Quote:
Originally Posted by erikzen
Just to update my impressions...
After a good 2 weeks of using the amp almost every day, I can say that my initial impressions pretty much held true. I found that the amp scales very well as you go up the audio scale, not that my equipment is all that great, but in going from just a portable player to portable with optical out to portable dac and then to home system with higher quality dac the amp just got better and better.
I also thought it had good synergy with a variety of different headphones. For portable use, I'm using the UM2s. Despite this IEM having a somewhat already smooth and dare I say rolled off high end, the warmth of the amp actually complimented the sound of the Westones. It was smooth, musical, relaxing, and if you added a little bit of extra volume (not too much because this amp seems pretty powerful) there was a lot of high end detail.
Using the Ultrasone Proline 750s was an interesting experience. This amp made the Prolines thump and growl. They were real bass monsters. A headbangers delight.
Switching to the Grado HF-1s was probably the best experience of all. It gave a very balanced sound that was neither too bassy or exagerated in the highs. I have not owned any other Grados except for the SR-40s but I've tried them out on many ocassions and to me the HF-1 is a very balanced headphone for the price. (We all know it was a great deal - Thanks again Todd!) The Millet Hybrid Portable again brought out all the great qualities of this headphone and just brought out all the great qualities. My only regret is that I don't have any high impedence cans in my collection right now so I don't know how something like the HD-650 would scale with this monster. Perhaps some of the other recipients can share their findings.
Pros: Small, convenient size; lots of power for a little amp, awesome battery life, incredible sound in a portable package that is warm and smooth without sacrificing detail; scaled well as you increased the quality of the source.
Cons: Volume knob was too easy to move inadvertently; ringing sound which made the amp better suited for stationary listening; some distortion that sounded like radio interference around high voltage wires (on the train).
Overall a great little amp that should be a serious consideration if you need a portable or small footprint desktop amp.
|
Very nice impressions Erik, and very consistent with my time using the amp. I can say that the HD650s and K701s sounded very good out of the amp and it had no trouble driving them. I intended to try the K340s to see if it could make them sound any good, but I frankly cannot recall whether I did it or not.
Oh well, the other two are hard enough to drive and the TTVJ/Millett controlled them very well.
I stacked up the TTVJ/Millett against the Eddie Current Luncbox and EC/SS to see how it would compare to reasonably-priced home amps. The Lunchbox sounded terrible in comparison. It is very noisy and I have only been able to tame that noise by plugging it into the Shunyata Hydra 8 power conditioner, which is not where I normally use the Lunchbox. Anyway, the sound of the TTVJ/Millett was so much more compelling, detailed and controlled that this was not a fair fight. The Lunchbox produced a compartively muddled sound that lacked detail and was less musical. The Lunchbox is a lot less money but it is AC powered and intended for home use so I thought it would be interesting to compare.
The EC/SS was a closer question. That amp is a good performer, especially for the money because Craig really under-prices his gear. The EC/SS was much closer in terms of refinement of the sound and control of bass, and it is one dead-quiet amp. I thought the TTVJ/Millett was able to equal the EC/SS in terms of detail and transparency, and it had the better bass presentation. The TTVJ/Millett has a very pleasing sound and I preferred its tone in the end to the EC/SS.