Don't be a total butthead and sit on the fence too long. Incredible sonics and value for the money.
As
blasé as we have become about the iPod, the truth is that it dropped a neutron
bomb on the headphone industry and created a storm of interest in high quality
portable media players and accessories. We would not be writing about great
products like the Red Wine Audio iMod, Ultimate Ears super-fi 5 Pros, or the
Headroom Total Bithead USB DAC and headphone amplifier, if not for the iPod.
With
the exception of the die-hard audiophile community, who else would be buying
headphone amplifiers if not for the iPod?
Anyone?
Why
do you even require a headphone amplifier? Most people are quite happy
listening to music with their headphones plugged directly into their iPod or
portable digital media player.
I
own three headphone amplifiers (two portable), but I still leave them at home
when I go to the gym each morning at 5am. If some kind and willing manufacturer
out there wants to send me a bag or pouch that I can wear on my person as I
lift each morning, I will gladly accept it, review it, and start living with my
Headroom amplifier 24-7.
Headphone
amplifiers; especially those of the portable kind, take the signal from your
iPod or laptop computer, amplify it, and then drive your headphones to the
heights of aural ecstasy. Will they turn a crappy pair of headphones into giant
killers? No. In some cases, they might even make the flaws that much more
audible causing you to rip those sorry suckers off your head and pitch them
into the sea, or in front of the subway train.
As
you climb the headphone mountain, you will discover that a vast majority of the
good models require some form of amplification; harder to drive from an
impedance standpoint, and because they deserve to be treated like the special
princesses that they are. Would you fill your brand new sports car with
87-octane gasoline? Would you cook using your brand new All-Clad pots and pans
on a $9 heating element from Wal-Mart?
Get
the idea.
There
are two methods of using the Total Bithead.
Using
the line-in from a portable digital media player, or running a USB cable from
your computer into the USB port.
They
both work rather nicely.
If
you use the line-in, you will need to insert four AAA batteries behind that
funky rubber looking cover. It looks difficult to pull off, but my 6 month-old
son did it with his gums, so it really is not that tough to remove. Behind the
cover, is a gain switch that will make a huge difference in the sound quality
depending on the headphones that you use. I tried five pairs of headphones with
the Total BitHead; AKG K 701s, Sennheiser HD650s, Grado SR60s, and the Ultimate
Ears super-fi 5 Pros. Each model reacted differently to the setting that I
picked.
You
should get at least 30-35 hours of use from the AAA batteries.
The
cool thing is that you can power the Total BitHead from the USB port on your
computer, which saves the batteries inside.
The
crossfeed switch makes things that do not sound quite right from a channel
separation issue, sound a lot more coherent.
The
coolest thing about the Total BitHead?
Two
headphone jacks.
Moses,
I think we found the Land
of Israel.
No
need for some cheap-ass splitter with this baby.
Sonically,
the Total BitHead does not quite have the inner resolution of a more expensive
headphone amplifier such as the Headroom MicroAmp, Naim Headline, or CEC HD53R,
but at $199, do you really care?
Two
of the other three are not even portable, so the Headroom wins on points.
Of
all the headphones I tried, I really loved listening to music or watching
movies on my laptop with the Grado SR60s. It just seems like these two products
were made for one another.
The
mids are smooth, and full of detail. The top end does not shout and make you want
to turn the volume down. For 99% of the planet, this combination with their
iPod and lossless music files would be a huge mind****.
It
would.
The Verdict
