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Little Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp
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Little Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp
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Product Description
A great introduction to the world of tube headphone amplifiers, the Little Dot MKII is ideal for pairing with a desktop amp and can also function as a preamp to your speakers. It uses a single-ended push-pull OTL circuit operating in Class A, and delivers plenty of headroom and dynamic impact, along with a touch of tube warmth and tonal richness Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downdeftrance
138
Mar 28, 2017
So, my package arrived today. Horrible packaging job. The tubes were just taped together inside of the box, rattling around with no bubble-wrap or anything around them. One of the tubes is very obviously broken and I'm not sure how well the others are just yet, as there are shards of glass inside my package due to the damaged tube. Contacting support.
deftrance
138
Apr 12, 2017
I am still waiting to hear from the vendor regarding replacements. Massdrop said they were contacting them as of March 28th. No follow-up since, as of yet.
deftrance
138
May 30, 2017
deftranceMassdrop ended up taking care of the issue after a small bit of prodding. I am pleased with my LD Mk II! They work wonderfully with all of my cans alongside my XDuoo for DAC.
tbhari
93
Nov 11, 2016
High impedance headphones WILL NOT BE DRIVEN BY THESE. So, if you are trying to you one those kind of headphones then Darkvoice 336 is the way to go.
siikanen
19
Nov 15, 2016
But why? If the idea is to build cheap high quality user configurable tube amp with as less distortion as possible, why ruin it with some "ease of use" knobs when they are able to use simpler (and better) parts?
Assimilator702
184
Feb 20, 2018
I have opened the cover of EVERY single amp I own. I want to SEE THOSE GUTS!!! How can you be affluent enough to afford all that gear but not adventurous enough to want to see the insides of your gear?
BlakeMorrow
114
Feb 13, 2018
Never tried tube, so I'm curious... I'll either start off small or go straight to something like a Woo Audio WA7. But if I was to go small, would this be worth it, say pairing my current JDS element in DAC and this as amp?
Assimilator702
184
Mar 22, 2018
CV4010 are $10 on eBay. I found a seller that sold me the CV4010(brand new in 80's packaging) and 8 other tubes for $35 SHIPPED.
Tenor
0
Nov 11, 2017
treeincAs CONSUMERS all we can do is "Shop Around" for comparative products, whether it's a bar of soap, a car, or a HEADPHONE AMP ! All I can say about PRICE is "Do Your Own Homework". Some items that I've bought have some kinda' MSRP of , say $1000. I've either waited or shopped around to eventually actually BUY the item for $600 or $700. PRICE depends on stuff that WE will NEVER know ! It's a GAME ! Sellers, of course, try to get the MOST that they can, same as US workin' any kind of JOB or $$$$ makin' thing !
ethanchan
270
Oct 31, 2018
I did not purchase this item from massdrop which I am guessing is a requirement for leaving reviews, so I will post it here.
A review for the rest of us:
If you are a hardcore tube amp user then I would suggest you skip this because this is not for you, this is for those people that are like me, a noob with tubes that has no clue.
First let me say that this was not my first tube amp, the first time I purchased a tube amp I figured I would go big, buy the best rated, expensive, and best reviewed with the most tubes because all of that would mean I am getting the best tube amp I could get... correct? Maybe.... but I wouldn't know because I had no clue what I was doing, listening to or listening for. Tube amps are not as simple as plugging in your headphones and BAM! all new sounds and stark differences. I quickly found out that no matter what I did or what tubes I put on it, I wasn't getting that, so of course I had a faulty tube amp and immediately sent it back swearing that everything I read about tubes was a bunch of crap and a waste of time and money. After spending some time with high end headphones and a decent dac/amp, I began to hear the changes in music quality and when going back to my $30 and $80 headphones I could immediately tell the difference and understand what I was and was not hearing. It was at this point that I thought back to the tube experiment and decided to try it again, but instead of going all out and spending top of the line money for top of the line equipment I decided to look around for what was believed to be a good starter tube amp, enter the LD MKii.
(all explanations from here forward are my noob terms and do not require expert dissection and argument)
LD MKii - black box with box and four tubes on top. Blue power led, audio jack and volume on the face.
[what the smaller black box encases is beyond me, nor do I care at this point. All I know is it works for me]
Tubes - Large tubes are power tubes, Small tubes are pre-amp tubes.
[This is where the magic happens, there is more to it but it was in *"tube rolling" that I found my sound]
Headphones - Here is another thing that I did not understand where tube amps are concerned, for best results, dynamic driver headphones are the way to go.
So now that I was armed with my HD800s, HD6xx, 1More triple driver and the LD MKii I started plugging things in and checking the sound.
First thing I did was try it with my Sanskrit pro and then with my Aune X1S while cycling through my headphones on each. There was a slight difference between the two but to my ears (which are admittedly compromised) it wasn't enough for me to say you should use one over the other.
Next I took a few days to listen to different types of music and compared it between the tube amp and Aune X7S because the X7S has an balanced xlr connection that I love on my planars. As I did this I began to hear the subtle differences and where the tube shined and where it did not. To me, the tube and my HD6xx were the best match based on what I like.
Lastly, I began the task of *tube rolling. I did some research and found some of the more popular tubes that are paired with this amp. I eventually settled on the 7-Pin GE JAN 5654W for my pre and the Novosibirsk 6N6p / 6H6pi for my power. This pairing gave me the most amazing improvement on sound, again, based on what I like. I love all genres of music and have found that when listening to jazz, blues, quartets, trios, Cello, and classic rock (AC/CD, Metallica, Eagles and many others) that the combo flourished. The beauty of the sound in its fullness, warmth, separation and clarity was absolutely stunning. I will listen to other genres such as EDM and others that actually sounds better on my LCD 2 Closed to my ears. I have watched movies and it performs great in that space as well but again, it depends on the the type of movie it is, would I use it for Jurassic park or an MCU movie, sure, but again, I would prefer the LCD 2 Closed for that. The point to all this is that while you can buy a dac/amp combo or individual unit pairings and get perfect sound and balance, the tube will take the edge off of the perfection and dirty it up but in a most wonderful way. Tube amps are more about the perfection of imperfection like smudges on charcoal art and mayonnaise in a cake recipe. You wouldn't expect it to work but then you try it and you get that WTF moment when you realize how good it is. To me, the beauty of this amp is its simplicity and ease of use. Are there better amps out there, sure, but from personal experience, the LD MKii is the most inexpensive, easy to use introductory tube amp that will give great results.
Annotation *Tube rolling does not mean place it on your desk and roll the round tubes across it over and over (you laugh but that is exactly what I thought it was until I looked it up). As best I understand it, rolling is when you install different types of tubes (they come with different materials and resistances) to get a different sound profile. You can mix and match different power and pre tubes to one another, but, never mix and match them to itself. From what I understand, you want your pre tubes to be the same to itself and power tubes to be the same to itself. Mixing them across brand and type to itself could have catastrophic consequences for your tubes and even the amp.
Next thing of note is that you will want your tubes to be tested and matched, I can not explain the how, what and why but from everything I read, that is the best practice. Tested and matched means that the type of tube (pre or power) will be a tested and matched pair to itself not across types.
Last thing I will say is that there is a jumper inside the unit that will effect the power output. I have not tried it and would suggest that if you feel you need to do this, go check out some of the reviewers that do a deep dive into the LD MKii, there is a lot of good information about this unit out there so don't be afraid to look it up or even ask questions because it is better to ask when you don't know than to assume and possibly cause irreparable damage. I hope this helped and congratulations for making it to the end of my never ending post.
Ethan
Blackie_Chan
7
Apr 20, 2018
Hi, is anyone familiar with Schiit's Magni 3 (http://www.schiit.com/products/magni-3)? Does anyone know how it stacks with this headphone amp? Thanks!
OCBob
526
Apr 21, 2018
darwinI was A/B'ing my Magni 3 and the single ended output of my MB Jotunheim with my HD6XX's for about an hour yesterday, and I have to say that the M3 was giving the Jot a run for it's money (on the SE side of things). The M3 actually offers more power at 300ohms then does the Jotunheim (430mw vs 350mw). One thing I can say in the case of both amps was that any amp induced distortions (THD and IMD) were non existent or at least inaudible (the numbers below speak for themselves). The M3 is the first Magni that actually pairs well with the 300ohm HD6xx series cans (IMHO). The sound never felt veiled on the M3 (even at low volume) and the spaciousness of the sound was pretty much the same on both rigs. The Jot will outclass the M3 on the balanced end of the amp, but for a "C" the M3 is a fantastic value.
THD: Less than 0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS, less than 0.02% at 5V RMS into 32 ohms IMD: Less than 0.001%, CCIF SNR: Greater than 108db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS
THD: <0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS IMD: <0.0015%, CCIR SNR: >109db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS
THD: Less than 0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS, less than 0.02% at 5V RMS into 32 ohms IMD: Less than 0.001%, CCIF SNR: Greater than 108db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS
THD: <0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS IMD: <0.0015%, CCIR SNR: >109db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS
DiegoDEE
5
Jan 12, 2018
Need Help, need Input ;)
There is different output MK2 (300mW/300Ohm) and MK3(350mW/300Ohm) .
Is the difference because of the different tubes?
I use a Sennheiser HD650 (love it), is the Output of the MK2 enough ( 50mW less)?
Is the board layout the same for both amps? if so, then I will be happy with the MK 2 because I do not need an expensive extra case. I have already ordered replacement tubes from Canada, UK, Latvia and Russia.
Is the board layout the same for both amps? if so, then I will be happy with the MK 2 because I do not need an expensive extra case. I have already ordered replacement tubes from Canada, UK, Latvia and Russia.
KimcheeKowboy
11
Apr 12, 2018
Heads up, I've been using LDMKII with Voshkod 62H1P-EV and Russian 6H6P for power plus AQ DF 1.5 DAC plus Shiit Wyrd for a while. Using the legendary ATH M50 and I must say its "liquidy" and less fatiguing for long time! Plus it still is my "go-to" when listening to various jazz collection even though I have "higher grade" set ups (Shiit Lyr2 and Bifrost Multibit, and Beyerdynamic DT 1770 PRO). Don't get me wrong about my higher grade set up, its good and all, but (too me) LDMKII and the "dated DF 1.5 DAC" both sounds like your "sleeping on a cloud", cool and soft with a hint of warmth to the sound:)
Jdjung
147
Apr 13, 2018
KimcheeKowboyEveryone likes what they like and I had almost that exact setup next to my bedroom for two years! I had the Little Dot mk3 with the original Audio Technica ATH50s.
Jhunt
54
Nov 7, 2017
How well does this pair with the HD6xx? I've seen a lot people using the mk3 with it but not this one.
tstockma
12
Nov 8, 2017
JhuntI've seen discussion here at massdrop, also at headfi, that MkII plus HD6xx is a very good match, and the impedance numbers on the headset vs the MkII look right (supposedly 300ohm is in the MkII's sweet spot). Can't speak from experience quite yet, I ordered this MKII drop, & I'm in on the HD6xx drop which ships in late December...some discussion I've read says the Little Dot products don't really shine until you upgrade tubes, so my MKII order here was at the $20 upgrade to JAN5654.
This article gives an amazing review of tubes, applied to all the Little Dot units: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide.563884/ ...and you can find another article there, Little Dot II Tube Rolling (or something like that), specific to just this amp.
I also see in the forums that a bit of disappointment when you first plug in is to be expected - both the tubes & the headset need 50 hours burn-in time. So patience is needed before forming judgement.
This article gives an amazing review of tubes, applied to all the Little Dot units: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide.563884/ ...and you can find another article there, Little Dot II Tube Rolling (or something like that), specific to just this amp.
I also see in the forums that a bit of disappointment when you first plug in is to be expected - both the tubes & the headset need 50 hours burn-in time. So patience is needed before forming judgement.
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