Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 13, 2018 9:20:27 GMT
I have a Schiit Asgard 2 and I love it. The thing is very well built, especially for the price. It's nice to use and it sounds really good to me. I have no other amps as a frame of reference so maybe others can chime in with their reccys.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 13, 2018 9:34:52 GMT
Pics taken just now   |
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Post by antonio on May 13, 2018 10:30:14 GMT
I'm using a NVA AP10H, the first piece of NVA I purchased. I have very little experience with headphone listening but I would say it's very good have heard a few others at hifi shows.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 13, 2018 11:38:04 GMT
I had an Ap10px but I didn't have any headphones at the time so I can only rate it as an amp. It was very good as long as you didn't ask too much of it speaker-wise. Oddly it drove the low sensitivity, low impedance Spicas pretty easily. Ran out of puff so quickly with Dean Altos though.
I loved the Alto. What a great little speaker with bags of personality and verve. I had two pairs and would certainly have another pair one day. Nothing whatsoever to look at but they sure can sing.
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Post by dsjr on May 13, 2018 16:54:17 GMT
It's only around ten to fifteen watts, but it's so well behaved if pushed it sounds a lot 'louder' then it probably is  I use two amps for headphones. One is an NVA based amp equivalent to A40's but in one '2U' size abs box. To save blowing ones ears out, there are dropper resistors in the headphone lines as per the proper NVA article and it sounds fab and goes effortlessly loud with proper clarity at all volumes. Chip based headphone amps don't have the juice in all honesty. The other amp which sounds pretty well as good if care is used is a geriatric Crown D-60, a 1U slim amp designed for this use in studios and as a tiny monitoring amp with a tightly controlled 40WPC. The headphone socket comes straight off the speaker sockets, so no padding and if you are stupid with the gain controls, you'll blow your ears as well as the headphones connected. I love this era of Crown amps for their almost utter reliability, sound quality after all this time and old memories of how damned good this baby was into large IMF's that needed shedloads of control (there's a pair od pro Monitor III's in white and black Formica on eBay for only £550 and these were the usual speakers we all loved at the time with these and larger amps). The replacement D-75 was a huge update if not a huge upgrade and Ken Rockwell reviewed this one well - kenrockwell.com/audio/crown/d-75.htm |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 13, 2018 18:28:58 GMT
I like headphones but after hearing what £1200 could buy, I really don't think they are going to be viable for me when I have a proper system and listening room again. I'd take a creek 4040 and a pair of Mission 700s or equivalent over any headphone I've heard. They just aren't near good enough for me when it comes to proper listening. The difference between £100 and £1000 headphones appears small to me and even then most of it is down to the cable and earpads.
I really wish the AP10px was stil made. Having an extra source is a big bonus for small money. If it was me, I would also have tried to squeeze in a pair of preamp outs. Add a P20 and that would be one hell of a neat and capable bi-amp system and would also offer better upgrade flexibility.
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Post by dsjr on May 13, 2018 20:21:58 GMT
Then you get an AP20 and have a headphone socket fitted...
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 14, 2018 5:43:02 GMT
Can you run a 2nd power amp from an AP20? I didn't know that if you can.
AP20 takes the price up a bit and doesn't have a headphone socket as standard. if you are using the integrated power amp stage to drive the tweeters. I'd doubt it would be better than an AP10, based on my NVA bi-amping days.
I must admit I'm a fan of bi-amping. 4 X A40 were great, yet 2 X A80 were nothing special in my system. I'd just love more people to be encouraged to give it a spin. If I didn't know you could take that route with an AP20, I'd wager others don't either,
Apologies,,I'm digressing from headphone amps..
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Post by dsjr on May 14, 2018 8:14:34 GMT
Depends on the headphones as regards power and speakers as regards bi-amping. Agree about bi-amping but some modern crossovers don't seem to need it as earth paths and so on are better optimised I'm told.
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Post by pauld on May 16, 2018 10:14:45 GMT
The headphone amp in my Beresford Caiman SEG DAC is pretty good. It is a lot better than the ones that were in either of Stan's previous DAC's.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2018 17:41:00 GMT
The Creek OBH-21 is quite decent. Nicely made little unit.
S.
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Post by pauld on May 21, 2018 16:23:03 GMT
The Creek OBH-21 is quite decent. Nicely made little unit. S. Wouldn’t touch it. Can’t stand Mike Creek or his obnoxious son, Luke. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 21, 2018 18:57:45 GMT
The Creek OBH-21 is quite decent. Nicely made little unit. S. Wouldn’t touch it. Can’t stand Mike Creek or his obnoxious son, Luke. I have always liked the older Creek amps but I dint know any ith their stuff beyond about 1988. You've mentioned issues with these guys before. If you'd like to say more, feel free. I totally understand if you'd rather not though. I was just curious, |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2018 19:01:08 GMT
The Creek OBH-21 is quite decent. Nicely made little unit. S. Wouldn’t touch it. Can’t stand Mike Creek or his obnoxious son, Luke. Spoke to Mike once on the phone. I picked up a negative vibe from him. Something wasn't quite pleasant, can't really explain it. It's either Mike didn't like my voice or was suffering from some depression/stress. S. |
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Post by dsjr on May 21, 2018 20:25:01 GMT
Years since I dealt with him, but I thought he was rather shy and maybe a bit defensive or off-hand until he knows you. This was in the 4040/4140 era when we sold a lot of their products. I've not seen him for twenty odd years now, so no idea if things have changed.
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Bigman80
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AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2018 21:00:31 GMT
Those Myryad headphone as that Peter Tyson were selling for somethig like &90 seem,to be going for almost double that on EBay..
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2018 22:37:15 GMT
By the time I heard about that offer they had just sold the last one  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2018 19:20:34 GMT
Never got to grips with headphone listening. Never say never though. I thought easiest (and best  ?) Way to make a headphone amp was to stick a resistor in line between poweramp output and phones socket ? OV connection as well of course. Hows about hardwiring the headphones ? One less connection and you'll never lose the buggers |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2020 10:42:50 GMT
It took a long time for me to find a headphone I could live with. Headphone amps have been easier in that the few I’ve tried have been decent. I wanted to share a recent experience with my two Schiit amps. One is an Asgard 2 and the other is a Magni 2 Uber.
There has been lots of talk about the baby one being pretty much the same as the big one. Other have disagreed and said the bigger one is clearer and more refined.
I started with the usual of getting the bigger one and doing an A/B comparison. This told me that the bigger one is more extended in the treble, more refined and ever so slightly clearer.
All well and good, except that the bigger one has sat largely unused. I’ve switched back to the baby one and I immediately pick up on a wicked sense of rhythm and a level of enjoyment I can’t get from its big brother, there is also more of that valves sense of space that I love.
I wil keep both but I must admit that the baby Schiit is my fave. I also enjoy it so much that I don’t want to seek anything more expensive.
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?) Way to make a headphone amp was to stick a resistor in line between poweramp output and phones socket ? OV connection as well of course.