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Post by garbulky on Jan 27, 2019 22:51:26 GMT -5
Garbulky, Are you saying for certain the A-100 would make a killer headphone amp ? I'm very new and green to this headphone thing but in the last week I have given myself quite an education and spent too many hours researching today. I finally ordered a set of the Massdrop HIFIMAN HE4XX, In a previous thread we discussed the dismal headphone output on my XSP so I have been shopping inexpensive $100 Headphone amps. Going between the Mani 3 and the Monolith Liquid Spark I'm now leaning heavily towards the Spark. If the A-100 can suffice and even surpass the performance of the two Im looking at I'd be glad to get on, I'd love to keep it in the "family". I plan on running whichever headphone amp I choose from the line output of the XSP. Tom Well I'll get two things out of the way - the distortion measurements aren't going to be close to the Liquid spark whose noise floor is very good. The a-100's noise floor is higher, no getting around that. But the A-100 does have a whole lotta muscle behind it. The other is that I'm not certain if this is the right amp for you because I haven't heard the hifiman's with this headphone amp. There's two modes to this headphone amp. There is the regular mode - which still has a whole lotta power (but nowhere near as much as the other mode) and no noise. This mode is nicely compatible with most headphones. There is a slight hitch - the stock mode has a resistor to soak up the power to make it compatible. But this resistor increases the output impedance to 220 ohms. Your Hifi man is 35 ohms - so this mode though it would be compatible may result in frequency volume variations due to the output impedance being higher than the headphones impedance. Then there is the jumpers engaged mode which pushes ALL The power of the speakers amp. This also allows the amp to function at its regular impedance of less than 1 ohm. Bypassing the resistor using the jumpers in this way increases the noise floor so only certain headphones work well in the jumpers engaged mode. Two such headphones is the 150 ohm HD6xx and the 300 ohm HD600. The HE-4xx has a different impedance and power requirements so may work AMAZINGLY well with the jumpers engaged or it may be too noisy or too touchy to work with the jumpers engaged in which case you will have to just use it in stock mode. The He-400 has a 35 ohm impedance which means the jumpers engaged mode produces a ridiculous power output of 12,000 milliwatts at 35 ohms. Most headphone amps produce between 10 and a few hundred milliwats of power with some going up to a 1000 milliwats. So as you can see this kind of power is maybe too much at those impedances if you engage the jumper. So you would most definitely need a volume control upstream of your A-100 to attenuate the volume before it gets to the A-100 as the knob will be insufficient to properly control that volume by itself. I haven't heard the units you've been talking about or the headphone in question. Think of it like this the A-100 is the best headphone amp I've heard but it's not necessarily meant for every headphone. I think I recall some people having good results with the HE-400 but I don't know for sure. I did hear of people buying the amp specifically for hifi man products due to some of their headphones requiring godly amounts of power but I don;'t know if that applies to your specific headphone. I will tell you I love the heck out of it and I can't wait to see what Sennheisers upcoming balanced class A headphone amp is going to be like. |
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Post by tomincle on Jan 28, 2019 9:34:54 GMT -5
Regarding the A-100 especially in direct mode I realize the crazy amount of power on tap at the jack, Its amazing Emotiva even designed this into the latest version of this amp but it seems many people from what I have read have been hooking up their headphones to the speaker jacks of the earlier models for some time. To be honest I was thinking of the same approach using one of those small Chinese tripath amps but did not see anyone reference doing this. Right before I saw your post last night about the A-100 I had the Spark in the cart and it was just about settled, I know the A-100 in direct mode is just like using a huge gun and it needs to used with caution and respect. I will definitely try it in regular mode and if its all I need the jumpers will remain in the carton, If I need more juice the option is there. A couple of reviews Ive watched on YouTube discussed the higher noise floor in direct mode and what is consistent is that its there in quiet passages but not an annoyance at all when the music is playing at a normal level. I also like having a spare quality amp in the chain in case something ever happened to my XPA-2, For $110 more than the Magni or Spark when both charge shipping and tax this A-100 option is really hard not to consider.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Mar 30, 2019 20:19:14 GMT -5
Anyone compare the BasX A100 to the Schiit Asgard or Magni? (esp. with Senn HD600's or similar headphones)
I am happy with the A100 but looking to add a 2nd headphone station, and I always kind of wanted some Schiit.
Mark
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Post by creimes on Mar 30, 2019 20:30:06 GMT -5
Anyone compare the BasX A100 to the Schiit Asgard or Magni? (esp. with Senn HD600's or similar headphones) I am happy with the A100 but looking to add a 2nd headphone station, and I always kind of wanted some Schiit. Mark I currently have both the new A-100 and an Asgard 2 and I can say the A-100 for me and my ears I prefer the A-100, from my easy to drive Shure SRH440's to my buddies HD6XX the A-100 seems to have better imaging, I mean it's not and night and day but I do find the A-100 betters the Asgard 2, I currently have the jumpers installed running a pair of Massdrop HIFIMAN HE4XX and it sounds really good, not much volume to use though as it will get loud but without the jumpers installed I find the HE4XX don't sound as powerful as in the bass isn't as tight. Chad |
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klinemj
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Official Emofest Scribe
Posts: 15,088
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Post by klinemj on Mar 30, 2019 20:40:44 GMT -5
Anyone compare the BasX A100 to the Schiit Asgard or Magni? (esp. with Senn HD600's or similar headphones) I am happy with the A100 but looking to add a 2nd headphone station, and I always kind of wanted some Schiit. Mark I currently have both the new A-100 and an Asgard 2 and I can say the A-100 for me and my ears I prefer the A-100, from my easy to drive Shure SRH440's to my buddies HD6XX the A-100 seems to have better imaging, I mean it's not and night and day but I do find the A-100 betters the Asgard 2, I currently have the jumpers installed running a pair of Massdrop HIFIMAN HE4XX and it sounds really good, not much volume to use though as it will get loud but without the jumpers installed I find the HE4XX don't sound as powerful as in the bass isn't as tight. Chad Looks like the HE4xx are 35 ohm, so it makes sense that the jumpers are likely needed for them (based on the A100 specs). Mark |
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Post by creimes on Mar 30, 2019 21:45:57 GMT -5
I currently have both the new A-100 and an Asgard 2 and I can say the A-100 for me and my ears I prefer the A-100, from my easy to drive Shure SRH440's to my buddies HD6XX the A-100 seems to have better imaging, I mean it's not and night and day but I do find the A-100 betters the Asgard 2, I currently have the jumpers installed running a pair of Massdrop HIFIMAN HE4XX and it sounds really good, not much volume to use though as it will get loud but without the jumpers installed I find the HE4XX don't sound as powerful as in the bass isn't as tight. Chad Looks like the HE4xx are 35 ohm, so it makes sense that the jumpers are likely needed for them (based on the A100 specs). Mark Yeah and the planar's seem to like the extra power, without jumpers volume can be about 12 o'clock and with the jumpers installed about 8 o'clock is good enough volume wise. Chad |
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Post by leonski on Apr 14, 2019 13:50:32 GMT -5
Are you the LEAST bit handy with a soldering iron and can you follow clear, concise directions?
At about 8 a side.....far less into 300 ohms, I'd suggest the AmpCampAmp by Nelson pass and sold thru DIY Audio.
Total KIT price, with case, PS and ALL parts included is about 330$. This will give you a taste of Single Ended Class 'A' sound which is VERY tube oriented.
In a SS amp.
People report great success when this amp is paired with fairly high sensitivity speakers.
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