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askingforit
3
Oct 26, 2016
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Any comparisons to Bottlehead Crack (w/wo Speedball)?
Oct 26, 2016
DobieGillis
1
Oct 30, 2016
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askingforitI can't imagine the Darkvoice could compete but I too am curious if anyone has heard both. Knowing I will own a BH Crack at some point is the only reason I am not grabbing this.
Oct 30, 2016
EniGmA1987
607
Nov 1, 2016
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askingforitI have had both. Darkvoice sounds very warm and feels like you lose a lot of HF response. Crack with Speedball sounds far more neutral and is able to reproduce more of the full range of frequencies. Crack also gains more with mods than this does.
Both amps lose significant low end response when you plug in headphones with low impedance as they are both designed for 200+ ohm headphones.
Nov 1, 2016
askingforit
3
Nov 1, 2016
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EniGmA1987Thanks!
Nov 1, 2016
g_v_l
77
Nov 1, 2016
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EniGmA1987Would you say that this amp is not a very good choice for 32 ohm headphones?
Nov 1, 2016
EniGmA1987
607
Nov 1, 2016
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askingforitYou need to replace the stock 10uF capacitors if you plan on using this amp for anything under about 200 ohm headphones. When using 32ohm headphones with this, at stock the low cutoff frequency will be 165Hz which means you lose a ton of low frequency response. If you replace the 10uF capacitors in parallel with a single 220uF capacitor then the cutoff frequency becomes 21Hz instead which is pretty nice.
Nov 1, 2016
EniGmA1987
607
Nov 1, 2016
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g_v_lSorry, that last reply was @g_v_l not @askingforit
Nov 1, 2016
g_v_l
77
Nov 1, 2016
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EniGmA1987Thanks, I'll stay in then, got a bit worried as I didn't plan to buy a new set of cans :)
Nov 1, 2016
EniGmA1987
607
Nov 1, 2016
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g_v_lId go with this capacitor type for replacements: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Nichicon/UPW2A221MHD6/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22a%252bYJIhWynPar%2fjiznRJd2s%3d it has very good ripple characteristics across the audible frequency range and has a low(ish) 100mohms ESR. It actually has some better specs than the "Fine Gold MUSE" series capacitors do.
Another choice of one where I really like the sound is this one: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Elna/RFS-100V221MK95/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22Vaq1AHMe%252bCM7k10Flj3raE%3d Oddly enough the specs are not super great on that, but I amd many other people do like how it sounds. Maybe it is simply the qualities of the silk that capacitor uses IDK. Anyway, the capacitors are kinda cheap so you can give both a shot and see which one you like.
Nov 1, 2016
g_v_l
77
Nov 1, 2016
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EniGmA1987Super, thanks. I suppose there isn't much to gain with a higher capacitance like 330 uF but there should be ho harm given there is enough room?
Nov 1, 2016
EniGmA1987
607
Nov 1, 2016
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g_v_lThe higher you go in capacitance the lower the cutoff frequency will be, so more bass response. However you need to strike a balance as the larger in size you go the lower the total overall sound quality becomes because larger capacitors cant stay tight specs. They get worse and worse ripple and leakage as you go up and this lowers sound quality. In addition, since typical tolerances are 20%, as you go larger the greater number that 20% becomes so you increase the likelihood of the L+R channels getting farther away from each other in specs.
You can go with a 330uF size if you want, it will help if you go with headphones lower than 32 ohms and the improvement in bass rolloff on the low impedance phones might be a better tradeoff than another very slight reduction in overall quality compared to a 220uF. But definitely dont go any higher than 330.
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Nichicon/UPW2A331MHD/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22Ruh6sUH2JY1wXbY1SFxc%252bM%3d


And in case anyone was wondering, the Crack amplifier is the same way because both the Crack and this Darkvoice 336SE amp use the same sort of OTL design. By increasing the capacitor size of the coupling caps you will improve bass response and especially improve how the amp works with low impedance headphones, but at a cost of a small reduction in overall sound quality. Both the amps are really designed for 200-600ohm headphones and doing the capacitor mods optimizes the amps a bit more for low impedance loads.
Nov 1, 2016
g_v_l
77
Nov 1, 2016
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EniGmA1987Very good info, thanks!
Nov 1, 2016
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