Little Dot MK IV Vacuum Tube Headphone Amplifier

[LinusTech]

NCIX: N/A

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1JhL

Manufacturer Direct: http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=820

 

The MK IV from Little Dot is a relatively inexpensive tube amplifier for your headphones that looks great and sounds great, but does comes with the usual tube amp caveats!

 

[M-ursu]

Why is it hidden video?

What are those vacuum tubes, they look so weird.

[SAV1OUR]

the little gold bit makes it look fancy also very nice shirt  

[qwertywarrior]

Why is it hidden video?

stealth +3

[Samdb]

I have a feeling we aren't meant to see this.

[simtransporter]

I think tube amps look really nice. I'm still not sure if they are better than solid state though.

[Foxxer]

Linus, you said you won't do this review.. how come? 

[LinusTech]

Linus, you said you won't do this review.. how come? 

 

Changed my mind. Got a few requests for it.

[Jvagle875]

I'm really confused by this video... Definitely looks BA though...

[Paralectic]

@LinusTech

At which price range of headphones would these actually improve the sound quality? A pair of 50$ headphones won't suddenly sound like a 500$ pair because of this tube amplifier.

Atleast that's what I'd assume.

[GriggsCK]

what is the headphone on the fake head?

[brownninja97]

shots fired, logan what you gonna do

[Hans Christian | Teri]

shots fired, logan what you gonna do

 

Hopefully realize he doesn't know shit about hifi...

[prodigydoo]

@LinusTech

At which price range of headphones would these actually improve the sound quality? A pair of 50$ headphones won't suddenly sound like a 500$ pair because of this tube amplifier.

Atleast that's what I'd assume.

 

Depends on the headphones mostly.

 

look at it this way

upgrading to a better amp will give you a better amp.. 

Doesnt mean as much if your using a crap dac.... so what.. your getting cleaner powered poorly reproduced sound..

which also doesn't mean much if you have crap headphones... you may be delivering the highest quality sound to them, but their characteristics mean they are distorting it in their own way which just reverses what you have done in terms of getting a better signal...

 

if you want good sound, you need to have good components from the digital file, right to the headphones...

[tedjani]

do you guys think this is a good idea to buy

[Paralectic]

do you guys think this is a good idea to buy

Nope

[xyza]

I would think that tube amps would sound different to solid state due to the imperfections tubes provide. I've only used solid-state anyway.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

I would think that tube amps would sound different to solid state due to the imperfections tubes provide. I've only used solid-state anyway.

 

This is mostly the case, however the subtle sound signature changes a lot depending on what tubes you use and even what manufacturer produced them. Tubes can be both good and bad, in these cheaper solutions they will generally use pretty terrible tubes that does introduce some level of distortion however in higher end solution this is not the case. When you start reaching products using respectable tubes these "imperfections" breathes warmth and life into the music, you close your eyes and it really makes the music come alive. This is something that I've never heard a solid state amp do. Now of course it can be discussed to death whether or not this is desirable, but for me music is meant for pleasure, and I get much more pleasure from listening to sound that seems organic and alive than I do from listening to analytic studio solutions. I've grown up with a dad that's been actively pursuing the perfect listening experience for the most of 35 years (21 of which I have been alive in) so I feel I have more knowledge and experience on the subject than most. This of course doesn't change the fact that you should buy and use what you like the most, that is always the case.

 

[Guest]

Beeing a guitarrist I realy LOVE my retro full tube guitar AMP (from 1972). The guitar tone has to have te warm tube sound and the distortion is MUCH better than any transistor crap.  

 

But for playback they are not necessary. Maybe it sounds a bit warmer. But you will lose details because of distortion. Don't change the signal after the Artist/Producer thought i would be right. This is what he wants it to be and you to hear it; he used tubes and stuff if he wanted… But in some it hits the same notch as CD VS Vinyl. Also Vinyl sounds warmer. But the CD is more clear and if you mix it right you are able to transferee more "informations" in a CD than on Vinyl.

 

Trust me I am  an audio technician for Rock/Metal and guitarist since i was 6 years old

[Guest]

Changed my mind. Got a few requests for it.

MORE MORE MORE!!!!

Audio stuff is always great. And please to the blind side to side test with each employ (and you) with their far songs. After this the shall rate the experience.

Would be real cool for the next Audio gear review.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Beeing a guitarrist I realy LOVE my retro full tube guitar AMP (from 1972). The guitar tone has to have te warm tube sound and the distortion is MUCH better than any transistor crap.  

 

But for playback they are not necessary. Maybe it sounds a bit warmer. But you will lose details because of distortion. Don't change the signal after the Artist/Producer thought i would be right. This is what he wants it to be and you to hear it; he used tubes and stuff if he wanted… But in some it hits the same notch as CD VS Vinyl. Also Vinyl sounds warmer. But the CD is more clear and if you mix it right you are able to transferee more "informations" in a CD than on Vinyl.

 

Trust me I am  an audio technician for Rock/Metal and guitarist since i was 6 years old

 

You are also wrong. Cheap tubes introduce distortion but this is not the case for the better offerings (of course they do if you drive them hard enough, but you don't do that). You also have to realize that most artists don't master their own music, so what you're really hearing is what the mastering engineer wanted you to hear it. You cannot compare CD to Vinyl as the quality you can get from vinyl is solely depending on how delicate your equipment is. There are $20 pickups and then there's $20,000 pickups. CD's may carry a clinically clean audio experience but it often lacks the life of vinyl. What you prefer is of course up to you (I sure as hell know what I prefer), however saying that CD's can carry more information is simply wrong.

[ForeseenVisionz]

the little gold bit makes it look fancy also very nice shirt

Ikr? Cant wait till 5-4 or whatever they are called go worldwide. Im hoping on like straight away lol

[Rep]

Linus is looking a little sunburnt?

[wongwarren]

This is mostly the case, however the subtle sound signature changes a lot depending on what tubes you use and even what manufacturer produced them. Tubes can be both good and bad, in these cheaper solutions they will generally use pretty terrible tubes that does introduce some level of distortion however in higher end solution this is not the case. When you start reaching products using respectable tubes these "imperfections" breathes warmth and life into the music, you close your eyes and it really makes the music come alive. This is something that I've never heard a solid state amp do. Now of course it can be discussed to death whether or not this is desirable, but for me music is meant for pleasure, and I get much more pleasure from listening to sound that seems organic and alive than I do from listening to analytic studio solutions. I've grown up with a dad that's been actively pursuing the perfect listening experience for the most of 35 years (21 of which I have been alive in) so I feel I have more knowledge and experience on the subject than most. This of course doesn't change the fact that you should buy and use what you like the most, that is always the case.

 

I feel like we can hang. I too like you have grown up with a dad whose been pursuing sonic perfection for the past ~35 years (and like you, 21 of which I have been alive in). I disagree with some things that you've said though. The other day a pair of Goldmund Telos 500 solid state amp came in to my house to be tested on my dad's Wilson Audio Maxx 3 and I've never heard his room so alive before playing The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over album.

 

On-topic: Linus, you should check out the Meier Audio Corda Rock, Leckerton UHA-6S MKII and the Bottlehead Crack.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

I feel like we can hang. I too like you have grown up with a dad whose been pursuing sonic perfection for the past ~35 years (and like you, 21 of which I have been alive in). I disagree with some things that you've said though. The other day a pair of Goldmund Telos 500 solid state amp came in to my house to be tested on my dad's Wilson Audio Maxx 3 and I've never heard his room so alive before playing The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over album.

 

On-topic: Linus, you should check out the Meier Audio Corda Rock, Leckerton UHA-6S MKII and the Bottlehead Crack.

 

Haha, pretty cool to meet someone else who has a dad like that. In fairness the only truly high end solid state (power) amplifier that has had a good run in our house were the Mark Levinson No.331 and Krell FPB600 so I can of course not speak for all high end offerings. They were both great, but certainly did lack a lot in comparison with the Vaic Valve Model 52B's that are currently driving his speakers, we both agree on that.