Your choice for budget analog to digital converter

Al - thanks, that all makes sense. I am aware of the high impedance of the main outputs, but it is not problem for my Levinson 432. Actually, I would probably want the mains on when recording if possible. That would depend on output levels.

I really wanted a Korg MR 2000s but I procrastinated too long and they have been discontinued. I am also looking at a Korg MR 2, partially because of its DSD capability. Unfortunately, the Ayre is a little rich for my blood, at least at this point. The idea was to use the Line Streamer as a starter unit to test the process, but I have not pursued it because of the lack of volume control. You headphone amp suggestion is a good one that may get me back on track. Thanks.

You're welcome, Dtc. I might have spoken a little too soon, though. I see that the headphone output on the SLP-05 is transformer coupled. It would probably be a good idea to ask Cary if running that output into 5K would result in any sonic issues, due to the very light loading of the transformer, and if it would raise any issues with respect to long-term reliability.

As you are most likely aware, tube power amplifiers having output transformers should not be operated without a speaker or equivalent load being connected, at least when a signal is being processed by the amp, due to the possibility of damage or degraded long term reliability from "inductive kickback." I don't feel totally certain that that consideration is inapplicable to this situation, with 5K representing close to no load for the transformer coupled headphone output.

I suspect the answer will be "no problem," but I'd suggest checking with them to be sure.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks all, helpful discussion. I have a Graco headphone amp as well, the AC version, not the battery version. Using Grafo cans too. Thought I would go all-Brooklyn for a while.

How do I know what the right output level is, should I choose to run through my headphone amp as a Pre, trial and error? This reminds me of my days making tapes and learning how to deal with full dynamic range recording and tape saturation/undersaturation issues. kn

Thanks Al. Will do.

KN, yes it is analogous to optimizing the match between signal levels and the dynamic range of recording tape. The main difference, of course, being that a modest amount of analog tape oversaturation may still provide reasonable results, while any overload of digital recording equipment will produce very hard clipping.

There doesn't seem to be much meaningful technical information on the Grado headphone amplifiers. But assuming you are using the non-high gain version, that is intended for use with Grado headphones, unfortunately I suspect that its gain and output voltage capability are such that it would not provide enough voltage to fully utilize the dynamic range of the Linestreamer, when driven by a signal level corresponding to the output of a phono stage.

It appears that the high gain version was introduced for the purpose of driving non-Grado phones having impedances of 100 ohms or more, which require higher voltages than the 32 ohm Grado phones require, for a given amount of input power. And I did find some review comments indicating that the non-high gain version can't drive certain Sennheiser and other models to high volume levels. Finally, the fact that a similar model exists which runs on battery power, and is described as being able to run for 40 to 50 hours on two 9 volt batteries, would seem to indicate that the design is not particularly high powered.

All of that is speculative to some degree, of course, but the lack of technical specs on the amplifier precludes anything more definitive.

Regards,
-- Al