[Review] Amping Kenwood HD10GB7 (with Xin Supermacro LE)

[antonyfirst]

Well guys, I've used intensively the Xin Supermacro LE out of my Kenwood HD10GB7 and here is what I find.

I need to underline that the Kenwood doesn't have a lineout, so the amp is plugged straight from the headphone out. I used the Kenwood as preamp.
When possible, I'll write my personal impressions about how the iMod+Supermacro shuld sound in comparison (guessing, since I haven't tried it).

Gear used:

Source: Kenwood HD10GB7 DAP
Interconnect: Headphile Blackmax mini-to-mini
Amp: Xin Supermacro LE (without April upgrades)
Headphones: Etymotic ER4P/S
Music played: David Bowie, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Queen, The Clash, Radiohead, Nico, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Calla, Sonic Youth, Mogwai, Massive Attack, Stereolab (and many others, less known)

Unamped Kenwood: I usually listen to the HD10GB7 with the ER4P (not S), the equalizer set to Rock. It changes greatly the sound signature of the ER4P: the bass is very good and has impact, the midrange is sweet, with intimate vocals and sparkling highs. Absolutely not thin, like the Etys sound with flat EQ.

When I amped the Kenwood with the Supermacro LE (S switch always enabled), I tried some different configurations. In the first place, I set the Kenwood with flat equalizer and the Supermacro without bass boost. I found that it had the sound signature of the HD10GB7, without changing much the overall tonal balance.
The sound was much flatter than when using my Kenwood with equalizer. I didn't like it very much. The Supermacro is called tubey, but it seemed transparent to me, at least in terms of sound sig. Soundstage gained "more places where the music is played", either in and out of my head, without being wider. The HD10GB7 has already a WIDE, out of head soundstage.
Then I enabled the bass boost (so, Bass boost and Impedance switches on), with flat and "Rock" eq on the HD10GB7. The overall sound was different in both cases. With flat eq, the sound was less bassy than when enabling the "Rock" preset. I found the bass to be pleasant when the EQ was flat, but the overall sound was less engaging than what I heard with unamped & equalized Kenwood (that had more engaging midrange and more intimacy).
What I really liked was the last configuration: Kenwood with equalizer, Supermacro with bass boost.
The tonal balance was the best. Basically, the Macro adds a lot of bass impact to the "Rock equalized" sound signature that my Kenwood provided. I could feel the deep bass of the ER4. I would call it a full, almost endless bass, not overpowering, not boomy, extremely detailed, so thet the instrument separation becomes fantastic. The overall sound is more detailed than with unamped Kenwood + ER4P, especially thanks to the much better bass. The vocals keep to be sweet, the highs sparkling.
The bass is like it is being played from a separate subwoofer, while the rest of the spectrum sounded VERY real. To do an analogy (voluntarily exaggerated), I find that the Shure E500 sound like if both bass and midrange are played from a subwoofer (so that vocals sound unrealistic). The Ety+Supermacro sound like the bass only is coming from a subwoofer, a much better quality one.
I switched many times among the different configurations.

Comments
Honestly, apart from bass boost, I think that the Supermacro doesn't changes much the sound quality that my player gives it.
Talking about sound signature only, I would say that an iMod+Supermacro+ER4 would sound flatter than what can be done by the only Kenwood with equalizer (imod lineout is flat).
Yet, the iMod could give better soundstage and details, but I can't be sure about that, because I haven't tried it.
So the Kenwood HD10GB7 could be the perfect match for the Etymotic, both unamped and amped. Slam is gained only with the amp, though.

Hiss
The Supermacro amps the hiss out of the HD10GB7. So, if you use a very low volume with the Kenwood, the hiss will be prominent. If the volume is set at half the maximum volume, the volume knob of the amp will be set at lower volume, and the hiss, in percentage, is much less.

Portability
Since the lil' Kenwood is extremely small, the combo is pocketable and portable. This is the reason for I heartily suggest the Kenwood HD10GB7 over the HD30GB9. I think the GB7 is much more portable, and it is possible to carry it with medium sized amps, while the GB9 is much bigger.
Carrying a Supermacro + HD30GB9 would have been impossible.

Tony

[The Boatman]

Thanks Tony, I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on one of these last night, to go with my Tomahawk. I wonder if you could tell us:

what's the software like for putting your music on the player? and what files did you use?

where did you get your kenwood from?

and, any chance of pics?

[antonyfirst]

I've a black Kenwood purchased from Audiocubes. It is UMS and accepts music with drag and drop (navigation is through both tags and folders). I used high bitrate mp3 (at least 192kbs).

About pairing the Kenwood with the Tomahawk, I'm not sure if it's a good idea. If it weren't for the fantastic bass boost, the Supermacro wouldn't have added much to the HD10GB7.
On the other hand, Catscratch paired his HD20GA7 with a Hornet, and thought it sounded very good, so... I guess you should try on your own and report to us.

[lmfboy01]

i find that the hd30gb9 with the eq on the player set to bass2, connected to an ibasso p1 and shure e500's sounds awesome... but i was a bit tipsy :P

[antonyfirst]

I'd like to know what you mean by "awesome". Can you describe us the sound signature? I have used two different Kenwood players with Shure E500 and I didn't think they needed bass boost. They already have plenty of bass.

[The Boatman]

What's the battery life like, and how quick is charging through USB as opposed to AC? Thanks.

[antonyfirst]

Battery life is >16h with active EQ.
It is charged only through USB (but I plan buying an AC adapter from eBay).
It takes about 2 hrs to fully charge the battery.

[lmfboy01]

the ac adapter is faster than usb... the ac adapter is rated at 1.5amps and i believe usb is only 1amp & 5 volts for both.

[djbnh]

antonyfirst, what IC did you use between the Kenwood and the Xin amp?

[antonyfirst]

I used a 85$ Blackmax mini-mini, made by Larry at Headphile.