User-adjustable gain, XLR output, phase splitter, TRS 6,3mm jack, pre-amp: what more could you want in an all-in-one desktop headphone amp? A practical answer to this is lower noise. But as this amp isn't marketed at the portable audiophile, it is probably fair to shelve that desire.
Read moreRMAA: Arcam MusicBOOST 24-bit
RMAA: The Bit Audio Opus#1 24-bit
Disclaimer: I purchased the The Bit Audio Opus#1 at a significant discount for the purposes of the review I published at Headfonia. This DAP goes for 650$ to 750$ USD. You can find out all about it here: High Definition & High-Resolution Audio Player.
Read moreRMAA: MST Audio Chord Mojo-Kai (balanced) 24-bit
Every project Ryuzoh has been involved in exhibits a basic character set: stability, performance, and with the notable exceptions of his mods, ugly mugs. FiQuest wasn’t pretty. Neither was the Cio MB DAC. Come to think of it, the AK240’s harsh angles are fit only for press photography; and Mojo… God, what a horrible, alien design. Of course, neither Mojo’s nor the AK240’s ugliness are Ryuzoh’s fault.
Read moreRMAA: Phatlab Audio PHAntasy 24-bit
Phantasy has the potential to sound very good; spritely, limber, and light. If that’s your schtick, Phantasy may be your fantasy. But it is woefully beset by impedance mismatch issues. Many SET amps exhibit the same issues. For that reason, they usually have one, or perhaps two, headphones to which they are perfectly adapted and marketed. The rest is the luck, or ill-luck, of the draw.
Read moreRMAA: Venturecraft Valoq 24-bit
If you read the summary (to be published soon), you will note that I’m not a fan of using Valoq. Valoq is kludgy. It is ugly. It screws the gapless pooch and pops way too much when the mains are switched on or off. Finally it’s got an annoying grounding problem.
Read moreRMAA: Apple iPhone 6 24-bit
Being an Apple fan has its ups: the iPhone 4, iMac, iPad, and its downs: Apple Hifi, long Mac Pro cycles, and the iPhone 6.
Read moreRMAA: Shozy Alien Gold 24-bit
To LARPers, Alien looks like a sword hilt; to Wing Commander heads, it is the TCS Tiger's Claw. The former is part of a human-killing machine, the latter is an alien-killing machine. Either way, it is most certainly Terran.
Read moreRMAA: Cowon Plenue D 24-bit
Even tacked down, my still-shiny Plenue D slid off my photography table, hit the tripid, hit the c-stand, hit the floor. Thank the gods the screen didn’t shatter. The series of accidents gave me and excuse to pinch and prod, the summary of which is this: Plenue D isn't as solidly built as the original AK100. It is nicely machined though, and attacks its user with fewer Korean corners. More so than the Astell&Kern, plates in its face and ass flex under mild thumb-and-finger pressure. Cowon prettied up little D by adding glitter to its polished flanks before sliding it in a brushed back capping it in a fully polished cap. Basically, they covered portable audio design trope but the serrated logo.
Read moreRMAA: 2012 27" iMac 24-bit
Since early 2013 my iMac has shepherded every last yenny into my business. And though I trust it almost implicitly in matters of heavy image processing, I don’t plug my headphones into it. Why? Two reasons:
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