Impedence Adapter For The D2

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by DoctorO

Does anyone have measurements of the impedance adapters by awwan, the ebay dealer? http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Total length = 40mm
Barrel length = 25mm
Barrel diameter = 8.5mm

[CrowdAds]

[DoctorO]

Actually I was interested in RMAA measurements, but I think I should have clarified that.

Thank you for the dimensions, though, it's good to see they are not bigger than the UE adapters.

[motorbit]

what about using the equi to detune the player?
thats what im doing: putting all bands to -6 removed any bass rolloff from my 32 ohms tf10 phones.
culd be a placebo-effect, though: its hard to compare, pause -> switching equi -> volume adjust -> unpause takes to long for a good direct comparsion.
i gave the ue resistor adaptor a try too, but i think that it lowered sq quite a bit - but this culd also be pure imagination.

dfkt, wuld you kindly test this with your testing setup?
i have no clue how you made these nice frequenz mesurements, but such a mesurement is exactly what i need (detuned / undetuned)

[dfkt]

DoctorO: Seems I thoroughly misunderstood your question. The Awwan adapters do the same thing any other resistor does, nothing special or suspicious about it. This RMAA test used a 16 Ohm phone and an Awwan 36 Ohm adapter to get the 52 Ohm resistance (tested via loopback on my AudioFire4): http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Vario...hm%20Loads.htm

Motorbit: The UE adapter is a whopping 250 Ohm, and indeed doesn't work well with any portable player. It clearly makes the sound of any phone worse when not driven by a powerful amp.

Here's a few results for you - the frequency response with all bands at -6dB sure looks a bit adventurous: http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Compa...hm%20Loads.htm

32 Ohm is in any case more or less enough for any player - much better than a 16 Ohm phone in most cases. -1.5dB at 20Hz is really nothing to complain about. I don't have the D2 anymore, so I had to take the next best thing, the S9 for those tests. The EQs are basically the same hardware-based Wolfson EQs on both players.

[motorbit]

wow that sucks!

guess im going to make me an resistor adaptor than.
or wuld you recomend an amp? i wuld not like the reduced portability, but i wuld accept her for better sound.

[dfkt]

As I said above, I think with 32 Ohm impedance you really don't need to worry about bass roll-off that much. The four pairs of UE phones I have are all between 12 and 18 Ohm, and of course benefit from an amp or impedance adapter (especially because of their insane hiss, next to the roll-off). But since yours are 32 Ohm... Not sure how loud the background hiss is with your 117dB/mW TF10, but I wouldn't worry about the roll-off.

[motorbit]

ok thanks for your help.

i dont mind to much about the hass... sure, there is some noticable if the music is perfectly quiet, but than all mp3 compression woks that way it removes sounds that are coverd by louder sounds.
a liniar frequency is much more importent to me.

i guess ill build me an adaptor non the less, just because i can and i have most parts. maby ill dump some € into some fance plugs just because they look so cool



definetly not going for an amp than, although on the head-fi fourm rsa is offering the first 200 pices of new shadow with a 50$ remarc, and i just wuld love to have such a rare pice of art. if i had all the money i deserve i surely wuld get one, but unfortunately the gods cheated me.

[DoctorO]

Thanks for the graphs, dfkt. Do you know why the UE adapter introduces so much distortion?

Another question: I already own the UE adapter and measured the resistance of it myself but only got 100 Ohm in each channel and 15 Ohm between channel and ground which would result in a 100 to 115 Ohm load (100 Ohm plus the result of 15 Ohm and the phones parallel). 250 Ohm makes more sense to me observing how much the volume is reduced, though. How did you measure it?

This is what I got:

                                  ________
channel         > --------|__100__|------------------------->
                                                        |___
source                                              |    |                   phones
                                                        |15|
                                                        |___|
                                                        |
ground          >-------------------------------------------->

[dfkt]

DoctorO, seems UE has changed the resistance of the adapter in the meantime. Mine is from the very first generation, back when they released their first universal IEM, the SF5Pro/EB.

Mine measured 250 Ohm at the signal lines, and 15 Ohm between signal and ground. I measured it by simply plugging a short 3.5mm male-to-male cable in the adapter's female jack, then going at it at both ends with my multimeter.

And no, I have no idea why they would distort. I just found some old tests again, and you're right - the UE adapter's THD and IMD is definitely not acceptable: http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Vario...0Impedance.htm Both Awwan adapters I have don't misbehave like that.

[DoctorO]

One last question: Do you have a adapter like those from awwan (resistor in series to phones) with a pretty high resistance and some measurement on their distortion? To use my Tf10 with my home setup I'd need the 300 or 620 Ohm adapter.

I can't think of a reason why they should introduce lots of distortion, but then again, I wouldn't expect the UE adapter to screw up the signal either...

[dfkt]

No, I only have ~30 and ~50 Ohms from him.

620 Ohm? May I ask what amp you're going to plug the TF10 into?

[DoctorO]

I'm using a CK²III (DIY amp) or the headphone out of my ZeroDAC. With the 300 und 620 Ohm adapters I should be able to switch between my DT880 and Tf10 without big changes in volume. Without an adapter the Tf10 would be around 30dB louder thanks to their high sensitivity and relatively low impedance.

I'm pretty sure I could use a adapter with lower resistance, but I don't want to touch the volume control since I've set that to a loud but earsafe position. It's more a convenience thing than an actual need for such a high resistance.

A high resistance also alters the phones frequency response less (phone impedance varies with frequency), but I think 100 Ohm would be sufficient for that.

[netwiz]

This is an interesting thread. Pardon me for getting basic here. I have SE530s, and I'm considering a D2+ or S9. I've read that you get hiss with the SE530s, but I'm having trouble figuring out, without actually being able to listen, whether this would be an issue for me.

The implication of the posts here is that the only way to deal with the hiss if it does bother you would be to get an amp. Could someone confirm?

thanks

[dfkt]

Exactly, the only way the SE530 sound 100% perfect (for me) in a portable setup is with my Corda Headsix amp. All other amps I have hiss the same way most players do, and impedance adapters makes the SE530 sound muddy and veiled. They are indeed the technically pickiest phones I know - probably due to their crossover.

I am thinking of getting a Headamp Pico Slim when it's released, and hope that one will be even better than the Headsix.

[netwiz]

Thanks for your answer dfkt. I think I'd rather aim for alternative earphones if I was going for the D2 (or S9). Portability is important. Can anyone suggest what the best match would be for something on a par with the SE530s?

[dfkt]

The Head-Direct RE0 sound rather similar to the SE530, but their build quality and isolation is definitely not on par with the Shures. Just get the player first, and see for yourself if the hiss bothers you as much as it does for me, or if you can live with it.

Another option would probably be the Sennheiser IE8, but I didn't hear them yet.

[vampire666]

Any suggestion on what impedance adapter should I get between
15, 22, 30, 33, 36, 51, 68, 82, 91, 100, 120, etc...
for
1- the D2 and Denon AH-C551 (16ohm)
2- the D2 and Denon AH-C55 and FiiO E5

Thanks.

[dfkt]

I'd say adding 36 Ohm is enough. You don't necessarily need an impedance adapter with the FiiO, since the amp itself fixes the bass roll-off (but hisses by itself and doesn't improve crosstalk). So actually, you don't need the FiiO if you get an impedance adapter.

[Andreas]

http://andreasodegard.com/2009/10/tu...sitor-adapter/

[vampire666]

Originally Posted by dfkt

I'd say adding 36 Ohm is enough. You don't necessarily need an impedance adapter with the FiiO, since the amp itself fixes the bass roll-off (but hisses by itself and doesn't improve crosstalk). So actually, you don't need the FiiO if you get an impedance adapter.

Thanks for the reply dfkt.
I was of the impression that the impedance/resistor adapter was goind to "cure" the bass roll-off and the hiss altogether.
I thought if I add the FiiO E5 I'll cure the bass roll-off, but the hiss will get even worse since I can already hear it with my 16ohm Denon AH-C551, and I know that the FiiO E5 adds hiss (but less then the E3)...so I thought that adding an impedance adapter would be a good idea since I'll get rid of the hiss of lower impedance adapters + the hiss of the FiiO E5.
Am I completely off?

Originally Posted by Andreas

http://andreasodegard.com/2009/10/tu...sitor-adapter/

Thanks for that link Andreas!
Very interesting and useful!