Little Dot MK IV Tube Amplifier
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,331 words · ~6 min read
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with its power loss protection affordability and performance the sp920
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from a data makes upgrading to an SSD remarkably safe and simple some years
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back Chinese tube amplifier companies came crashing onto the headphone amp
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scene offering impressive specs and features at prices that traditional
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audio companies were simply nowhere near if you wanted something with similar
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performance and inexpensive worldwide shipping but all of the usual questions
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must be asked when buying something from China before investing your hard-earned
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dollars because they're still not cheap will the manufacturing quality be
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consistent are they using high quality componentry what about after sales
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support well over the last few years one of these Chinese brands has expended
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their portfolio Beyond a few products established a solid track record for
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user support and has turned into pretty much the go-to for inexpensive but high
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quality Chinese built tube amps and that is little Dot and this is the MK4 a
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premium single-ended headphone amplifier and one of the most famous with a
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469 deep appreciation thread on headfi
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that's actually been running since 2010 but was even posted in today but before
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we get into this product you're probably asking yourself already well why would I
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even want a tube based headphone amplifier I heard from oh I don't know
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my plumber or some tall dark techsavvy hippie or something that they're bad and
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solid state amps are much better great question and it comes down to the
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subjectivity versus objectivity argument
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that has been and continues to be a raging internet War hopefully I can
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clarify things a little bit objectively tube amplifiers do typically sound
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different than accuracy Above All Else solid state amplifiers like the
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objective 2 they're less bright more
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natural sound signature is real and a result of a number of factors including
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their relatively high output impedance also objectively they straight up do
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introduce Distortion and therefore will not achieve that purest For Better or
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For Worse it sounds exactly like the original recording goal that you might
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be going for but that is where subjectivity comes in a lot of people
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don't give any cares about that they just want an enjoyable listening
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experience and to their ears the Richer base warmer sound and subdued highs of a
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tube amp sounds a okay and to those people I'll say this rock on just keep
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your thoughts about the obvious Superior I ority of tubes to yourself but before
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the solid state Fanboys get all high and mighty now lonus and Logan are on our
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side about this frankly I don't want to hear about the obvious superiority of
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solid state either enjoying music is not that black and white and there are other
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variables at play here like the fact that everyone hears a little differently
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that make it actually impossible to have a one-size fits-all solution so take the
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rest of this video for what it is my own subjective personal experience with the
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little dot markv tube headphone amplifier the the manual is functional
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if not amazing the only things I really needed it for were the Fairly Specific
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Instructions for powering the unit on and off and the procedure for flipping
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the dip switches on the underside to increase gain to five when I was testing
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my fairly inefficient lcd2 headphones
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the warning about how hot it gets was also pretty helpful as well the unit
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itself was well packed in soft foam and looks absolutely stunning the vacuum
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tubes and the gold accents give it a very steampunk look and frankly the
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wasted desk space a if I was going to go pick a headphone amplifier just based on
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how badass it's going to look I would probably go this route in the Box Little
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Dot includes a power cord a headphone adapter and a set of RCA cables so
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you'll be able to easily plug into an existing external deck they're perfectly
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nice and only folks who believe in fancy
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cables are likely to replace them on to the listening tests with my senheiser
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hd8 DJs frankly it was impossible for me to tell the difference between my
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stack and the mark I figured the strong base and lack of
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Sparkle in the hd8 in the first place was making it hard to make out those
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characteristics in the tube amp so I moved on to my dt990 Pro 250 ohms from
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be Dynamics these headphones have a lot of fans but I don't personally really
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like them because the clear and accurate Highs are a little bit too bright for me
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and I find them fatiguing to listen to still couldn't tell moving on to the
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ad's LCD 2s whether it's my music tastes
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un as shamed top 40 listener here or something else I still just couldn't
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tell as it happens the lcd2 sound fantastic on the markv but I guess that
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leads to the only real conclusion that I could draw from this buy whatever makes
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you happy aside from the high price and the usual tube inconveniences uh it does
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take a few seconds to power on you may get the occasional audible anomaly and
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you should clean and replace your tubes from time to time the mark 4's build
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quality looks and sound quality out of the box left nothing to be designed Des
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ired for me another selling point is the fact that it allows you to tube roll or
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swap out for different tubes which will be a lot of fun if you're a tinkerer who
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wants to experiment with different pairings the way wine enthusiasts will
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look for dishes that go well with their favorite vintages personally I'm not and
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for me the much more obvious differences between one pair of headphones and
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another make them a more Sound Investment than searching for the
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perfect amp but your mileage may vary so
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there it is guys I mean feel free to call me out on this video I don't mind
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and I'll even save you the trouble of debating the validity of my tests in the
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comments aside from being inconclusive they are not scientific at all a double
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blind experiment with normalized output volumes would have been a better more
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scientific way of testing the two against each other and while I do plan
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to obtain an SPL meter and take another crack at this on my own time for the
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sake of training my ears and refining my audio Gear review process you the buyer
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won't have any of that stuff anyway and if I can't tell the difference when I
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know which is which sitting right next to them in the time it takes to switch
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between them then my recommendation of buy whatever will make your friends
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think that you're cooler won't change either way so I just don't think it's
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that big of a deal thank you for watching guys the link to pricing and
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availability of this product is in the video description below the like dislike
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and share buttons which I would love for you to use accordingly also in the video
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