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...come to the Dark Side!"
Items shown (in no particular order) Glock 42, Fenix LD02 and E12, WiiM Ultra remote, Heimdallr Tuna Can on a Seiko strap, garden variety carabiner, Seiko Gen 1 Monster, Oppo HA-2 SE headphone amp, Spyderco Manix 2 XL, Parker 51, and Parker Jotter. You know, just the usual desk clutter...
IMG_3665
The "Ampli-Voltra-Phone" Headphone Amplifier is not very typical in It's appearance.
I used a 1930's General Electric AC/DC voltmeter as It's chassis and portable case.
Once the voltmeter had been gutted, the stripped down, the "Bakelite" faceplate had all the right size openings that I needed for mounting controls and other components.
On the front left side of the faceplate; I easily mounted a pilot light, on/off switch and the fuse receptacle.
On the front right side I mounted the volume control knob and the headphone jack socket.
I used the metal plate that held the scale read gauge on the voltmeter to mount the four tubes and the amp circuit components that were all wired into place below the plate.
The IEC-C20 AC socket and the two RCA sockets were mounted to the sides of It's Mahogany wooden case.
The 8' IEC AC cable easily tucks away under the top lid.
This "Ampli-Voltra-Phone" Headphone Amplifier sounds absolutely "True" and makes for a wonderful conversation piece.
The "Ampli-Voltra-Phone" has a simple "OTL" circuit design that uses a pair of 6CG7 electron tubes that drive a pair of 12AU7 Electron tubes along with several resistors, capacitors, diodes and a power transformer that make up the heart & soul of the Amplfier.
Antelope Audio's premier Zodiac DAC unit and remote control. I left Voltikus power supply out of this one.
This is an image taken for review at Ω image that should be published next week.
Camera: Sony a7r
Lens: 1st Gen PC Micro Nikkor 85/2,8 ED
Strobist:
Two bare Profoto Prob-B strobes, camera left and right directly into half metre-long styrene boards, shuttered reflectors camera bottom and a bit of a bare strobe on the upper left portion of the amp. Triggered by Flashwaves III.
This is the Oppo HA-2 headphone amp / USB DAC's perfectly-machined volume pot. It is smooth, clicks on and off, has good to very good L/R balance at low volumes, and tracks well with gain.
The amp section is capable of spitting good current into most headphone and earphone loads, which is great. Its main drawback is that it hisses more than is usual for a DAC from 2014-2015. As it goes for only 299$, it is the best-performing cost effective luxury DAC/amp in the world.
It hisses as loudly as an iPod nano 1G or iRiver AK100.
I've got more pictures and impressions at ohm image
Strobist:
Profoto B2/B2 1200
Two lights: one in strip box object left, one agove scrimed and blocked.
Sensor: Sony A7r
Camera: Rollei X-ACT 2
Lens: Schneider APO-Macro 100/5,6 in copal 0 shutter
This is the bottom side of the Oppo HA-2 DAC/headphone amp.
I talk a lot more about it here.
The amp section is capable of spitting good current into most headphone and earphone loads, which is great. Its main drawback is that it hisses more than is usual for a DAC from 2014-2015. As it goes for only 299$, it is the best-performing cost effective luxury DAC/amp in the world.
It hisses as loudly as an iPod nano 1G or iRiver AK100.
I've got more pictures and impressions at ohm image
Strobist:
Profoto B2/B2 1200
Two lights: one in strip box object left, one agove scrimed and blocked.
WooAudio WA6 Tube Amplifier with the Sophia Princess Tubes. One shot of a series of photos coming up soon. :)
This is TTVJ's Slim Portable Headphone Amp with digitally-controlled stepped volume control. The source is a Cypher Labs Algorhythm Solo (portable DAC for iDevices), with an Apple iPod 160GB. The headphone is the beyerdyamic DT1350.
Audio Technica's new ATPHA100 headphone amp and multi-input/output DAC.
Having owned a number of amps, I've not been much a fan of Audio Technica's machines, but this one is quite good.
This photo is made just for a short review.
Sony A7r
Schneider 100/5,6 APO-macro Digitar Copal 0 mounted to
Novoflex BALPRO T/S
Strobist: three lights: one trigger to ceiling, two large Profoto softboxes, one behind, one fore, to make sure the amp doesn't disappear into the background. Triggered with Flashwaves III.
Again, these are photographs for an upcoming review, not advertising. The LED are not engaged and lighting isn't perfect. I was just after an angle that looks good for the review.
Review will be up at Ω image in about a week.
Camera: sony ILCE 7r
Lens: PC Nikkor 85/2,8 ED (1st Gen)
Strobist:
rear trigger fires into half masked black card to dim the back of the amp, two Pro-B heads left and right of the amp behind white styrene reflectors. Shuttered reflectors front to make half gradient on the fact of the items.
Generator: B2 1200
Trigger: Flashwaves III
This 4.900$ USD amp has got balls, valves, and aluminiyum galore.
I'm reviewing it in the next week, making sure it can do what it says. So far very impressed.
Again, only for headphones. I do wish ALO would fashion a power amp or monoblocks. Maybe someday.
Nikon D800
PC Mikro 85mm/2,8 ED
Strobist: Profoto B2 with Pro-B lights in 120/90 and 90/60 softboxes to either side; strip reflector on the front. Flashwaves triggered the main lights.
More information about the ALO Audio Studio Six.
Review will be up at Ω image.
These are the Vorzüge PURE II+ and PURE II portable headphone amplifiers. Vorzüge have consistently made the best or some of the best portable headphone amps on the market. They are pricey, sleek, and well-designed.
If performance is your metric, bam! If quality engineering is your metric, bam! If quality name is your metric, bam!
I've written about them at ohm image.
Strobist: single strip box behind tracing paper, object right. Reflector object left.
Camera:
Rollei X-ACT 2
Lens:
Sinaron 80/4 Digital
Sony A7r
The TEAC H-A01 headphone amp/USB and desktop DAC pictured with Dome Compact Speakers and MacBook Air (rented from Apple Japan).
Shot in an extremely makeshift studio (library) at 音楽出版社's headquarters. As it was a tight-budget magazine shoot, all editing was rudimentary as was lighting. Still, it turned out well for the when and the how it was taken.
Strobist: Two profoto softboxes product left and right; left box closer to camera, about 7 o'clock, right one nearly on side. Dual large reflectors product front. Small speed lights on background to blow it out.
update: My headphone amp got stolen...and my MD player is pretty much dead. I still have my Senn's...and my little girl, well I'll miss her.
The Fostex HP-P1 headphone amp and DAC (for iDevices) and the custom-colored (by Colorware) Sennheiser HD 25-1 II.
On my quest for a great sounding music system that doesn't bother the rest of my family, on the suggestion of Canadapt here on flickr, who saw my "Cans" shot, I picked up a headphone amp -- a PA2V2, made right here in Canada (Brampton, ON) by an electronics engineer.
For you audiophiles, the headphone amp reduces the demand on the iPods mediocre amplification system, and improves bass (tighter), improves imaging, better high end, and gives a smoothness. Lots of reviews on the internet from seriously crazy audiophile junkies relate audio quality to cost. This amp is a serious value, and of serious quality. In fact, if you take the price, as you're buying direct from the manufacturer, and increase it with a marketing cost, a distributor cost, a retail cost, you're probably looking at something that would normally retail for about four times the cost. At that, it's a relatively expensive micro amp -- so it just indicates what's probably really inside the guts of the retailed and marketed micro amps -- marginal components. So, like everything on the internet, take any negative reviews with a grain of salt.
This is an extremely reasonably priced piece of electronics gear -- or let me put it this way -- the headphones and the amp cost less than the iPod.
For those of you seeking musical nirvana for relatively little money (less than the price of a modest DSLR gets you the iPod, the headphones and the amp), this is an awesome rig.
This is the current ALO Audio Rx, remade for IEM earphones. It is a superb performer, as I noted in the following article:
ohm-image.net/data/audio/rmaa-alo-audio-rx-24-bit
Its singular issue is its strong gain, which is too aggressive for some sensitive earphones. Still, very good.
MyST AD1866 DAC driven headphone amp/DAC pictured in audio stack with iPhone 4s and FitEar To Go! 334. Setup is using Bluetooth.
DAC functions: Bluetooth, Coaxial, Optical toslink, USB. DAC is capable of 16-bit, but transfer chip can do 24/96kHz, so input of such frequencies via optical, coaxial, or USB works. Bluetooth does not.
This is merely an engineering sample.
Strobist:
SB700 main item behind
SB28 in umbrella camera left
SB24 camera right
each aimed low.
Triggers: Flashwaves III
More Zodiak images at Ω image
No power switch, odd problem with one channel and way too much gain. But hardly any noise now that it's in a metal shell.
first test run-
IT WORKS!
those are not the best headphones to test with but they let me verify that things work without risking expensive headphones on untested new gear ;)
all parts are now connected (included cascode FET class-A bias option) and all is working great!
for more info on this DIY project:
parts shop: www.tangentsoft.net/shop/
instructions: tangentsoft.net/audio/pimeta/
(partial) parts list: tangentsoft.net/audio/pimeta/plists.html
pi-meta headphones amp project (black box) sitting on top of a midiman high-end DAC. sennheister headphones complete the set.
...computer music never sounded so good ;)
This is the Noble Audio BTS Bluetooth receiver, which I shot for its launch later this month.
You can read more about it at Noble Audio.
Evidently it has a near-0 Ω output and very little hiss. I've not tried it so I can't comment on its performance. It cleans up well with the right lighting.
Strobist:
Two strip boxes, one above object, and one camera left, both aiming straight and it. Reflector to object right and trigger light fired at ceiling.
Camera:
Rollei X-ACT 2 with wide-angle bellows
Lens:
Rodenstock 80/4 APO Rodagon
I built a hybrid tube/solid state amplifier today:
www.diyforums.org/MiniMAX/MiniMAXoverview.php
the colors are from some LEDs that are hidden under the tube sockets. part of the preparation is to cut apart the 2part ceramic sockets and bury a LED behind the hole ;)
sound quality of this amp is very good. no ICs used at all, just a tube stage for voltage gain and a BJT (bipolar junction 'regular old' transistor) stage for current gain.
a build photo:
www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works/3280233769/
construction time was about 8 hours. pc board and case were part of a group-buy; the rest of the parts are from mailorder standards such as 'mouser' and 'digikey'. the tubes were also purchased from the project organizer (tom).
It took me a while to build this headphone amp.
Board is made by Owen Columbus, CA using OPA1632 buffered with LME49610. Input and Output are using differential signals (a.k.a. XLR).
Ultra low noise power regulator using TPS7A3301
Sound? Very linear and "boring" compared to my tube amp.
Serious headphone listening requires a headphone amp because just like speakers (but on a much smaller scale), headphones require power to move air and create sound. A good headphone amp isn't about making your music louder (though it does that too), rather, it is about providing enough juice to drive your headphones well.