Visely HEA-4
Info:
visely.com (supposedly, although I cannot get that website to work)
Also:
Welcome to Audiophilechina
I was asked to review a new Visely amp, the HEA-4. This is a bigger amp than the previously reviewed Visely. It has an internal rechargeable battery. Said battery was loose and floating around inside the chassis when the amp arrived to me from China – so it may be that a little better glue should be used in the manufacturing process. However, the battery was connected, and the amp was unharmed.
Build Quality: B+: very attractive, solid build on the exterior, but points were subtracted for the loose battery. Many other amps have made it to me without such a problem.
Treble: A-: Nice and smooth, and fairly neutral and transparent. Perhaps a bit soft, and lacking the very last bit of top end extension. Still very nice. Never biting or in any way harsh, and with some nice detail and nuance.
Midrange: A-: Quite good performance in the midrange. Fairly open and smooth. Female vocals like on “Tonight We Ride” from Jennifer O’Connor’s “Over the Mountain” were engaging and enjoyable. The mids were not on the same level as any of my three reference amps though – the Meier Move, RSA P-51, and iQube all have more nuanced and transparent mids than the HEA-4.
Bass: B+: Bass was fine, and basically neutral, but it was a little loose at times. All of my reference amps offer better bass control, and a little more definition. They all also offered better extension. This was not a real strength for the Visely, but it was not bad.
Neutrality: A-: It’s just a touch forward in the mids and rolled off on top compared to truly neutral. But it was not that far off.
Soundstaging: B+: Soundstage width was excellent. Image specificity was very good. Depth was just good – soundstage depth was shallower than the reference amps by a notable margin. For example, “Too Much Space” by Lisa Germano has a very nice depth to the recording that I really felt was lacking on the HEA-4.
Transparency: A-: Definitely an open, clear, generally clean, grain-free sound. Not the LAST word in resolution, but still very good. Again, however, not in the league of the reference amps.
The HEA-4 is a pretty decent little amp, competent, but not impressive, and the world of portable amps is pretty full of amps that are impressive. The price of $149 is attractive, though, and for the money, reasonably good performance. Nothing earth-shattering here, however. The portable amp field is very crowded, and the HEA-4 doesn’t really stand out.
Revised Rankings (10-7-09)
OK, so now it’s now 48 amps! Here is my view on how the amps stacked up. Note that the sum of the "Grades" I give does not always tell the whole story in how I rank them, since the whole is sometimes greater or lesser than the sum of the parts, and I am often forced to split hairs here, since the list has gotten so long. Also please note that even if these amps include a DAC, that DAC performance was NOT a factor in these rankings AT ALL. Also, for clarification, this ranking is based on sound quality ONLY, and does not take things like size or battery life into account.
1. Triad Audio Lisa III @ $600.00; Power supply is $350 additional
2. Qables iQube @ $605.00
2. RSA Mustang P-51 (review
here) @ $375.00
2. Larocco Audio Pocket Reference II mk 2 (availability unknown - PLEASE read entire review)
3. Headamp Pico @ $349.00
3. Meier Audio 2MOVE (and the older MOVE) (3MOVE @ $270.00)
4. RSA SR71 @ $395.00
4. RSA The Predator @ $475.00
5. RSA The Hornet “M” @ $370.00
5. Decware Zenhead @ $295.00
6. Xenos 1HA-EPC (discontinued)
7. RSA Tomahawk @ $295.00
7. Meier Audio XXS / Headsix @ $166.00/187.00
8. TTVJ Portable Millet Hybrid @ $459.00
8. iBasso D3 Python $219.00 (review
here)
9. Xin Reference @ $279.99
9. Meier Audio Porta Corda III (discontinued)
9. Xin SuperMicro IV (current version auditioned 1/22/08) @ $199.99
10. ALO Double Mini3 (review
here) @ $235.00
10. Headamp AE-2 @ $349.00
10. Graham Slee Voyager @ $233.00 + S&H from UK
11. iBasso D2 Boa $165.00 (review
here)
11. Go-Vibe 7
11. Mini3 (Price depends on build) built @ $125.00
12. Leckerton Audio UHA-3 @ $189.00
13. Portaphile V2^2 @ $275.00
14. mSeed Spirit (discontinued)
14. Mini-Box E @ $229.00
15. Storm 3 (NOT B3) (review
here)
15. Storm Little-2 (review
here)
15. Storm B4
16. Visely HEA-4 @ $149.00
16. iBasso P-1 (discontinued)
17. Visely HEA- 1 @ $135.00
18. Microshar uAmp107 @ $135.00
18. Practical Devices XM4 @ $135.00
18. C&C XO @ $209.00
19 Music Max LT1 $99 (Review
here)
19. iBasso T2 (T4@ $109.00)
20. NuForce $99 (review
here)
20. Go-Vibe 6 (discontinued)
21. Xtra X-1 Pro @ $104.00
22. Xenos 0HA-REP (discontinued)
22. iBasso T1 (discontinued)
23. Xtra X-1 (discontinued)
24. C&C Box V2
25. Storm B3
25. Little Dot Micro+ (discontinued)