Architecture of a Desktop Audiophile System
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The Desktop Audiophile System is really just a small stereo system, and works pretty much like your stereo system at home. The HeadRoom Desktop Amp component functions exactly like a pre-amp does in a stereo system; It takes a variety of analog and/or digital input signals and allows you to switch between them, and to also send a volume-controlled signal to your headphones OR to the input of a power amp to drive your speakers.
To the right in the diagram, you can see the analog sources. We’ve shown an iPod and an FM tuner, but you can use basically any audio sources you’d like; phono-stage, tape deck, satellite radio, whatever. To the left are the digital inputs: the USB input is for your computer; the optical and coax S/PDIF inputs can be for any digital source.
Once you’ve got a full complement of inputs coming in, you go through some switching to get to the output section. The crossfeed switch activates a circuit designed to improve soundstage imaging on headphones and can be defeated for speaker listening. The gain switch allows you to adjust the overall gain of the amp to compensate for the wide variety of headphone efficiency and impedance ratings out there. The volume dial controls both the headphone output and pre-amp output. The mute switch on the pre-amp side allows you to mute the speakers when you’re listening solely to headphones.
The pre-amp out on the back of the HeadRoom Desktop Headphone Amp can be sent to one of the three Class-D power amps we’ve designed for the system: a 50 Watt/Ch stereo amp, a 100 Watt mono-block, and a 50 Watt/Ch mono-block bi-amp. The Desktop Amp can, of course, send its pre-amp output to any power amp of your choosing as well.
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