Product Review

Good sound, but compromised by non-existent shielding

Posted by Steve from Providence, RI on 2013-05-06
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: Sound, Crossfeed, AAA batteries
Cons: No shielding, build quality, clunky, not powerful enough, no line out, weird jack and switch layout

This unit should improve the sound quality of your setup. The DAC in most cases is an improvement over built in sound cards. The amplifier isn't quite as powerful as I'd like (I had trouble powering DT770 250ohm) but it does deliver clean audio to less hungry headphones

The most obvious flaw with this unit is the total lack of shielding from interference. The casing is made of cheap plastic, and underneath that is nothing but the PCB. I have to place it at least a few feet from any sort of electronic device in order to get rid of interference signals. Mounting this unit on the back side of a laptop as the manual recommends results in a lot of noise. Plan on getting a longer USB cable, because the 1' cable that is included is not long enough to allow you to find a "clean" spot.

My second gripe is the build quality. It looks cheap, it feels cheap. When I hold it in my hand I feel that my money wasn't well spent. I wouldn't want to drop this thing if I used it as part of a portable setup. The headphone jacks feel like junk. They don't snap in nicely like they should. It's also a little big. Not too big to prohibit portable use, but big enough to make it awkward. The lack of a line-output prohibits flexibility. You can't use it's DAC function by itself and hook it up to other amplifiers without inducing a little bit of static. The layout is also very weird. All jacks are placed at a 45 degree angle for some reason. I can't begin to understand why.

The only real advantage this thing has over any other amp on the market is the built in crossfeed. I really like it. However, I really don't think that feature alone is worth dealing with all of the unit's flaws. There are a few other options at this price point that perform better. The only think they lack is crossfeed.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you?

BennyWahoo
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Good for certain applications

Posted by BennyWahoo from Australia, SA on 2012-08-17
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: Better than standard iMac Output
Cons: Crackles when near anything, Crackles unuseably with Logic Pro Output

Hi There,

Perhaps because of the size/mobile nature of it, it doesn't seem well insulated against interference.
E.g. Crackles when near anything.

Using with Sennheiser HD650s and music is nicer, worth plugging in to the iMac for that.
Using as DAC from iMac for music is fine, garageband ok, though it crackles so much that it is not use-able with Logic Pro Output when piano input and holding down multiple notes/the pedal. Settings/switches on the device don't seem to help.

I bought the kit to convert the output on the iPhone to USB though I now understand that this still results in the audio being generated by the iPhone and not the amp itself, the difference being it sends an un-amplified output of the sound instead of a digital signal to the device allowing it to generate the sound.

In retrospect a full size headphone amp was probably a better option for me as I am unlikely to carry this thing around while listening to music anyway.

Cheers,
Ben

13 out of 26 people found this review helpful. Did you?

oceans22
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Not what I expected

Posted by oceans22 from Orange County, CA on 2012-04-27
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: Increases volume of iPod/iPhones
Cons: Remote on earbuds no longer functional using amp

Let me first start off by saying the customer service guys at Headroom are TOP NOTCH, friendly & always willing to give their advice. I think I did a decent amount of research before purchasing & had to try a couple of different headphone options. That being said....

The Bithead wasn't what I expected. I was SOOOO excited to get this thing. Being a car audio nut from the 90's I knew that the end sound is only going to be as good as the beginning source unit. That being said I knew not to expect hugely dramatic "sound quality" difference but the item does state it is a DAC which I figured I'd hear "SOME" sonic difference. NOPE!

All this amp did was crank up the volume a bit. And there was a lot of crackling & hissing when adjusting the volume. So if you listen to music primarily from your iPod or iPhone & have the volume cranked up 90% most of the time, this amp will allow you to ease the volume level of your phone back down to around 65% & still get the same loudness. That's it. Really I didn't hear anything different in the supposed conversion from digital to analog converter.

When I first bought it I had a pair of Sennheiser HD558's & yes it cranked up the sound much nicer then just listening to the cans straight from the iPhone or iPod. It did it's job power wise. Then I thought, "You know I'm going to get a pair of good in ear headphones, so I got the CX800i from Sennheiser primarily because it was a good set of "in ears" & it had the remote so I could control my music. Well, to my disappointment once you connect the CX800i through the Bithead the controller no longer works, I guess it needs direct connection to the source unit. I wish this would have been highlighted either with the Bithead or with Sennheisers manuals.

Anyway, it's hard to knock the product. Like I said, it partially does it's job, which is cheaply cranks up the sound. Buuuuuut as far as any sonic quality difference I didn't hear any. I know a lot of you are already saying, "Well look at what you're starting out with as a source". And yes I agree but I would think I would here at least 5% difference in sound quality? No?

I'll honestly probably sell this on eBay soon. Without the ability to control my music with the remote, it get's cumbersome having to unlock, control music, set down, unlock, reverse, set down, unlock forward, set down.

Lazy?? Yeah but it's a leisurely enjoyment so the remote should work through the amp.

HeadRoom Response:

As explained in the HeadRoom Total BitHead product page and also the Total BitHead FAQ, a 'DAC' will only accept a signal from a DIGITAL audio source, like a computer laptop/PC via USB connection, for example. Standard ANALOG line input does not trigger/activate a DAC processor and merely amplifies the original source file. In this customer's analog line-in application, car audio systems can be prone to line-level analomalies and hiss emanating from the vehicle's own electrical circuitry. An analog 'line-out adapter' for iPod/iPhone to the amp -- as opposed to connecting via the player's headphone jack -- will also improve sound quality in this customer's car audio set-up.

As always, our HeadRoom 30-day 'no questions asked' return policy is at the ready for a full purchase price refund if not satisfied for any reason!

14 out of 19 people found this review unhelpful. Did you?

midwest audiophile
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Useful but not great

Posted by midwest audiophile from Iowa on 2010-12-21
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros:
Cons: larger than iPod

I've been using this for six months and have mixed feelings. When connected to my iPod Touch the sound in my AKG 240 and AKG 271 phones are much better. When connected to my MacBook the change is generally not evident.

I'm pretty particular about my audio but when used via the USB on the mac there have been only 2 songs where it is a clear step up in quality. When connected to the iPod it is an improvement across the board. If I'm traveling with an iPod I generally want to keep my kit to a bare minimum and I often leave the BitHead behind.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you?

Alec
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Cool device but questionable build quality

Posted by Alec from Lewisburg, PA on 2010-06-28
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Small, Resonably Priced
Cons: Broke twice

Overall, I am really happy with this device and has personally improved my listening experiences by bypassing the poor audio system in my PC. I run Sennheiser HD280 Silver's and see a noticable difference in audio quality compared to Intel HD Audio. However, this device has once again stopped working properly and no longer supplies full power to the right channel and as such the balance is off. Luckily customer support from HeadRoom is pretty good and they will likely fix it for me. Its just highly inconvenient and I feel as if I should just get a brand new one.

7 out of 11 people found this review helpful. Did you?

MGrewe
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Gets the job done

Posted by MGrewe from Minneapolis, MN on 2010-02-15
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: DAC built in, small, USB input
Cons: Expensive

I wasn't blown away by the sound of this amp/DAC. I like it because it cleans up the sound from my computer and is an improvement over the output jack on the computer. I would have liked it more if it wasn't so expensive.

The sound leaves the listener wanting more. It is not extremely detailed, the midrange isn't that smooth, and the soundstage isn't big. It gets the job done though and it is much better than nothing.

9 out of 11 people found this review helpful. Did you?

EliH14
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Not Much Diffrence For Me

Posted by EliH14 from Jersey Shore, PA on 2010-01-15
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: Improved Sound Quality
Cons: High Price

I ran this with my Audio Technica ATH-M50's, and personally, I didn't hear much difference in sound. Maybe it's because of the headphones, but for me, it wasn't worth the price. It may have different results with more upscale headphones though.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you?

niels
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Fair amp for an OK price

Posted by niels from Reston, VA on 2010-01-06
Posted on HeadRoom Total BitHead

Recommend Product: No
Pros: SMall, portable, standard batteries, sounds OK, easy computer connection
Cons: Power management poorly implemented

On the good side: With a new set of batteries, connected to line-out on an iPod (with a little line-out adapter also sold here) this Amp sounds pretty good on Etymotics ER-4 headphones. The problem the ipod normally has (not enough power to drive the phones) is completely solved. Sounds awesome, love it.

When the batteries start to go (even as little as four hours in)... distortion happens. Badly. Problem is easily solved by replacing batteries (4 x AAA), however this is a far cry from the claims. When in this state, the red LED (which is supposed to light when this happens) does initially not light.. It takes many more hours (distorted sound and all) for said LED to start lighting up.

When connected to USB, it is possible to use USB power. Unfortunately, it seems that a connection to a computer is required. When I plug in a USB power pack or adapter, the device does not seem to be able to power up successfully. This is a little disappointing since I had hoped to use the USB port (without a connection to dirty computer power) to power up this amp.

The internal DAC works great with my Macbook, one settings change in System Preferences and all sound comes out of the Amp. Again, using the Etyomtics headphones, it's a great improvement... As long as I am running on laptop battery. The moment I plug in my power adapter and external monitor, a nice loud hum appears on the headphone output (due to a dirty power issue in the laptop I assume). Even running the amp from batteries, I cannot find a way to get rid of the hum.

This amp works well enough as long as I keep on swapping batteries every few hours and do not connect to my laptop when it's plugged in to wall power and a monitor. I had hoped for something that had a better power supply.

29 out of 35 people found this review helpful. Did you?