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From much-loved Bitzie to —?

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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2018 at 8:12am
Keep the Y-adaptor (3.5mm stereo to 2 phono sockets) that came with the Bitzie. Plug this into the Bitizie output with its volume on full, run a pair of phono leads like Cusat50 to input 1 of the Solo ULDE.

Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2018 at 2:48pm
Thanks Ash.  "The Bitzie is a tremendously good headphone amplifier. Its bus-power is the weakest link, not its output."   Agree, it has enormous power to amp my headphones.   I thought I read somewhere here that it's possible to plug it into a 5V supply but maybe I misread that (anyway, I can't see where it would fit into the box).

"Adding a Lautus phono-phono dual mono cable and Solo ULDE onto the Bitzie analogue output is not guaranteed to provide any improvement."   The fortnight's test will reveal all (+ve and/or -ve!)

I've been seening 'Grado' so much here and elsewhere I had a brief look at their website just now but stopped after seeing the top brand pair for nearly 2 Grand!  Ouch!  But I'll go back and take another look.

I don't know that it's possible to get them sent on approval.   Can any headphones really be that great!!  Yeah, I guess maybe they can.

Looking forward to the trial of the Solo.
All best
Brian
Milton Keynes, UK
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2018 at 3:00pm
Still looking for that Y-adaptor (I know I kept it in one of those safe places).  Thanks, Jon, for the instructions, because I was going to ask what to do with the volume on the Bitzie when connected to the Solo.   (I've found an old chrome-looking(?) Y-adaptor which came with some kit I got for the Clavinova years ago but it would surely disgrace a GS piece of engineering!)

Best
B
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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Ash View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2018 at 8:19pm
The Bitzie receives both power and signal through the same single USB plug. However, using a product like Graham's "Powerwire" splits the plug into a power plug and signal plug. The power plug can be connected to anything that offers 5V to USB spec whilst the signal plug connects to your audio source. This allows a higher quality and lower noise power supply to be used with the Bitzie. It allows you to keep the Bitzie powered on all the time whilst not connected to a signal source, allowing the electronic circuit to reach and remain in its optimum state for music reproduction. 

You don't need to spend £2000 for exceptional headphone sound. Less than £1000 is needed. For that 2k price though, I think you can get much more out of speakers, if I'm completely honest.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2018 at 10:09pm
Brian I will include a Y adaptor and you can easily compare it to your chrome unit.

Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Farmer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Feb 2018 at 10:01am
Originally posted by gbr2004uk gbr2004uk wrote:

"Can any headphones really be that great!!" 

As Ash says - you can do really well for under £1000, but it's REALLY subjective (isn't all high end audio?)

It's worth noting that the Beyerdynamic T1's (v2) are now on Amazon at under £800...

They're not everyone's cup of tea, but I really like them. 
I have quite a collection now, and the T1's are always the one's I end up using the most over my Grados, Denons, Sennheisers and Audio Technicas etc...


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Feb 2018 at 1:16pm
That reminds me of those stories one reads about experiments where concert violinists and others took part in "blind"-tests and failed to distinguish between Stradivarius and good modern instruments!  One radio broadcast that I actually heard involved the great Isaac Stern, who maintained that about 90% of what they were hearing (in one test) was "the room".   (Similar tests are on a less exalted, more homely level, involving coffee or the celebrated milk-first/tea-first controversy -- although some chemists have assured me there is a sound basis for one of them, only I can't remember which!)

But seriously yes, there's a huge difference between my Sennheiser phones and the 10GBP bits of plastic I use sometimes when out in the street.  Maybe when you get to the "high end" stuff the differences are much more subjective, as you suggest.   And then perhaps one is into the area of diminishing returns?  (Or so I like to convince myself when ruefully contemplating the limits of my budget, hmm...)

It links up with something that always irritates me (and not just in the field of aesthetics):  when someone says "So-and-so is the greatest [X] in the world today ..." or "This was the worst crime against humanity ever perpetrated ..."  Why not simply, "One of the worst", "One of the best" etc?

But I'll shut up and stop rambling now.   Back to the music.
Cheers
Brian
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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