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fredisyoga
11
Jan 9, 2018
Hi guys, I've been researching about this amp for a while now and pretty excited on how it will sound with my setup. Is it a week before the "drop" will be ready after we've requested to be notified about it? Also, just wondering if you guys know.. I dislike hiss a lot - I'm hoping this will not have any. I have a little dot 1 (the battery operated solid state one, which I've misplaced) that I got years ago and it hissed - my previous setup was 16bit FLACs > Clip+ > little dot 1 > Grado sr80 = hiss.. I've recently upgraded a bit and now running 24bit FLACs > iBasso DX80 > Grado sr325is.. so I'm hoping the 1+ will be a really good addition. I also pre-emptively ordered the voshkod tubes. And now thinking about ordering the muses02 opamp. :D
Eli35
653
Jan 11, 2018
fredisyogaI've owned the LD I+ for 3+ months, using it almost daily, and with all kind of headphones: from cheap chi-fi IEMs to Sennheiser HD6XX. It produces a small hiss when using sensitive low-impedance headphones, like some IEMs, but with something less sensitive it's almost unnoticeable: my M50x have a almost unnoticeable hiss, but it can be heard, while the HD6XX have no hiss at all.
Tubes can make a big difference in sound, my two favorites are Mullard M8161 and Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV: first ones has a bit more bright & better soundstage (more "audiophile"), while the latter has a more balanced sound with better mids (more "realistic"). Also, the Mullards required less burn-in and sounded better initially, while the Voskhod don't sound good until a few weeks of burn-in (yes, weeks, 6-8h daily). Sound on both has definitely changed over time, because I didn't liked the Voskhod initially and now I'm starting to prefer them over the Mullard for some genres. Mullards has less background noise & hiss, if that's a big matter for you, but it's not a big deal unless you use very sensitive low-impedance cans.
I'm also considering the opamp rolling, be careful to use an opamp that supports an input voltage of +/- 15V minimum, like the stock one. If you're interested, the stock opamp is a MC33078N, I heard it's crappy and worth replacing. I also read that replacing the caps for better ones (with tighter tolerance, maybe?) can make a huge difference, IDK I'm a bit skeptical but caps are usually cheap & easy to find so maybe it's worth (after warranty expires, obviously). Finally, I can tell the volume pot is crappy (it makes noise if you change volume while playing music loud), and while it's not easy to replace some ppl says that using a better one also improves the sound, somehow. If you wanna go easy, do like me: just put some tubes and you're good to go.
fredisyoga
11
Jan 12, 2018
Eli35Haha living up to the "made for modding" title! I see that WE408a tubes are considered "luxury", whereas EF92 is considered "improved", and the EF95/6J1 is "standard". There's a write up on the EF92 and EF95 on head-fi so I get it, but why is the 408a "luxury" (haven't found the write up)? Yep, I'm still researching on this stuff, so forgive me. Says that EF92 = 200mA and EF95 = 175mA, so what about 408a? Man, when is this massdrop going to start?! Haven't even thought about the volume pot and caps.. I'm going to get on it. I'm a tinkerer so I'll probably do all the mods eventually. After warranty!
Eli35
653
Jan 12, 2018
fredisyogaWE408A is just a model of the EF95 family. Why does it have an exclusive jumper setting? IDK, maybe it has different input voltage. I guess the WE408A is considered more "premium" because it's old and low on stocks, while there's a ton of cold war military surplus for many well-known models (like the Voskhod). A great post on head-fi about tube rolling: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide.563884/
Today I received a 2nd hand Massdrop x Fostex T-X0 planars, and maaan they're a great match with the LD I+. They definitely need some good power, but the LD manages it very well without issues. It's a really cool and easy to mod entry level planar headphone, look for the original Fostex T50RP mkIII if you're interested. Also, the Little Dot II drop came out today, if you're looking for an OTL amp for high-impedance cans (not good for low impedance, for sure).
SephHaley
222
Jan 20, 2018
fredisyogaIf you’re using higher impedance headphones you should be fine in terms of hiss. The only time I had problems with hiss was using a very sensitive dual BA IEM, but with my HD600’s they are completely hiss free in the listenable volume range. Also, the stock tubes are the crap of the crap, almost no resistance at ALL to outside sound, and generally just bad sounding. I got the Voshkod tubes and I love them, they warm up the bass on the 600’s very naturally, and they resist outside noise like WiFi signals or phone signals much better than the stock tubes. A word of advice to keep outside noise outside of your tubes, keep it away from being directly next to computers. Even just a few feet on the same desk solved the buzz I would get from singnals the air. Also, unlike the other guy on this comment, my volume pot is very clean and I experience no sound when turning the knob. Overall, I think it’s a great amp to have if you want the “tubey“ sound without going OTL and without paying OTL prices. Have fun modding, I would love to hear back on if you actually heard a difference in opamp!
fredisyoga
11
Jan 20, 2018
SephHaleyOkay I lost patience and ordered the 1+ last week. After reading all the great reviews about it, I thought, how much will I save versus how much time I would have lost, damn. The unit will be arriving some time next week. I've actually received the Voshkods I've ordered 2 weeks ago and I'll be popping those in as soon as the amp arrives. Maybe I'll audition the stock tubes to see how crap they are haha. Thanks for the advice on the noise issues and how to mitigate it:) I've set up a seating area on the sofa chaise and a spot on the coffee table for the dap + amp, clear of any electromagnetic interference! Right now my main headphone is the Grado 325is that I recently got and like a lot. Hmm but now I'm curious about these planar magnetic headphones, what the hell guys. But, the Grados, because of its low-ish impedence were the main reason why I chose the 1+. So, I hope at this point the hiss won't be too bad. The opamp is still on its way and probably won't be arriving until next month, but by then I'll have a pretty good idea on the sound signature and have a better comparison to distinguish with the opamp installed. I've also loaded up my cart with "better" capacitors (and orange led to replace the stock blue!), but waiting for the unit to verify before I place the order haha
Eli35
653
Jan 22, 2018
fredisyogaCool, I heard Grados are perfect match for this amp, I'm considering buying some Grados myself next month hahaha. I also ordered some opamps to roll, two of the most promising are Burr-Brown OPA627 (2x, they're single, so using a 2-to-1 adaptor) and AD8066. I found a very interesting comparison between some well-known opamps: http://audioreviews.blogspot.com.es/2005/10/flavors-of-audio-op-amps.html
Speaking of planar headphones, I've been switching back and forth between planars & dynamics this week (Fostex T-X0 & Senn HD6XX) and I can tell planars are like the "next level" in terms of speed & decay, even entry level planars make some instruments sound sooo much better than dynamics twice the price. But my low-cost Fostex can't beat the flagship HD650 in terms of clarity, and the stock tuning is weird, they definitely need some modding and/or EQ to sound "good". I'm attaching a quick EQ I made for the T-X0, they correct some flaws in the tuning and make them sound MUCH MUCH better, It's night and day when you put some equalization on this cans.
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I think planars may admit equalization way better than dynamics, because usually when you apply a +3 dB on dynamics the distortion starts to skyrocket and you won't get anywhere near the desired frequency response, but on this cans you can play a lot with the equalizer without almost any distortion (as long as you're careful with total gain and compensate with pre-amp to prevent clipping, but that's basic).
fredisyoga
11
Jan 30, 2018
SephHaleyIt's only been an hour and the MUSES02, yes, that's right it came in the mail today (oh yea!), is holy crap amazing! I also recently recently received the G-cushion last week, which is amazing as well, now.. okay let me take a step back. The G-cushions are super comfy and opened up the sound stage by I'd say 20%, if I had to give it a number. It did kind of remove the Grado up front in your face sound which I liked and made the sr325is and the sr80 that I have, sound a lot more laid back and more like a "regular" pair of headphones. Okay, now on to the MUSES02, can't wait. Mind you this is now the chain iBasso Dx80 > Little Dot 1+ / paired Voshkods / MUSES02 op amp > Grado sr325is / G-cushion pads. With the MUSES02 bass is much much mucho improved, and yes warmer, and yes so lush, and with all the detail and so much more musical. With just the G-cushion "laid back effect" it brought you back to the 20th row, now with the MUSES02 it's like you're in the first row and brings back that "Grado" signature! Yes! Can't wait for the rest of the upgrades I got for the 1+. I ordered caps, the orange led, tube damper and some 4% silver solder wire. I'm doing all the mods! This is so good. Love it.
SephHaley
222
Jan 30, 2018
fredisyogaSounds like you're having a ball! That is fantastic, and really good to hear on the Grados and opamp!
Eli35
653
Jan 30, 2018
fredisyogaGlad to hear you noticed an improvement with opamp & tube rolling! Yeah, LD is modder's delight. Just changing tubes made a huge difference for me, and I'm waiting for some cheap opamps to test out how does it improve the sound. I don't expect as much difference as when tube rolling, but for <$2 each opamp, it's well worth trying. BTW I suggest you also replace the stock volume pot, I heard some people say it improves the sound and of course you'll get rid of this annoying noises when moving volume while loud music plays.
I've been thinking about buying some Grados, could you give me a bit of a comparison between your sr80 and sr325? Thanks in advance!
fredisyoga
11
Jan 30, 2018
Eli35I haven't found a problem with the stock volume pot on my unit, mostly because I set it and forget it and also because I'm now playing album's sequentially instead of randomizing songs - helps me think I'm following along through the artists' intended poetry :D Do you have a link for the volume pot you're thinking about? The Sr80 that I have are from late 90s early 2000, before it got iterations (i, is, e, etc). The Sr80 is a great headphone, however, I've always felt like I've wanted more oomph, separation depth and clarity. I went from the stock disintegrated L-cushions to the comfy flats 2 years ago (which I believe are the new stocks for the 60s & 80s) and I got a bit more bass but an equal amount loss in depth and clarity which was okay since they were more comfortable. When I got the 325is it came stock with brand new L-cushions so when I swapped them into my 80 I was able to verify my observations again. I'll answer first and say yes the 325is is worth the upgrade. As you can guess it fulfilled my wants. More depth and clarity, obvious check, yes. There are definitely more layers. You've probably read that the 325 series is either hit or miss, some love it, some hate it. Maybe the originals were harsh and had too much on the top end. Maybe it did, I can't remember how they were when I tried it when I was comparing before I got my 80, 15 years ago, but that's what reviews were saying anyway. I listen to all types of music, but I only listen to 60s to 90s rock, and any era for blues, jazz, and classical, on my grados, which I think they were meant for (and even better for live recordings!). The 325is for my ears are well balanced and compared to the 80, if I had to give some numbers, 10% more bass, 20% more high end, and 20% more depth and clarity. It's just better than the 80. I'm thinking about modding the 80 now but not sure if it's worth the trouble since I think the 325is is the better version of it. It has better drivers, has a nice metal enclosure, and both headband and cable is premium (or at least better than what's on my 80). Do I really need cable detachability with super black dragon cables or swap out the metal for woodies? I think I'm okay for now. And to me both are comfortable - the least comfortable would be the L-cushion but that's just nit picking since comparatively it's still comfortable.
Eli35
653
Jan 30, 2018
fredisyogaThanks for your opinion, according from what you said I'd rather buy a used 325is than a brand new 80is, because I like some bass presence and I already have clear, open, but bass lacking headphones. Speaking of the LD volume pot, some people says that replacing it with a better one improves sound quality, even when you're not messing around with the volume knob. Can't tell you if it's some audiophile bs or real, but I'd say it's legit, because the potentiometer inside of the volume knob is part of the output circuit, and a better one *could* somewhat improve the sound quality. Given the low price of a potentiometer (usually called "pot"), and since you're already gonna mess with solderings, I suggest you to give it a try.
When looking for a replacement pot for the volume knob, look for stereo (2 channel) 100k potentiometers, as small as possible and with 2x3 pin layout. A well-known high quality pot is the ALPS blue velvet, kinda expensive but highly acclaimed as one of the best pots (it might require some tinkering, since it's a bit larger than the stock one, but nothing you can't fix around). Plus, you can always move the pot to another amp, and you can even buy a different knob for improved aesthetics (maybe anodized aluminium? maybe brass? so many options!).
eBay link for the ALPS blue velvet: https://www.ebay.es/itm/Japan-imported-ALPS-RK27-blue-shell-double-volume-potentiometer-10K-50K-100K/132109813004 eBay link for another pot, idk how better it is compared to stock: http://www.ebay.es/itm/DACT-Type-21-Stepped-Attenuator-Potentiometer-100K-for-Amp-Preamp-2A3-300B/191955416256
You can look for other options, there's many people around that has replaced the pot. Also share some impressions when you replace the caps, I'm kinda skeptic about what a difference better caps can make. Good luck!
fredisyoga
11
Jan 30, 2018
Eli35Alright I'm sold, ordered the alps blue velvet 100k pot! I'll keep the knob stock for now. It will be a sleeper, modified innards with an unsuspecting exterior. Sure no problem I'll update again when I get the caps haha.
Eli35
653
Jan 31, 2018
fredisyogaReplacing the pot will require some tinkering, but I'm sure you'll find the way. Look for some info on internet, there's plenty of people that did it before.
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