HT Omega "Claro Halo" Headphone Only soundcard

[Anax]

Not sure if this was discussed , I just had gotten a d2x and a claro + I am going to compare them and do a review. Upon looking for drivers ( The hdmi card by asus most of us know about now ) I found this on HTomega's site.


HT Omega - Claro halo

[jenneth]

Not bad, and it's only $165.

[Valens7]

Hm. That looks like a pretty neat piece of kit. Someone should try it out!

[Zathan]

I AM IN. I'm ordering one in the next week or so for sure.
edit: hmm where the hell can I find one lol? any link guys? I want to buy it asap

[odigg]

I believe the TPA6120 they are using is the same op-amp used in the CI audio VHP 2.

If this is done well this will be really interesting...

[VinnieD]

Originally Posted by Zathan

I AM IN. I'm ordering one in the next week or so for sure.
edit: hmm where the hell can I find one lol? any link guys? I want to buy it asap

I am also interested in the Claro so I wrote their sales department. Here's their response:

Hello.

Thanks for the interest
Newegg starts selling Claro halo next week.
They are setting them on the web

Have a nice weekend!
Sincerely,
HT OMEGA

So it looks like we should be able to get our hands on one soon

[jenneth]

Great news... I wonder how much of an upgrade this is over the X-Fi Prelude.

[obobskivich]

Originally Posted by odigg

I believe the TPA6120 they are using is the same op-amp used in the CI audio VHP 2.

If this is done well this will be really interesting...

afaik the VHP series as a whole has no opamps, the VHP-1 doesn't, and the VHP-2 is an extension of that


as far as an upgrade from the Prelude, remember, it'll only be in sound quality, not in performance, as its still based on the 8788 (an amazing piece of kit, as far as music/movie quality goes), but it'll slug down for gaming and other things which the X-Fi processor will scream through


now, that shouldn't stop anyone from this card though, lol

EDIT::
and if that wasn't enough, they have the XT option board, which brings 5.1 to analog RCA line outs (noice!), no idea how much more that'll cost (guessing over $200 from the look of it)

per their specs, its a JRC 4580 for all channels of analog out (looks very nice)
and TPA6120A2 for the headphone stage

and here's the TI IC:
http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folder...tpa6120a2.html

which looks superb

as far as the op-amp/no-opamp thing, CI claims the VHP series have no opamps, but instead use current feedback, which is what TI is claiming for the operation of the TPA6120A2, so I'm guessing there is some discrepancy in what CI is really claiming

I'd love to hear this card side-by-side with my CIA setup, but idk if I'm willing to buy a third
>$100 soundcard

[haloxt]

Do you guys think the extension card XT will be useful? I plan on using headphones primarily as I don't have good speakers.

[odigg]

Originally Posted by haloxt

Do you guys think the extension card XT will be useful? I plan on using headphones primarily as I don't have good speakers.

The XT only makes sense if you want 7.1 surround sound. It's useless if you are only using headphones.

Originally Posted by obobskivich

as far as the op-amp/no-opamp thing, CI claims the VHP series have no opamps, but instead use current feedback, which is what TI is claiming for the operation of the TPA6120A2, so I'm guessing there is some discrepancy in what CI is really claiming

There has been some discussion about this on head-fi. If you notice, the CI audio site says it does not use opamps but does not say it is a discrete design.

Many audiophiles seem to have an aversion (which I don't understand) to opamps. My guess that the CI Audio has written it like this just to appease the people who would reject it based simply on the fact it uses a integrated circuit. Many people don't know what an opamp is on the first place, so CI Audio can get away with this.

To me the CI audio description is just semantics. Of course, I don't really care if something uses opamps. Many people do.

These types of shenanigans are common in audio land. They are done to get around the oh so many myths people have about why they should/shouldn't buy something.

[obobskivich]

Originally Posted by odigg

There has been some discussion about this on head-fi. If you notice, the CI audio site says it does not use opamps but does not say it is a discrete design.

Many audiophiles seem to have an aversion (which I don't understand) to opamps. My guess that the CI Audio has written it like this just to appease the people who would reject it based simply on the fact it uses a integrated circuit. Many people don't know what an opamp is on the first place, so CI Audio can get away with this.

To me the CI audio description is just semantics. Of course, I don't really care if something uses opamps. Many people do.

These types of shenanigans are common in audio land. They are done to get around the oh so many myths people have about why they should/shouldn't buy something.

yeah, i basically surmised as much, based on the image of the board, and lack of them espousing their "unique design" (kind of like ultrasone writing paragraphs on s-logic), but yeah, a lot of people crying over integrated circuits and solid state, just because its "new" (i.e: not something from the time of christ), honestly I'd love to hear the CIA vs the HT Omega, just to see how much different the sound may really be, and if the Halo can push enough juice to really match the CIA...

[jenneth]

Newegg has the card on their website:

Newegg.com - HT OMEGA Claro Halo 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card w/ a built-in HI-FI Headphone Amplifier - Sound Cards

Anyone here interested in getting it?

[haloxt]

can anyone tell just how much better this might be over the ht omega claro plus? really itching to buy but don't want to waste money if it's about the same as my claro plus.

[jenneth]

I don't think anyone has this card yet (but that could change soon). As for its sound quality, well, it certainly has very good specs and upgradibility. However, if there's one thing I don't like about Halo is that if you want to upgrade the opamps, you'll need to change all four (at least this is the impression I get). The RCA output is a nice touch though.

[haloxt]

well i decided to order it, if there's any tests or comparisons you guys want to see done between halo and claro plus let me know.