Thanks, I was very sceptical about what tubes could bring to the 6x0 line of headphones, bought a TA-66 and am pretty impressed! Going to try the bottlehead crack + speedball next
I like the look of how you painted it. Can you tell me what paint specifically did you buy? Did you paint the top plate or did you just apply like a clear coat? Thanks for your help!
I've read/heard people say plenty of times that modern digital electronics is more reliable than tube technology, well, that's something I can de-bunk, I have owned quite a few pieces of modern digital electronics technology and they all failed within a few years of me buying them, I have a few pieces of equipment that uses old valve/tube technology, and yet they are still working perfect, so, if valve/tube technology is supposedly less reliable than modern digital electronics then why is my tube gear still working when my modern digital electronics gear failed and no longer working? fact is, a piece of equipment's reliability has nothing to do with the technology used to manufacture it.
Honestly, you don't need any special skills to build this amplifier. All it takes is a little patience. If you can follow a set of well written, well illustrated instructions you can build the Crack. Bottlehead do offer a build service, but it's not cheap and in my opinion you'll enjoy it more if you build it yourself. Go for it!
How difficult is it to build this thing? I have a soldering iron and 0 experience lol.. But I would love to get my hands on one of these. Watched the entire video and it seems to be doable huh..
Just take your time. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Do it over the course of 3 or 4 evenings. I didn't have any experience building anything like this either, but got mine to work on the first try. If you have any trouble, there are plenty of people on Bottlehrad's forums willing to help out. Good luck!
The tubes Bottlehead send with the kit are sort of a random variety. There are subtle differences between different tube combos, but the amp sounds great with any of the many tubes in the 6080 and 12AU7 families. I wouldn't worry about which tubes are sent with your kit. It's gonna sing.
A novice can absolutely build the Crack. Just take your time. Bottlehead's instructions for this kit (and all their other kits too) are very clear and easy to follow. No special tools needed. Here's what Bottlehead recommends: eye protection slotted tip screwdriver needlenose pliers wire cutters wire stripper for 12ga. and smaller wire soldering iron, 40W is fine. An inexpensive solder station is much, much better volt-ohm meter - we suggest a 'pocket DMM' - use this for sorting out hard to read resistors a good light source Sharpie or other marking pen for terminal ID a soft towel or placemat to rest the amps on while working on the underside-the sticky bubble wrap supplied with your kit can also work well as a cushion for your project. other tools that are nice to have: magnifying glass for parts identification desoldering tool or desoldering braid A set of small sockets and a socket wrench for tightening the mounting hardware A “third hand” tool can be useful for situations where you need support the parts you are working on while keeping both hands free to solder Go for it! Let us know how it turns out.
I love Bottlehead, and just finished my first Crack, been building their stuff since 2000(ish). I got my HD600 way back in the day when a German Sennheiser rep offered a crazy deal - $235 shipped, TO THE US - for anyone part of the headwize amp design sub forum. He got in big trouble with Sennheiser USA for poaching 'their' region - but - look at all the headphone amps these days - ALL of the good ones are designed for 300 ohm loads. Why? well - before that sale - the universe was pretty split between Sennheiser's and Grados. What happened? we all got the 600's, then started designing and building amps to make those amazing cans sound great! Many of those forum members are now EE in the audio world (I'm not) but there you have it - the backstory. What does this have to do with this video, or the Crack? Nothing. I can say that with the Crack, after 20 years (oh my god, I'm getting old!) of listening to these HD-600's with amps I've built, bought, designed or borrowed- they have never, ever sounded better then they do with the Crack. No idea why it took me so damn long to buy the kit. Glad I did. TL;DR - Great review.
@@romariobeharry3373 very late to the party but the 6XX are hard to drive without one imo. They don't get very loud without one.. Still sound good, but in my phone they are super quiet in comparison what my Amp can do.
But why oh why do none of these reviews of the M9 mention how awful the bluetooth is - it chooses what it wants to connect to and what it does not like, then changes its mind.... will not receive and only sometimes transmits.....???? Pretty awful really.
@@YoungBlaze i only use spotify and amazon hd on the m9 at the moment, not fiio music. so you make a play list on those two apps in the normal way. is it worth it. i love it - flawed but really nice - slow processing power, so it's slow to download music, but once downloaded, plays beautifully. i do not stream on it - too slow and the music gets interrupted. wait for it to download and play it offline.
@@chriscoff3y i wouldnt use it to stream,im coming from a ipod 6gen so im used to having my playlist, i just backed up all my music from my ipod into all the playlist on my comptuer some im trying to see if i put those folders on the sd card will they show up exactly like that on the play list?
@@YoungBlaze not tried that sorry. good question but i won't guess the answer!! hold on - just looked. fiio music - the built in app does have playlists so i'd guess YES.
I built one and it trumps all of my digital amps for sound. Background is silent, and the detail and soundstage are absolutely amazing. We hear in analog and these are analog amps, maybe there is something to it. A good Solid state just seems a bit more edgy on comparison, especially with voices and treble, but this amp just sounds natural across the board. Beyer DT880 user here.
Solid state can be analog as well. Its when you get into the newer class D, class c stuff that is digital with is therefore not analog. Tubes do have a different sound usually then Solid state though.
Thanks for this video. My 14 year old son loves to build these and I’m intrigued about your buying two to build and sell one. Is it easy to sell? Any pointers on how you do it without giving away trade secrets. He just wants to make pocket change. Nothings fancy. I’d love for him to make some cash building these. Good life lesson to learn.
Hi there. I think you're referring to the spiked feet. Those are from Parts Express and can be found here www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dss2-g-gold-speaker-spike-set-4-pcs--240-666. The finish is nothing special. Minwax Wood Finish in espresso and a few sprayed-on coats of Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane in clear gloss. Hope that helps.
Great video, thanks for sharing. Definitely encouraging me to finally put together the Crack that I've had sitting around for an embarrassingly long amount of time...
Motivation for me to start building my kit that I bought almost a year ago. Just seems like a huge undertaking. It’ll be my first real build of any sort of electronics.
Just take your time. Stay focused on one step at a time--try not to look past the step you're on. I made mistakes when I looked ahead to see what was coming next.
I'm using a iPod 6 now and really it's so basic it's ridiculous compared to fiio . The fiio you have some many more things it can do along with more memory then iPods has .🤔
Thanks for the video! I'm currently using a Schiit stack Magni + Modi 2 with my HD600's and I'm in love with the sound. Saw on some forum that the Bottlehead Crack was a much better pairing for the HD600's, and then stumbled onto your video. Your loss of words describing the enhancements the amp makes to the HD600 at 6:30 is really me pushing me towards purchasing this amp. It's also on sale too! Keep up the great work Rob, you earned a sub :D
Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate you watching and subscribing and I'm glad that this video is helping you toward the decision to build your own Crack. As for my loss for words... brain freeze, what can I say? I think I'm still not fully comfortable speaking audiophile speak. I have a Schiit Magni 3+. It sounds great with my HD600's, but the Crack is on another level. Tighter low end, liquid mids and better air and separation between instruments which contributes to better imaging. Much better amp all around, but not really a fair comparison. The Magni is only $99, after all! Hope you take the plunge. Let me know if you do. Best of luck!
@@robstivers1994 How do you feel this pairs with the hd 650 vs the hd 600. I'm aware the hd 600 is more neutral sounding (still warm though) then the hd 650 (which I own) and I was wondering if a tube pairing with the 650 would be too warm a sound. Any advice regarding the hd650 and a tube pairing for people that own both and/or have listened to them. Any insight is welcome. I love warmth but I'm just worried it would be too warm a sound, hahaha. I have heard people recommend the pairing though. Also how long do the tubes typically last you before you need to replace?
Great video, Rob. Bottlehead is actually having a sale on the crack right now, so I think I'm going for it. Quick question, if you don't mind my asking: where did you get the feet/spikes for the kit? Thanks for any help you can provide.
Bought the spiked feet at Parts-Express. Here's the link: www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dss2-g-gold-speaker-spike-set-4-pcs--240-666 Best of luck with your build! Let me know how it turns out.
Thanks, that was helpful, although I do get lost with all the acronyms as I’m not tech savvy. Very helpful just the same. Question - any recommendations for free high resolution downloads?
M11 if you want the absolute best sound quality and a much nicer UI experience... For 150 more, I think it's worth it, as you'd already be spending 300+ for the m9. Get the m11 if you want to be absolutely future-proof.
I'm sure you already got what you wanted but for a dedicated mp3 player I don't think being future-proof is that important. It doesn't have tons of bloatware slowing it down like PCs and cell phones do, it won't just become slow one day. Yes, the m11 is faster, and sounds better, if that's what you wanted you should get it, but future proof? For what?