REVIEW: Headstage Lyrix Pro USB Vs. C&C BOX+

[chadbang]

I've been looking at portable amps for awhile, trying to find a good match for my Sennheiser HD580s. Obviously, it's virtually impossible from reading umpteen threads (forever contradicting) to pick a headphone amp without auditioning. But because I won't be making it to CANJAM, I had to give it a shot. Reading the two extensive reviews by HeadphoneAddict and Skylab, I managed to find two amps which fell within my price range. As much as I'd love an exotic and highly-lauded amp, I can't spend $300-500 on one. My choice was based on amps which cost under $150. Of those, the most recommended are the Headstage amps (which also cover PenquinAmps, as the are made by the same company), the iBasso amps, and the C&C amps. These amps all run between $40-$150 dollars - what I consider a fair price for a portable headphone amp. This review will compare the two amps I purchased - the Headstage Lyrix Pro USB and the C&C Box+ amps.

The Headstage Lyrix Pro USB

WHERE TO BUY: This amp was particularly interesting as it offered a DAC as part of the package for an excellent price. I purchased the amp through eBay which is where Headstage sells their amps, as well as from their website. The amp carries a "Buy It Now" price on ebay which seem to vary between $129-$159, I suppose at the whim of Headstage. There's also a best offer option which is how I purchased mine.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: Excellent. My amp arrived from Headstage's California warehouse (they are made in Germany) in two days! Fast! Packaging was very professional with foam peanuts and individual boxes within the outer box. BONUS: Headstage sent me a free power adapter! Apparently they do this sort of stuff often. Other Headfiers have reported getting free cables and whatnot. I was very pleased to get a free power adapter. It's a nice one, too. Small sleek and sturdy. I also had a question about the amp (what kind of rechargeable to use) and I received a reply from their customer service the next day. So score them excellent in this department.

THE AMP - BUILD: I'm very satisfied with the build quality of the amp. Nice clean faceplate and control layout. I knew this wasn't an amp that came with a fancy metal case, but that wasn' really a concern. The plastic case is fine with me as I don't have to worry about babying a piece of "mini-jewelry". The amp feels sturdy with just the right heft with the battery in it. The aluminum knob is quite cool and the perfect shape for a pocket amp -- it won't snag stuff in you pocket or jacket, with a nice short profile and rounded end. It's nice and simple looking and matches my black ipod! Also, things are very well thought out electronically. I just noticed that when I unplug or turn things on or off on the C&C that I keep getting these electronic "thumps!" I don't get any jolts when I change stuff on the Headstage. Must be very cleanly thought out. Very happy with the amp's overall build quality.

FEATURES: Wow, alot. One reason I purchased the Headstage was the powering options. I don't like amps (this is where I'm a little uncomfortable about my other purchase, the C&C) where you have a propriety power source, e.g. and internal lithium or NiCad that you can't change yourself without a lot of hassle - can you say "iPod"? What I like about the Headstage is that you can use either a regular 9v battery - which, when you're on a trip and forget your charger or out in the field and run out of juice is a godsend because you can just pop in another regular 9v. The Headstage includes a switch to turn charging on or off depending on which kind of battery you use. It's great to have a charger built-in plus the capability of switching over to a battery!

BASS BOOST: As a bit of a basshead, this was a must for me on a portable amp. I didn't consider any amp that didn't off this as a feature. The Headstages bass boost goes LOOOOWWWW. It pretty much leaves your midrage intact and focuses on the lower frequencies alone. Wow, does it ever. Listening to Nine Inch Nails was like having a mini subwoofer installed in my Sennheisers. I'd never head such great bass from them before, or realised the were capable of such tones! This bass boost will have techno and dance guys in love. It's give a nice strong boost that's clean and powerful and, like I said, loooowww. Real emphasis on the fun part of what bass can do!

CROSSFEED: I have a love/hate affair with crossfeed. I can never decide it I like it or not. But the crossfeed on the Headstage is quite nice. It's not overly dramatic which is good, but adds just enough to make the change seem natural. One some recordings I preferred it on, others I preferred it off. It doesn't seem to effect to tonality of the music much, so I take that as a good sign. Vocals recess ever so slightly, but a slight boost in volume compensates for that - then you have to good aspect of crossfeed happening. The music isn't so "distracting". It's more like listening to exterior speakers than something happening inside your head. So, yeah, I do like the crossfeed on sometimes.

OTHER FEATURES: There's a high and low gain switch. Works great. Gives me oodles of power for my Senn 580s. Thank goodness for that. As far a power goes: This puts out a lot of power. More volume than the C&C Box. I seldom get to the halfway mark on the volume control. So if you're looking for pure power -- you've got it. Plenty from this amp

THE DAC: Honestly I only briefly tested this as I won't be using it much. Comparing it to my headphone out jack on my iBook, I think the Headstage DAC was slightly smoother, by just a hair. I basically have the same music on my iPod and on my iBook, so as I've said, I won't be using the DAC much, but it's a nice feature to have for.... well, maybe I find a reason someday. I must say that it worked PERFECTLY with my mac. I've never used an outboard DAC before and I was amazed how easy it was to implement!

THE SOUND: Okay, here's the big one. How's it sound? Well, I think it sounds very good. I never realized how colored the headphone jack on my Marantz receiver was until I did a comparision of the Headstage to the Marantz. Diana Kralls vocals' sound so much more natural out of the Headstage. Cleaner and more neutral overall. This is a WYSIWYG amp. Doesn't seem to add any coloration to the signal. If anything, if you like a clean signal this is your amp. It's not warm and euphonic amp, it more of a Audio Research kind of sound. Very clean and transparent -- but its not a bright amp either. I was very impressed by how perfectly it reproduced those vocals, not a trace of chestiness or nasality - and I'm very picky about vocals. Add the big punch of the bass boost and you've got a fun package. Burn in: The treble smoothed out after about 20 hours of use (I found it a little bright to start off) and now it's quite good. Just about perfect. On well recorded music - excellent. I also wanted to add this amp is dead quiet. With the high gain turned on and the volume at full position (and believe me, you'd never want to listen at full volume with this kind of power. There is virtually no hiss generated by the amp. Pretty amazing.)


THE C&C BOX+ REVIEW

WHERE TO BUY: The company runs ebay auction with Buy it Now only of the same price that they sell the amp for on their website. It's $109 shipped. Not a bad price!

CUSTOMER SERVICE: I had a problem with the amp's arrival. It took about three weeks when I was expecting a much shorter wait. I fired off my "angry letter" and wouldn't you know it the amp arrived the next day (bad timing). But I felt delivery was definitely a low point. But alls well that ends well. It arrived in fine shape. But I took off some customer service points for the delay. I haven't had any other contact with the company to date.

THE AMP - BUILD: This amp is smaller, maybe between a half to 2/3 the size of the Headstage and comes in an aluminum case. It's hard to deny a metal case has a certain slick feel in the had and looks pretty cool. It's definitely more of a eye catcher than the Headstage. The engraved lettering is a classy touch. On the other hand, the on/off switch feels a bit cheaply implemented and loose. And the front of the amp, because of it's size feels a bit cramped compared to the headstage. The Box+ has an elongated volume switch which is basically a smooth cylinder. It has no rubber on it to give it traction, but is long shape makes it easy to grip and turn. Still I worry a little about the longevity of a knob that protrudes so far and I also prefer the damped feel of the Headstage's volume knob. Overall, though build quality is pretty good -- especially in the looks department. It's just the on/off switch which bother me. Extras: the amp comes with a nice presentation box, mini-to-mini cable and adapter. The adapter is a bit large in comparison to the amp, but it works fine. The switch activating the bass boost, soundstage and gain are on the back of the amp. This is a little less convenient that having them on front like the Headstage, but I suppose once you get heavily into using the amp, you're not going to futz with them much anyway. Reputation-wise, C&C has had their QC problems with the amps losing the ability to charge. Apparently this has been fixed in newer releases.

FEATURES: The amp comes with a bass boost which nicely rounds out the sound. The bass is spread out more across the spectrum than the Headstage, slipping up into the midrange but not coloring it. It definitely doesn't reach as low or have the same powerful bottom end as the Headstage. Not by a longshot. It's nowhere as punchy. So the winner in the comparision is definitely the Headstage which give a much more palatable and fun bass response. Still the C&Cs bass adds a nice smoothness to the sound (which it needs help with, more on this later). There is a gain switch for high and low impedance sources and the high switch gave me plenty of power for my HD580. As far as power goes between the two amps, again, the Headstage wins packing more of a wallop. The interesting feature is Sound Stage Compensation switch. This is C&C crossfeed feature. To my ears, it almost plays like an aural expander that throws the soundstage forward. It's not a subtle effect at all, but it a neat effect and quite unlike most crossfeeds I've heard before -- I think for it's sheer dramatic effect -- it's probably my favorite feature of the Box+.

THE SOUND: Well, here's where I'm bothered a bit. I find the treble a bit etched on this amp. It's brighter than the Headstage and although it's fun to listen to because of a brighter, more dynamic sound, I'm afraid I'm going to burn out listening to its extended treble. I will give it that its brighter signature gives the C&C a bigger, more lively soundstage which makes the Headstage Lyrix sound a bit condensed, with a smaller soundstage, in comparison. The Headstage is more of an intimate, mellower, rounded sound compared the the lively C&C. Both amps have their merit in this department, but for my ears and extended listening habits I would prefer the Headstage amp in the long term for ease of listening. The C&C strikes me as being alot of fun off the bat -- bouncy and lively -- but I don't really like bright equipment and I find the BOX+ a tad bright. Some people prefer bright equipment and it may be exactly their cup of tea, however!

I hate to do this, but everyone looks for quick ways of summing up amps, so I'll do a rating of these two amps (but I prefer you just read my review!) Anway, here goes:

Headstage Lyrix Pro USB DAC
Build: 8.5
Features: 9
Sound: 9

C&C Box+
Build: 7.5
Features: 7.5
Sound: 7



I hope these reviews help you in your search for a pocket amp. Cheers.

[chadbang]

finished!

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by chadbang

I've been looking at portable amps for awhile, trying to find a good match for my Sennheiser HD580s. Obviously, it's virtually impossible from reading umpteen threads (forever contradicting) to pick a headphone amp without auditioning. But because I won't be making it to CANJAM, I had to give it a shot. Reading the two extensive reviews by HeadphoneAddict and Skylab, I managed to find two amps which fell within my price range. As much as I'd love an exotic and highly-lauded amp, I can't spend $300-500 on one. My choice was based on amps which cost under $150. Of those, the most recommended are the Headstage amps (which also cover PenquinAmps, as the are made by the same company), the iBasso amps, and the C&C amps. These amps all run between $40-$150 dollars - what I consider a fair price for a portable headphone amp. This review will compare the two amps I purchased - the Headstage Lyrix Pro USB and the C&C Box+ amps.

[SNIP for length]

I hate to do this, but everyone looks for quick ways of summing up amps, so I'll do a rating of these two amps (but I prefer you just read my review!) Anway, here goes:

Headstage Lyrix Pro USB DAC
Build: 8.5
Features: 9
Sound: 9

C&C Box+
Build: 7.5
Features: 7.5
Sound: 7



I hope these reviews help you in your search for a pocket amp. Cheers.

Good job. I just gave the Lyrix an 8.8 overall in another review.

It's a nice amp that could use a little nicer DAC to match the quality of the amp section. And, it sounds like the C&C has an effect similar to the SRS iWOW plugin that I use in iTunes sometimes. I'm just not in the market for another portable amp to try it out right now

[jerryneyk]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

Good job. I just gave the Lyrix an 8.8 overall in another review.

It's a nice amp that could use a little nicer DAC to match the quality of the amp section. And, it sounds like the C&C has an effect similar to the SRS iWOW plugin that I use in iTunes sometimes. I'm just not in the market for another portable amp to try it out right now

Just a question, couldn't one just swap out the DAC for another one, and if so which one would be a good one to get?

Thanks!

[HeadphoneAddict]

There are many out there, but whether they are better than the Lyrix I can't say, and most of them I don't expect to be better (Alien DAC, Behringer U-control, Creative X-Fi Xmod, Sysconcept.ca usb dac, most under $100, some under $40, except the Trends USB DAC at ALOAudio.com is probably over $150 last I saw)).

As to what I know IS better than the Headstage DAC, well, there is the Headroom 2006 Micro DAC portable, or the iBasso D1, and they both do more than USB, they also do optical and coax.

I like the Micro DAC a little better than the D1, but it is only a DAC with line out, and not a headphone amp, and this model are being closed out at $299 and the 2007 replacement portable DAC is $598 and comes with a headphone instead of line out. The iBasso D1 has a line-out and a headphone out, for about $250.

[jerryneyk]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

There are many out there, but whether they are better than the Lyrix I can't say, and most of them I don't expect to be better (Alien DAC, Behringer U-control, Creative X-Fi Xmod, Sysconcept.ca usb dac, most under $100, some under $40, except the Trends USB DAC at ALOAudio.com is probably over $150 last I saw)).

As to what I know IS better than the Headstage DAC, well, there is the Headroom 2006 Micro DAC portable, or the iBasso D1, and they both do more than USB, they also do optical and coax.

I like the Micro DAC a little better than the D1, but it is only a DAC with line out, and not a headphone amp, and this model are being closed out at $299 and the 2007 replacement portable DAC is $598 and comes with a headphone instead of line out. The iBasso D1 has a line-out and a headphone out, for about $250.

The die is cast ... the Headphonia Lyrix USB pro total on it's way from Merrie Olde (or the Fatherland, I am always confused on this one). But, for the Internal components...forgive my ignorance on this one, I can use a soldering iron and swap parts but isn't a DAC also a chip as well that can be swapped out as can Op amps? Are there any little golden gems that can replace the fairly decent innards, or would it be best to leave 8.8 well enough and enjoy it. With a new little baby in the house and on a Central European salary these days it's hard to justify the price of a well-worth-it Raptor for example. Thanks for the wisdom too!!

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by jerryneyk

The die is cast ... the Headphonia Lyrix USB pro total on it's way from Merrie Olde (or the Fatherland, I am always confused on this one). But, for the Internal components...forgive my ignorance on this one, I can use a soldering iron and swap parts but isn't a DAC also a chip as well that can be swapped out as can Op amps? Are there any little golden gems that can replace the fairly decent innards, or would it be best to leave 8.8 well enough and enjoy it. With a new little baby in the house and on a Central European salary these days it's hard to justify the price of a well-worth-it Raptor for example. Thanks for the wisdom too!!

Leave 8.8/10 alone and enjoy it. Plus, with the total, you can swap opamps if you don't like the sound. In my case, I have had my Lyrix for over 6 months and never felt the need to open it up and change opamps once. I would like to try some new opamps someday, but just for fun, and not because there is a sonic deficiency I need to fix.

The DAC can't just be swapped out like an opamp, it is soldered in there with many many tiny little contacts. One USB DAC I mentioned claims try to add or restore some of the "air" around instruments, that being the Creative X-fi Xmod. I really do need to open my "new still-sealed" Xmod and try it between my Macbook and Headphone amp like the Lyrix. These were about $80 when I got it, and now Circuit City here in the USA was selling them online for $38 this week!