Monday, May 2, 2011

Madcap Audio Amp (Premium)


Madcap Audio

Portable Headphone Amplifier

(Premium Edition)

Technical Highlights

Design Aspect/Features

• Hammond 145580X series Compact Aluminum enclosure

• Custom transparent Front/Back plates

• 2 stage opamp design.

• Opamps in a Gold-Plated DIP Socket.

• Custom printed Madcap Audio PCB

• Alps RK097 Volume Control with built in ON/OFF switch

• DC Power/Charging Jack

• Dimension: aprox size with knob:(5.4 x 9.5 x 2.3 cm)











Hammond 1455C80x case

The premium edition’s surface area is almost the same size as a credit card, and has a thickness of about 23mm. The small dimension makes the amplifier very pocket-friendly.

The extruded aluminum Hammond 1455C80x case, available in cool black or brushed silver with anodized finishes. It is very attractive and sturdy.

Power Source

Unit comes with rechargeable high dense 300mhA PP3 NiMH 9V battery that gives long playing times.


2 Stage Opamp Design

The Madcap Potable amplifier features two stage opamp approach that improves current handling. There are four opamps all together: two for the left ear and two for the right.

So what do all these means to you?

With improved current handling, it could drive headphones and IEMs that have relatively low impedance properly. This can improve the sound quality rather than the volume. As low impedance headphones/earphones requires more current to drive them properly.

Amplifier Chip

The Premium edition comes with a default pair of OPA2134 Dual channel amplifier chip as the gain stage amp.

The opamp is mounted in a gold-plated 8-pin DIP socket, allowing you to purchase other chips to alter the amp's "signature." With the new stable design, It Allows user to use a wide varieties of Opamps available in the market.(AD8397 , AD797 or ,OPA627au etc..)

Amplifier stability is an important concern when trying alternative Opamps. A DIP socket gives you the option to try different Opamps aka (Opamp rolling).




High Quality Components

The quality of an amplifier's capacitors, resistors, and amplification chips plays a significant role in accurate sound reproduction, which includes:

- AlpsRK097 Switch

- High quality Wima caps (input filtering caps)

- Panasonic E-cap (rail splitter)

- +/- 1% resistors


Volume Control

The Madcap Audio Amp features the very popular Alps RK097 potentiometer, paired with a high quality brushed aluminum knob, Shielded Front/back plates and finished with Acrylic Top/back Plates.


DC Power / Charging Jack

Any linear-regulated 12V DC power adapter with a 2.5mm submini jack can be used to power the Audio Amplifier. Plugging in a DC power supply in “on” position will power up the device in playback mode. Plugging in a DC power supply in “off” position set the device in trickle charging mode.

(While using the charging mode, make sure only uses a PP3 9v NiMh battery !)


*Despite each enclosure being brand new, Acrylic front plates will occasionally have some sort of scratch or dent (not always!). Additionally, you should anticipate tiny imperfections due to the hand built nature of the product. Please excuse these possible minor cosmetic defects. Thank you!

Included

• New Madcap Audio Headphone Amplifier

PP3 NiMH 9V battery

• Regulated 12 v 400mhA Power supply

• Quick Instructions Sheet