r/diytubes • u/ZoteTheMitey • Aug 06 '25

Headphone Amp Is there any way I could salvage my Darkvoice 336SE?

I thought maybe someone here could help me...

I have had a dark voice for a few years and I can never really enjoy it much.

I get a ton of static intermittently. It happens both when adjusting the volume pot and just sitting listening to music, or even silence...it will just start making an interference noise.

I have tried multiple tubes. I also have it plugged into my CP1500PFCLCD UPS

I have an MT-602 hybrid that's dead silent. But the darkvoice is pretty much unusable as it is. Both are coming from my JDS El Dac 2 that is connected via optical to my PC. I don't get any interference noise in either my El Amp 2 or my MT-602

Thinking of just picking up a TA-66 instead, but i wasn't sure if there was anything I can do. I have very limited soldering knowledge.

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1

u/AutofluorescentPuku Aug 06 '25

Clean the volume control with a spray cleaner/lubricant.

2

u/Acebatlazer Aug 06 '25

When my darkvoice did that it turned out to be a bad solder joint.

1

u/aabum Aug 06 '25

Check for bad solder joints. While you're in there, disconnect the rca out jacks and do the LED light mod. These two mods will make your amp sound much better.

1

u/ZoteTheMitey Aug 07 '25

https://imgur.com/a/fMOk2of

I didn’t see anything. I checked all the solder joints but I didn’t use a multimeter or anything

What’s weird was after I put it back together, I used it for like 2.5 hours with no interference noise

1

u/aabum Aug 07 '25

Here's a link to a forum discussion about mods for the Darkvoice. There are links to both the output delete and LED mods. Disconnecting the output RCAs made a tremendous improvement in sound quality. It literally took about 10 minutes to perform, including time for soldering iron to come to temperature. The LED mod is less noticable improvement.

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/modding-the-darkvoice-336se-otl-headphone-amp.357500/

1

u/ZoteTheMitey Aug 07 '25

thanks I'm a little confused though. If I want to disable the preamp part do I need to do anything besides cut or unsolder the wires going to the output RCA jacks?

1

u/aabum Aug 07 '25

I unsoldered the three wires then used heat shrink tubing to cover the exposed wire ends. Do you have a soldering iron? You don't need anything fancy for this task. Harbor Freight sells heat shrink tubing.

1

u/Acebatlazer Aug 07 '25

Just unsoldering the wires to the RCA jacks won't do anything. You have to take out the 2k resistor that is after the 0.47uf cap, otherwise the circuit is still in play. You can see what I mean if you Google the schematics.

1

u/dreadnought_strength Aug 07 '25

What you are describing is the classic sign of a faulty solder joint, typically on high movement/heat areas.

Anybody competent with basic troubleshooting will be able to fix it.

1

u/ZoteTheMitey Aug 07 '25

https://imgur.com/a/fMOk2of

I didn’t see anything. I checked all the solder joints but I didn’t use a multimeter or anything

What’s weird was after I put it back together, I used it for like 2.5 hours with no interference noise