HeadRoom Headphone Amplifier & Digital-Analog Converter User's Manual
Contents
1. NX Exchanges amp Returns Equipment Exchanges If you would like to exchange your purchase for another item you have two options You can simply purchase the item you want and send the item you don t want back for refund within 30 days of the original purchase don t for get to fill out the back of the Return amp Exchange card and include it with your return We will refund your credit card after we receive the item Or you can send your product back as an exchange and indicate the product you would like on the Return card We will adjust your credit card accordingly and ship you the new item Replacement products are shipped to you as soon as pos sible typically within 3 5 days provided the replacement item is in stock Defective Equipment Exchanges In the uncommon event of receiving a defective product contact us and we will ship out a replacement product to you at no cost as soon as possible typically within 3 5 days provided the replacement item is in stock You will receive the replacement item along with a return shipping label and a card to include with the defective item to return to HeadRoom Important Fill in your name and original invoice number of your order on the card and return the item to HeadRoom within 2 weeks If we have not received the product after 2 weeks allowing shipping time we will charge your credit card the amount of the defective item Please understand that we enforce this policy as an in2. re r USB Power Output Optical Input 4 Source Coaxial Input Switch Digital Select Input 6 External Power Input f Thumb Screws The Micro DAC Panel Descriptions Front Panel 1 Line Output The line out is the best sounding stereo mini plug out there This is the signal source you plug into the input of your headphone amp Don t forget to check out our Cardas mini to mini cables they come in many flavors Ok four different lengths 2 Optical Coaxial Digital Input The optical input is your typical Toslink connector You get this input signal from the optical output of your player Not so many portable audio players have optical outputs anymore call or check our web site for recommendations but many portable DVD players and some hard disk drive players do Of course you can get this signal from many pieces of home equipment 3 USB Input The USB input gets its signal from a computer laptop or desk top PC Mac or Unix There aren t any portable players of any kind that have the ability to talk to an external USB sound device yet 4 Input Select Switch If you are using both inputs select the one you want to listen to with this switch 5 Power Source Switch To the far right is the power source switch It will run on either the two internal 9 Volt batteries or an external power supply If the batteries are in and external supply is attached the only way you can turn it off is by selecting
3. Head Right Between Your Ears Congratulations You ve just received the cutest little piece of hard core audio hardware known to the world of audiophilia The Micro Amp and Micro DAC are jam packed with all the sweet parts terrific engineering quality manufacturing and years of experience needed to make luscious tunes bloom in your head So get out your best headphones put on your favorite music and prepare for the perfect pleasures of personal listening made right between your ears The Micro Amp The Micro Amp Panel Descriptions Front Panel 1 Line Input The line input is where you plug in the source Preferably the Micro DAC but it could be the line out of your iRiver or the headphone out of an iPod You will need a mini to mini cable to hook up your Micro Amp 2 Headphone Out The headphone out is where you plug in your headphones There isn t room fora full sized jack but this 1 8th inch mini plug will take the small plug of all 1 8 headphone jacks We also sell a short flexible Grado 1 4 1 8 adaptor for your big cans and you can get a replacable Cardas headphone cable with a mini connector for many types of headphones call us or consult our website for details 3 Crossfeed Switch This switch engages the crossfeed circuit The audio image on headphones is often not very good typically the image is a blob on the left a blob on the right and a blob in the middle The HeadRoom crossfeed provi
4. external DC and then unplugging the power supply from the back of the unit We offer two power supplies the less expensive version lovingly known as brick power supply comes with the amp the more ex pensive Base Station One will give you cleaner juice and therefore cleaner more dynamic sound Rear Panel 6 External Power Input Connect either of your power supplies here 7 Thumb Screws To change your batteries unscrew the screws and re move the rear panel Orientation of 2 nine volt batteries is indicated by the illustrations on the rear panel Connecting Your Micro Stack Hooking up your new Micro Stack or just one of them is a quick and easy process Your source will need an analog line out or if you are using the Micro DAC a digital output which could be USB coaxial or optical You will need a mini mini cable to hook up your Micro Amp and DAC Shown here is a 6 Cardas mini mini cable available for purchase on our website The Micro Stack 1 Plug the mini to mini cable into the line input of the Amp and line output of the DAC Don t forget to select the appropriate power source on each unit Cardas mini mini cable Micro Stack and digital source 2 Connect your digital source to the DAC by plug ging in a coaxial or optical cable into the optical co axial digital input or a USB cable from your computer into the USB input 3 If you are only using the Micro Amp then connect the source to
5. cen tive for customers to get defective equipment back to us as soon as possible Shipping Products back to HeadRoom Please ship products back in the original shipping box or another that is com parable please don t send headphones back in JUST the headphone box as it s a sure bet that they will no longer be in as new condition when we receive them We HIGHLY recommend that you ship returns using an insured and signature required delivery method we can t be responsible for lost or damaged packages Finally don t forget to include the completed Return amp Exchange card and WRITE YOUR NAME on the outside of the box Return Products to Contact Us HeadRoom Attn Returns 2020 Gilkerson Drive Bozeman MT 59715 www headphone com Toll Free 800 828 8184 Phone 406 587 9466 Fax 406 586 9484 H eadeoom A Word About Right Between Your Ears Your Hearing People have a natural tendency to listen to music at much louder levels with headphones than they would with speakers To avoid permanent hearing damage it s important to be careful not to listen at extremely loud levels or to listen for too long at moderately loud levels Because HeadRoom amps need to be able to drive even the most inefficient dynamic headphones to satisfactory listening levels they are also able to drive headphones of average or higher efficiencies to extremely high levels As a result even though the volume control on
6. ctronics product 10 30 Day Guaranty amp Warranty HeadRoom 30 Day Guaranty Unless specifically stated otherwise all HeadRoom purchases come with a 30 day satisfaction guaranty in order to give you the opportunity to evaluate your purchases We re happy to provide you with the opportunity to refund or exchange your product but to keep costs down we do have a few conditions Products must be returned to us within 30 days of the date you receive the product So make sure you try your purchase out right away Products must be in as new condition This means that they re in pristine cosmetic condition functioning perfectly and include ALL materials plastic bags warranty cards tie wraps etc In other words please send products back exactly as you re ceived them Ifa product is returned within the 30 day return period butis not in as new condition we will charge you a 15 restocking fee plus any labor and materials required to return the product to as new condition Sorry but after your 30 day trial products are no longer exchangeable or refundable If you re having trouble with a headphone amp or system please contact us first to troubleshoot the problem You can email Sales Sales headphone com or call 800 828 8184 If we can fix it while you ve still got the product everyone s happy Mico Amp amp Micro DAC Warranty The HeadRoom Micro Amp and DAC are warrantied for two years If anytim
7. des the natural acoustic cross feed normally heard at the left and right ear as heard from the left and right speaker Adding back the normally occurring cross feed signal gives your brain enough information to build the stable and natural audio image needed to have a quality listening experience See pg 8 for more info on the HeadRoom crossfeed 4 Gain Switch The 3 position Gain Switch accomodates various headphones Packing HeadRoom s mobile electronics module two nine volt batteries and all the knobs and switches you need into an all but bullet proof aluminum enclosure is pushing it a bit but you won t care because your head will be thanking you for the lovely tunes 5 1 3 Volume power needs For instance the Low Gain setting would be used for in ear monitors Li l c f d Control allowing a larger range on the volume control pot Experiementing with your a peas ji 6 headphones and the gain switch may help you to determine which setting you prefer Input 2 Switch If have any questions regarding your headphones feel free to call and ask us 4 Power Headphone 5 Volume Control You never know where the volume control should be set as Gain Source i i i nae different headphones often have widely different impedances and efficiencies so use un Switch Switch your ears to choose your listening level not the level on the dial We recommend you l choose a moderate level so as not to blow out your ears You also need to tu
8. e within the first two years of your purchase you have a problem with your Micro Products you can return it for repairs under the terms of our 30 Day Guaranty HeadRoom is the only authorized service center for HeadRoom products ei ther in or out of warranty If a unit is under warranty there is no cost for the repair labor parts or shipping from HeadRoom back to you i e You re re sponsible for paying the shipping charges to get the product to us Out of Warranty Repairs Non warranty repairs are assessed at an hourly rate of 50 per hour plus parts and are only conducted on HeadRoom products If the cost of the repair is over 100 we will call you with an estimate If you have an older HeadRoom amp that is out of production we may not be able to repair the amp however please contact us and we will let you know if we are able to When we receive the equipment we will initiate repairs and upgrades within 1 2 weeks and return the unit to you The customer pays for shipping to HeadRoom and we pay for return shipping Please refer servicing to HeadRoom factory authorized personnel as HeadRoom is the only authorized service center for HeadRoom products either in or out of warranty Tampering by persons other than Head Room factory authorized personnel is discouraged and will void your warranty HeadRoom will not accept warranty claims for damage resulting from accident misuse neglect abuse or failure to follow instructions of operation
9. ing on what type of recording you are listening to mono and binaural recordings need no processor at all Old studio recordings that have instruments panned hard left or right benefit greatly from the processor Live and classical record ings miked from a distance benefit somewhat less and can often be listened to without the processor quite comfortably 30 degrees off axis amp The crossfeed switch in HeadRoom amplifiers al low you to cross feed a little of the left and right channels across to eacho ther through a short time delay pee a Far ear Near ear Plain With hears hears sound Headphones HeadRoom slight delay first lt J Electronics Modules for your Micro Amp The Micro Module This little red module contains all the electronics for a Micro Headphone Amp There are two 4 layer circuit boards one each for the left and right channel that are connected with a series of header pins used to solder the module to the main circuit board This module is designed to sound great but must provide at least 20 hours of play time on two 9 Volt batteries in the Micro Amp It uses AD822 op amps for the internal input buffer crossfeed sum mer and power amp voltage gain stage The output current amplifier is our version of the highly regarded Diamond Buffer discrete transistor design by Walt Jung Resistors are 1 metal thin film and caps in the signal chain are polyphenylenesulfide pol
10. rn the amp OFF or ALL THE WAY DOWN before plugging in or unplugging your headphones to avoid short circuiting the amp As you turn the volume control knob clockwise the volume increases 6 Power Source Switch Immediately to the right of the volume control is the power source switch It will run on either the two internal 9 Volt batteries or an external power supply If the batteries are in and external supply is attached the only way you can turn it off is by selecting external and then unplugging the connector We offer two power supplies the less expensive lovingly known as brick power supply comes with the amp the more expensive Desktop Power Supply will give you cleaner juice and therefore cleaner more dynamic sound External Power Input Rear Panel 7 External Power Input Connect either your brick or Desktop Power Supply here 8 Thumb Screws To change your batteries unscrew the screws and remove the 8 rear panel Orientation of 2 nine volt batteries is indicated by the illustrations on NE Thumb Screws Le rear panel 3 The Micro DAC The unlikely marriage of a well supported Texas Instruments USB sound de vice chip to get the S PDIF signal Cirrus Logic s flagship D A converter and two 9 Volt batteries bears the fruit of incredibly good sound anywhere you want to set up a personal listening station Take a tour of the front and rear panels and here s what you l find 3
11. teries When using standard alkaline batteries or standard size rechargeable bat tereies pull up the small rubber flap and slide the 9 volt battery in The bat tery will slide completely into the enclosure and the rubber flap will hang down in front of it shown upper right What is the HeadRoom Crossfeed Imagine you are listening to a pair of speakers If you turn off the left speaker both ears hear the sound from the right speaker But because the left ear is slight farther away than the right ear it hears the speaker s sound slightly after the right ear about 300 microSeconds This time difference is called the inter aural time difference and it is the main thing your brain listens for in order to tell where to place sound left to right But in headphones if you turn off the left channel only the right ear hears the sound In headphones if there is any sound that is only in the left channel or only in the right channel then only that ear hears the sound This is not natu ral and you brain becomes fatigued trying to figure out where sound is com ing from when only one ear is hearing it This tends to create an audio image that is a blob on the left blob on the right and a blob in the middle HeadRoom amplifiers cure the problem by allowing you to cross feed a little of the left and right channels across to each other through a short time de lay using the crossfeed switch The usefulness of the circuit varies depend
12. the amp using the preferably line out or head phone jack of your player to the the line input Micro Amp and source 4 Plug your headphones into the 1 8 jack on the front of the Micro Amp Adjust the volume on the HeadRoom amp Changing Batteries The Micro Amp and DAC run on DC power or two 9 volt batteries The battery life of your Micro Amp will last approximately 15 20 hours depending on the impedance level of the headphones you are using as well as the electronics module you have The DAC will not last quite as long Most people have the Micro Module which allows for about 15 20 hours of battery life If you have the Desktop Module then you should typically get around 8 10 hours of bat tery life To remove your 9 volt batteries you need to remove the rear panel Un screw the thumb screws and the panel will fall away from the enclo sure You can also gently grasp the panel by the center cut out for the power supply and pull the panel off the unit shown below Micro Amp or DAC thumb screws removed Micro Amp or DAC with rear panel removed Some rechargeable batteries are slightly longer than a standard 9 volt battery If you are using a longer 9 volt battery slide them in allowing for the rubber flap to fold up into the top of the enclosure shown lower left The Micro Amp does not recharge your rechargable batteries Micro with 9 volt alkaline battereis Micro with 9 volt rechargeable bat
13. wever once you have a Slight case of tinnitus your ears are much more susceptible to further dam age So if you do experience mild symptoms it s important to be much more careful about your exposure to loud sounds Sorry to sound so sobering but a lifetime of musical enjoyment requires ears in tiptop shape Now that we ve told you to be careful don t blame us if you blow it If you have any more questions about hearing damage call a doctor Contacting HeadRoom lollEree 8 0108 28 8184 2020 Gilkerson Drive Phone 406 587 9466 Bozeman MT 59715 Fax 406 587 9484 www headphone com
14. y film these are MUCH higher quality parts than you d ever find in a typical consumer electronics product The Micro Amp can be upgraded to the Desktop Module The result will be an approximate halving of play time and moderate improvement in sound quality If you will be using this amp largely in a portable mode we suggest sticking with the stock micro module as its better sounding by far than any portable source accept maybe the Micro DAC and saving batteries is a good thing Micro electronics module Desktop electronics module Desktop Electronics Module Upgrade The Micro Amp can be upgraded to the Desktop Module This little green mod ule contains all the electronics for a Desktop Headphone Amp There are two 4 layer circuit boards one each for the left and right channel that are con nected with a series of header pins used to solder the module to the main cir cuit board This module is designed to sound great but must provide at least 20 hours of play time on four D cells in the Desktop Portable Amp It uses Burr Brown Okay now TI 2134 op amps for the internal input buffer crossfeed summer and power amp voltage gain stage The output current amplifier is our version of the highly regarded Diamond Buffer discrete transistor design by Walt Jung Resistors are 1 metal thin film and caps in the signal chain are polyphenylenesulfide poly film these are MUCH higher quality parts than you d ever find in a typical consumer ele
15. your HeadRoom amp may appear to be set to a low level you may not be listening at a safe level Generally speaking when listening to headphones you should only turn up the volume to the point at which the sound isn t too quiet As a general rule sound pressure levels under 80 decibels will not damage hearing even if experienced continually On the other hand anything over 100 decibels may cause permanent damage very quickly Sustained exposure to sound pressure levels anywhere in between can also be damaging the louder the sound the shorter the time required to cause permanent damage Just to drive this message home here s a bit of information about hearing damage The most common type of damage caused by prolonged or exces sively loud sound is called tinnitus It manifests itself as a sustained buzzing and or ringing in the ears and can become a permanent condition If you find that your ears are ringing or that there is a sensation of pressure or fatigue your body is trying to tell you that your ears need a break Give them a rest for a few days or until they feel fresh If you ignore these symptoms you re risking permanent hearing damage In addition don t fool yourself into thinking that you either have full blown tinnitus or you don t have it at all there are different degrees of hearing dam age For example you might have a mild case where you only notice ringing in your ears in the quiet of your bedroom at night Ho
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