Hi all, I know that tone controls are largely frowned upon and I don't wish to start a debate about what they add and take away from the sound but I wondered if it would be possible to add basic tone controls to this headphone amp build, could someone please tell me if this would be relatively easy and what it would entail, if anyone had far too much time on their hands I would be very grateful of as much detail as possible, original schematic is attached.
Once again thanks in advance Ian
Once again thanks in advance Ian
Attachments
If you have gain to spare the simplest, and in keeping with the minimalist approach, would be passive tone controls Equalisers see figure 2 and 3
Consider a Glassware Tone Tilt Control from John Broskie . Simply lift the 0.47uF from the V2 side. Connect that to the tone control input and put the output to the V2 6080 Grid. You can check it out on his yahoo store or google his tubecad blog on the subject.
New GlassWare Tilt Control Kit
GlassWare Tilt Control
Oh, it will cost you 3db (~30%) of gain but looking at your schematic, there shouldn't be an issue.
New GlassWare Tilt Control Kit
GlassWare Tilt Control
Oh, it will cost you 3db (~30%) of gain but looking at your schematic, there shouldn't be an issue.
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Really good tone controls are not simple. The tilt style previously mentioned or Baxandall style are contenders. I'm uploading a Max Robinson implementation of Baxandall style that is "unity" gain. Unity gain makes the issue of insertion or removal go away. It's a simple fact that the overwhelming majority of recordings do not benefit from the presence of tone controls. Therefore, tone controls should be 100% defeatable and Max's implementation allows for that, with ease.
If 2X 12AX7s/channel strike you as being OTT, you can reduce the bottle count to 1/channel by replacing the cap. coupled cathode followers with DC coupled ZVN0545A source followers.
If 2X 12AX7s/channel strike you as being OTT, you can reduce the bottle count to 1/channel by replacing the cap. coupled cathode followers with DC coupled ZVN0545A source followers.
Attachments
Simple Tome Controls.
About a third of the way down True Bass Boost and Treble Boost. Turn them off and there is just an extra 2 tubes, 2 caps and 2 resistors inline, and the boost is totally off. You could do it with 1 high gain tube, but you'll have to make the attenuation of each section more like 6 or 7 to 1.
Don't know why they call them 'Tome' controls though?😕
About a third of the way down True Bass Boost and Treble Boost. Turn them off and there is just an extra 2 tubes, 2 caps and 2 resistors inline, and the boost is totally off. You could do it with 1 high gain tube, but you'll have to make the attenuation of each section more like 6 or 7 to 1.
Don't know why they call them 'Tome' controls though?😕
Thanks all, some great answers and lots to consider, it's probably fair to say that I don't need to do it but I need to get my fingers dirty.
Thanks Ian
Thanks Ian
Mr Eli Duttman, please could you upload a bigger version of the schematic as it's coming up really small and I'm having trouble seeing the components.
Thanks Ian
Thanks Ian
The better version is too big to upload. PM me with you Email address and I'll send it to you.
If you power that amp up with no headphones plugged into it, the output will be at whatever the 6080 cathode voltage is and when you plug your headphones in, you'll get a spark as those caps discharge through the headphone drivers.
you can build the tone setup from SX-780 as it is flat when centered into 43k load.
there is a 18db insertion loss at flat so be aware of that.
first stage can drive it , second buffer stage will output signal.
there is a 18db insertion loss at flat so be aware of that.
first stage can drive it , second buffer stage will output signal.
Thanks stocktrader, audiowize, there is 2 resistors on the headphone output which will surely combat that.
Fair comment, it is actually a poor schematic which I have had to add to but the end result is a very good sounding headphone amp that compliments hd800s very well
I think you can solve this by using a dummy load when the actual headphone is not plugged in.
Simply use a jackplug with switches. The moment your headphone plug is pulled out from the jack, it switches to the
dummy load and vice versa.
Or just connect a 10kOhm resistor from the output terminal to earth.
But the more I think about it the more I doubt if there will be a
discharge when the headphone is plugged in.
The headphone is a coil and the moment it is connected to that DC source
the coil produces an induction voltage which has such a polarity that it starts with zero current.
But the more I think about it the more I doubt if there will be a
discharge when the headphone is plugged in.
The headphone is a coil and the moment it is connected to that DC source
the coil produces an induction voltage which has such a polarity that it starts with zero current.
2-triode tone control circuit
I found a good site with tone controls here
I built the "tone control you can love" after a few mods based on SPICE simulation and real-world testing
This was the as-built, voltages shown as measured.
It works well and now sits permanently between my RIAA stage and my linelevel amp. In my build I added a bypass switch, so it can be switched in and out as needed.
Anyone wants the SPICE files for this one, message me
I found a good site with tone controls here
I built the "tone control you can love" after a few mods based on SPICE simulation and real-world testing
This was the as-built, voltages shown as measured.
It works well and now sits permanently between my RIAA stage and my linelevel amp. In my build I added a bypass switch, so it can be switched in and out as needed.
Anyone wants the SPICE files for this one, message me
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