I like the Headroom's combination of USB input, decent DAC, two analogue inputs, input selector, and volume control. However, configured properly, that is nearly two grand's worth of "fun" and I can't really defend an expenditure like that for this application.Do you know if anyone make a fairly decent but less expensive substitutable product? If the computer can use a USB connection, I only need one other RCA input, an input toggle, and a volume control. (I can do without optical and coax inputs, although I have yet to see a unit with only USB and not the others, so I guess those are likely to be there anyway, and I don't care at all about headphones in this application). Something similar to the Channel Islands Audio passive controller with a USB input and internal DAC would do the trick. Thanks for any leads.
Follow Ups:
I plan to introduce such products in the next month or so. I am working out the final enclosure designs as we speak.Initially, I will be offering a headphone amp as well as a phono-stage, followed by a dac. They will be true hi-fidelity components at an affordable price.
SB series? 2 channel power amp, mono block amp, SS and tube preamps, headphone/pre amp and Dac? Many have their own power supplies. All are about 1/2 size width - 5.75". He's at AKFest.
I can wait for the right product, to be sure. I can get by with my present rig easily enough for awhile. Are you planning the sort of product that I described, which basically would be a control device with USB and RCA inputs, an input selector, a gain control, a decent DAC, and RCA outs? The Headroom product is all of those things, albeit at a price that someone else might find more "affordable" than I do. :)
As with all 3 of the stages, the dac (with usb inputs) will be in its own compact enclosure. All of the units will come with seperate power-supplies that can placed well away from them if desired.The question is, how many types of inputs will the dac need to suite the user? The prototype already employ's 2 coaxial and 2 usb's.
George, one reason to have everything in one box is that I don't have unlimited electrical outlets in an office setting. In the present rig, I have plugs in use for the laptop's power adaptor, the monitor, a USB hub, two USB external drives, my sub-sat combination, my current DAC, my tube buffer, and the Olive server's recharger. I am going to powered speakers that will take two plugs in place of the sub-sat's one. Adding up to three more boxes for DAC, volume control, and input selector, with related power cords, to replace the one box and cord I now use is not ideal. But, then again, I don't know how typical my proposed usage is and I suspect that your approach, the more conventional one, probably has lots of adherents already.In any event, I look forward to seeing your products as they appear. I presume I'll be able to find them on the web?
My units power-supplies will have jumper sockets to tie them together. You will only need one power socket.You have indicated the need for a headphone amp with source selector + a dac. The first product will be ready any day now, and will offer 5 inputs. The second is still in development.
I will watch for your products, George. The first one sounds intriguing. Thanks for the information.
I do have the powered speakers en route. I'd considered an integrated and dynamic speakers, but I concluded that, for a computer rig where it's all nearfield, some of the powered studio types just make more sense than speakers designed to be listened to from across the room. I use an integrated at home, and love that form factor for a thousand reasons, but not in this setup.I don't use phones at the office. I have three or four sets around (Sennheiser and Grado) and they're good at the gym or for occasional use, but I have the luxury of being able to listen to music all day long in an enclosed office. Additionally, I need to hear the phone ring and knocks on the door. So, speakers it is!
I appreciate the suggestions. I've had success finding similar items and have been curious about these, but I'd hoped to find the "one size fits all" box that includes everything I need. I already am short on desk real estate and the Olive is a full-sized footprint, so you can see why the Headroom product has some appeal. I will look at what you've suggested and see where that takes me. Thank you!
...what's keeping you from putting something on top of it? I could understand if it were a tube amp or something, but it's just a rectangular box. If you get tube stuff you might worry a little about the vibration, but solid-state doesn't suffer much if at all from vibration problems. I'm still curious in the rationale behind putting isolation feet under a solid-state amplifier... there are literally no moving parts in the thing, right? The signal zips around the internal wires and through capacitors and resistors but pretty much just stays in the wire from input to output. Not to threadjack, but how can vibration possibly harm it? I can definitely understand for tube gear and CD players, and it's damned near indispensible for turntables. But transistor amps?
Well, not to be contentious, but just to respond so I don't look like a crazy person or something... I DO put stuff on top of the Olive. That is where the current M-Audio Audiophile USB and the Musical Fidelity tube buffer sit and, presumably, where the New Box or Boxes would have to go. I lost deskspace by replacing Klipsch iFi's with the NHT M-00's that are supposed to be shipped "any day now." With monitor, laptop dock, the laptop, the keyboard, the phone, and various rechargers for iPods and cellphones, that pretty much eats up the real estate.However, I would prefer not to have stuff on the Olive. Between the CD transport and hard drive, it has plenty of moving parts and, while there's no ventilation on top of it, I don't like to mar the finishes of the lower unit cabinets because the top ones always leave rubber-foot "marks" that I can't get out and that prevent me from claiming the unit is "mint" when I try to resell. Just a cosmetics issue but one that might ultimately have a small economic impact. But, when you gotta do it, you gotta do it.
Solid state amplification CAN be microphonic... meaning vibrations can and do effect the signal, it can be seen on a 'scope.Take a typical modern solid state video camera, whack it with your hand and you see the video signal get a little garbled... that same stuff happens to your sound, but on a little different scale, but it does.
Transformers, inductors, capacitors, they all can be affected by vibrations.
You can -- and probably should -- get a great headphone amp for well under a grand. They're among the cheapest hi-fi equipment made and even if Headroom amps are great, they charge way more than anyone should for a head amp. So you're looking for a USB input, two line inputs, and a DAC. Let's see... I have no idea how good these are, BTW. Look reviews up yourself.Dared MP5 (just the USB input, but at this price, does it really matter? Tubed, too)
Mhdt USB Plus Constantine (this guy's got a great reputation. I've almost bought from him before. Most Asian merchants on eBay feature low item prices with absolutely exorbinant shipping rates, but the Mhdt guy has fair shipping and he's supposed to be really fast -- like three days fast. This is just a USB DAC; at this price you can attach the head amp of your choosing. Well, if you have enough money, but if you were considering Headroom, you probably do)
Stereo-Link 1400 (USB DAC and headphone amp, no line inputs)That's really all I can find. If I were you, I'd get the Constantine and any given headphone amp of your choice. Only one set of inputs is fine. Get two Y-splitters (one male/two female) and an A/B selector from Radio Shack and put the Y-splitters in the inputs so you have two. Connect one of these two inputs to the output of the A/B selector. You now have a headphone amp with three line inputs -- one for the DAC and two to spare -- for about $40 worth of parts, and you have the freedom to choose any head amp you want. Other USB DACs can be substituted for the Constantine; I only said to buy that because the builder has an excellent reputation.
Hope that helps.
In that case, just buy whatever cheap integrated amplifier you want and use that with the DAC. There are many cheap amps out there, so you can pick which you want.
If you don't already have a good pair of nearfield monitors, this would be a great route since you can get a good pair of bookshelf speakers and a small integrated amp could be a great way to go... but if your office is anything like mine, you probably use your headphones 99% of the time, in which case you could treat yourself to a helluva headphone amp (even tubed) for less then what Headroom charges for sure.I just bought an MHDT DAC for my system at home, I mostly use my PC as the source and I heard that the MHDT dacs are awsome for this... USB support looks to make them even more essential for the PC audiophile if their dacs are as good as I understand them to be. I should have mine in tomorrow, I can't wait!
I've been curious since I almost ordered one myself but opted for a Monarchy 18B instead. I don't regret my choice because the Monarchy is a fine piece of equipment, but I'd like to know about Mhdt.
My dac arrives at my door tomorrow. I have everything setup and waiting for it. I have some vampirewire ICs and two methods of connecting to my PC digitally. I can use spdif/RCA and I have a digital IO module coming too that will allow for toslink as well.I am going to throw everything at it from uncompressed CD audio to mp3 format. I am using a NAD amp/PSB speaker combo and I will post my impressions here after I have played with it a bit.
I received my MHDT Dialogue II DAC today.It looks very nice, the smoked plexy is well done and the whole thing feels like quality work all around.
I am using my PC as the source with an audigy4 and the optional digital IO module that gives me toslink and coax/RCA connections. Right now I am using the toslink but I will probably try some RCA cable later on.
This dac is truly wonderful really... very revealing but at the same time quite sweet. Everything from mp3 to straight uncompressed CD music sounds wonderful with depth and range that was not previously there using either the audigy4 or an x-fi music ed's analog out. I don't really know what else to say... (that doesn't happen often, my girl will tell you) it is very easy on my ears and easy to get lost in the music.
I am convinced now that a good external DAC is essential for a PC connected HiFi system... I wasn't expecting the Dialogue II to sound so un-digital... but here I am listening to true HiFi from my PC. heh.
With your positive review, Yashu, this one just went to the head of the list, since the only other glowing reviews I've read for USB DACs are for much more expensive units. I love the guy's eBay description's disclaimer that USB is not a good input for digital. :)
It makes sense though... since the signal needs to be converted and routed though extra signal paths when you use USB.I have just tried switching back and forth between coax/RCA and toslink... and I can tell you there is a difference. Toslink sounds more mellow and laid back... Not only did I notice this, but my girl did as well as I was switching between the two.
I don't know how USB would sound... right now I am digging the toslink though. I am sure that a USB dac would still sound a hell of a lot better than any one built into a sound card.
The CD transport converts I2S to SPDIF, which is then converted back to I2S inside the DAC. A USB DAC takes the signal from the computer and converts it to SPDIF then the DAC converts it to I2S. The only difference is where the SPDIF conversion takes place, in the transport or in the DAC. Some USB dacs convert USB to I2S directly, and some people claim that is the best way.The technical advantages of using a hard drive system as a digital transport far outweigh any potential disadvantage of converting USB to SPDIF. I think that with a good USB cable and a computer with enough memory and properly implemented (even an old laptop with an external drive would suffice), you can get far more bang for your buck with a computer as transport setup.
Just my 2 cents.
-Aaron.
I am back using the soundcard's Digital IO, but this time I am using a winamp ASIO plugin to bypass the windows mixers.Basically, the external USB optical thing worked, but it would go dark when a song was not playing and it would give my DAC problems from that. The soundcard's IO module stays lit always and so there are no problems with that, and with bypassing the mixers using ASIO the sound is much improved.
I am now using a USB direct to optical adapter to eliminate the noise and problems associated with using the output of a soundcard (even digital)I am using one originally designed for quality digital recording from a PC so it really does sound great with a low noise floor. The sound is even better than it was from my sound card.
It is still optical and it still sounds "un-digital", but just with even better dynamic range. I think if you are going to use a PC, the best thing to do is to find a way to bypass the internal soundcard's mixer.
I think I would recommend the USB MHDT dac even though I have not heard it, the advanatage is that it's USB bypasses the internal soundcard so that it probably would sound better with the "inferior" USB link than with a soundcard and good toslink/RCA link.
I used to think that digital was digital, but when I began to use the digital out on my soundcard, I noticed right away that it was not using a direct to digital signal... that it was still being routed through the mixer and mixed in with the rest of the windows sounds. Also, to get a good line level, you had to turn the windows mixer volume controls up high, which degrades the sound further (raising the noise floor).
It is interesting to me that you prefer TOSLink. It's all I ever have used, simply because I had the cables already, but I keep hearing that coax is the better way to go. Decent coax cables are cheap enough, though, that I should do a comparison myself.
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