Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 33
Location: U.K.
|
Hi Russ,
I was wondering if you had tried you balanced HD580s, or are they 600s (?) directly on the balanced output of the Ballsie.
I was thinking of adding this capability to my preamp/dac. Is it likely to be enough on its own, or will it need a buffer of some description?
Cheers,
Colin
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration, Customer
Joined: 10/24/2006(UTC)
Posts: 3,979
Location: Nashville, TN
Thanks: 25 times
Was thanked: 89 time(s) in 83 post(s)
|
Hi Colin,
I sure have, and it works great!
A slightly better alternative though, is to use the TXD (Twisted X Driver).
The reason is that the ballsie has a resistor at the outputs which while desirable for a line driver into a high impedance is not so optimal for driving headphones.
The TXD can be configured for a lower output impedance and much higher damping factor. It also has a nice high input impedance because of the buffered front end.
I simply setup the TXD front end for unity gain.
For volume control the Joshua Tree is perfect, it can go right after the DAC or after a ballsie if you have one. Either way is fine.
The TXD itself has spots for filter caps (C7 and C8) and 1nF will work very well there. This means you can do filtering without the ballsie. If you use the ballsie in front of the TXD then omit the filter caps.
Most of my listening is with balanced HD650s, but 580s and 600s will get all the same benefits.
If you need more help please feel free to ask.
Cheers!
Russ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 33
Location: U.K.
|
Thanks Russ, That's given me plenty to think about  I have HD580's and thought I might do as you did and make them balanced. My pre/dac is 'partly' designed and I have most of the boards now. I intend to have 2 partially populated Darwin's for input selection, one of which is the Opus. That will then feed into a balanced JT, and then on to the Ballsie. SE Outputs will then be switched with another part-populated Darwin. This leaves the balanced out, which I'm not sure quite what I want to do with. I have a 3 channel Beta22 headphone amp and don't really want to build a fourth channel, as I've nowhere to put it :). I thought an internal balanced amp would make good use of the available Balanced output. From what you say, it might be worth squeezing a couple of TXD's in as well. Cheers, Colin ps Excellent boards! Very nice design work on your part and a great attention to detail wrt packaging, etc. from Brian. Great Stuff. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 33
Location: U.K.
|
Hi Russ or Brian, .... if you see this .......... ...... Do you think that the new IVY board would suit my purpose? It looks like it might allow me to put both SE and balanced headphone connectors on. Is the Instrumentation amp of the individual TXDs necessary, bearing in mind I'm putting this after a Ballsie ? Thanks, Colin Edited by user Tuesday, March 4, 2008 3:06:33 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration, Customer
Joined: 10/24/2006(UTC)
Posts: 3,979
Location: Nashville, TN
Thanks: 25 times
Was thanked: 89 time(s) in 83 post(s)
|
The IVY would work perfectly. You would just need to use input resistors(R5-8) on the IVY (use same value as R1-R4). I would suggest 1K so as not to heavily load the ballsie. Edited by user Tuesday, March 4, 2008 11:15:23 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration, Customer
Joined: 10/24/2006(UTC)
Posts: 3,979
Location: Nashville, TN
Thanks: 25 times
Was thanked: 89 time(s) in 83 post(s)
|
You you want a bit more gain increase the values of (R1 - R4) those should be good 1% or better resistors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 33
Location: U.K.
|
Hi Russ,
Much appreciated.
I thought it looked promising. I'll go that route, I think. It would be a lot neater.
Cheers
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/27/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1
Location: Seattle, WA
|
Russ, Brian, I'm looking at a similar route as akione, and am trying to figure out how to get a headphone jack output as well. My path looks like this: Code:
Analog XLR \
=>OTTO -> JT -> TXPre
(Darwin/SPDIF)-> SPDIF rcvr -> Opus /
Is it possible to split the output of the TXD? I want to get balanced XLR and a headphone jack. Is this an application where I just have to bite the bullet and pick up an IVY as well? Thanks in advance! - Ken
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 33
Location: U.K.
|
Just an update ........
I'm now using the IVY (with 1k input and feedback resistors), to drive my now balanced HD580's on the output
of my Opus/JT/Darwin based Dac/Pre-amp (see gallery).The sound is very smooth and detailed. I'm very pleased with the results.
I see what Russ means about not going back to unbalanced after using balanced 'phones.
The background is totally silent, even with the volume at max. (no input signal, of course :) ).
Thanks Russ. :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.
