Headphone amp?

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nmakowsk
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by nmakowsk »

I noticed the news picture too and the knob idea is brilliant. Is there a light that shines and refracts through the CZ stone on the end? That appearance and function would look both elegant and expensive. If there is a functional light, does that light also change in colors like my Kikkin and Saagatun preamps do? I believe the established Lejonklou color scale would look cool and serve a purpose of knowing where volume is instead of just feeling notches. Just wondering how it works and we need a closeup of the knob itself. Maybe they are all slightly different using Fredrik's mother's artistic freedom. What a neat concept and collaboration. Congrats Fredrik!
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by lejonklou »

teatime wrote: 2020-11-12 10:30 If, like me, you don't frequent social media, or enter this forum through the lejonklou.com main page (who does?), you might not have noticed there is now a picture of the front of Giella in the news section (https://www.lejonklou.com/news/)
Apologies that I didn't put the picture in here! Or a bunch of others for that matter. It's been very hectic here, with all sorts of manufacturing issues to sort out, discovering that 75 of the 100 first cases have a fault and need to be remade, etc, etc, etc.

However, the first 25 Giellas will arrive from Mitac to my lab next week. Then I'll do the final steps on each unit:

• Unpack it,
• Put a fuse in (measured, selected and in the optimal direction),
• Power up and measure it on the workbench,
• Epoxi glue a silver knob to the brass rod perfectly straight and let it harden for 4 hours,
• Adjust the position of the cubic zirconia and tighten the locking screws to the ALPS potentiometer,
• Unscrew the rear plate and rotate it,
• Slide on the slightly bent lid and make sure it neither rattles nor sits too tight when in position,
• Rotate back the rear plate and fasten it with 6 screws and the big nut,
• Fasten the two upper screws of the front,
• Place the Giella on the perfectly flat slab of glass and check that it doesn't rock diagonally on its feet,
• Hook it up to a source and listen to the headphone and line outputs,
• Polish and pack it down with manuals,
• Add the notes about serial number, measurements, date and customer to the Giella data sheet.

And then I'll ship it to YOU! 13 units are pre-ordered, 12 to go. After that, there might be a delay, due to the faulty cases. But I'm doing what I can to have the next batch ready as soon as possible.
nmakowsk wrote: 2020-11-12 19:08 If there is a functional light, does that light also change in colors like my Kikkin and Saagatun preamps do?
Thank you for the positive comments and the cool idea about a light inside the knob. The silver knob is however massive and there is no light inside. The cubic zirconia just reflects the light from the room. My mother has also made a few knobs with real diamonds. These can be had with slight colorations (from heat treatment), such as shades of blue, or red, or green, or yellow. I'm looking into how much extra such a knob would cost.

Having a light shining from inside, through the cubic zirconia, not spilling out elsewhere and varying in colour like the indicator on Boazu, Sagatun and Sagatun Mono sounds pretty cool. But it would be very bad for sound quality, because it would require a digital processor controlling the position of the all-analogue potentiometer and then firing the RGB LED in the appropriate colour codes. That whole package is a pain to make electrically silent and Giella would likely perform worse and cost a lot more. Plus I don't know how to transfer that light into the knob, as it rotates and needs a strong and durable connection with the potentiometer. Sorry!!
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by Discodave »

donuk wrote: 2020-10-22 15:33 Hi discodave
Many years ago when the Sony Walkman was first out my wife taped earphones to herself for many hours when expecting our daughter.
Mainly Vivaldi and Beatles.
Martha turned out to play many instruments and be very musical.

Donuk
Hi Donuk, sorry only replying now. Yes I have heard anecdotal evidence to suggest this and it would be a lovely bonus! Although I think from my reading that you are a musician, so perhaps genetics have played a part too!

My main reason for trying this approach was a psychological test performed many years ago on a group of housewives who went about their busy days while pregnant. They all took a break to watch "Crossroads" each day (Familiar to UK residents as the TV soap with the "Benny Hat"). They found that when babies were born and crying/distressed the theme tune from Crossroads soothed them as they made the connection to the relaxing element their mother's experienced when they relaxed/took a break from their chores and the theme tune triggered this!

So I'm hoping that I can use the music played in the womb to initially and practically soothe baby. If she becomes a talented musician too, well I'll take that as well :)
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ThomasOK
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by ThomasOK »

Playing music in the womb definitely has an effect on the baby. I would stay away from death metal and go more with mellow classical or cool jazz. But if you want to soothe a baby/toddler just put a canister vacuum near their crib/bed and turn it on. An older one that puts out a lot of white noise works great. If they are giving you a hard time about going to sleep they will be out like a light in a couple of minutes.
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by Discodave »

Thanks for the advice Tom, actually I believe my mother used a vacuum to send me off.

Yes, nothing with any force. We've even taken out some of Vivaldis more spirited recordings as being a bit too much. All very relaxing stuff only.
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by ThomasOK »

I learned it from my mother. Since I am the oldest of nine I used it on some of my younger siblings when I was watching them and on my own child later. Worked like a charm. My ex-wife had never heard of it and used to drive her little ones around in the car until they fell asleep. She couldn't believe it the first time I put a vacuum under Katie's bed and she was out in a minute.
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by Spannko »

We found that continuous white noise worked really well too. Particularly when combined with water boarding and nail pulling, Once put to bed, we never heard another sound out of them. If you need any more parenting advice, feel free to PM me.
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Re: Headphone amp?

Post by Discodave »

Genuinely in tears here!!!

I doff the cap :)
LP12, Lingo 3, Cirkus/Kore, Tramp 2, Basik Plus Ania, Linto
Majik Ds, Kisto, Tundra 2.0, Majik 109
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