So I just got my brand new MicroStack the other day and have been enjoying it every spare minute I've had ever since. I initially purchased an Ultra Micro amp, but then decided that I would have a better sounding setup if I had a standalone DAC. So I exchanged it for the Micro amp and DAC. The added transparency from the DAC is amazing. I have SE530s and even with these the noise floor is almost completely silent. I can hear rooms if that's believable. Some bands you can tell they lay down vocal and instrumental tracks in different rooms because the drums and vocal echo differently. I realize that this isn't the most expensive or "best" headphone rig by far. I do, however think that this is definitely one of the best setups for sub $1,000 and honestly probably just as good as some costing twice as much. Having the Amp and DAC in separate components allows HeadRoom to keep the signals isolated providing better audio quality without having to really up the price cost to keep the signals separate with hyper expensive multilayer boards and the like. Instead they can put all of the money into the individual bits and pieces of the units, which really shows. The top of the line Cirrus DAC chip and wonderful TI Op-amps are an amazing combination together. The Amp is biased into class A too I believe. I doubt this makes a huge difference with low impedance earphones like the shures, but for those with 300 ohm Sennheisers it's nice to know that this amp can completely drive them to their full potential without distorting. Admittedly I haven't done a very wide variety of listening yet so I won't do a full review at this time. Initial impressions though are great. Not as hyper detailed as a Grace m902, but has an amazing warm and musical feel to it. The Grace was designed as a sound engineers tool and so is used to analyze music not necessarily to enjoy it. (although many do) This combo has the typical headroom sound sig. which IMHO sounds detailed and articulate but not like I'm analyzing the music under an electron microscope, more like I'm just watching on my hi-def tv. Crisp and clear but entertaining, just how I like my music to sound.
Not as hyper detailed as a Grace m902, but has an amazing warm and musical feel to it. The Grace was designed as a sound engineers tool and so is used to analyze music not necessarily to enjoy it. (although many do)
Interesting. I always found the Grace to be very full and round sounding, and the HeadRoom Overture (predecessor to your DAC) to be very punchy, upfront and having more transient edge definition. Now the HeadRoom Coda (predecessor to your amp), on the other hand always had a very thick and full/bassy sound, which I wasn't the biggest fan of, personally. I find your impressions to be quite interesting.
My guess is that while things certainly can and should change from the 3 or 4 years since the original HeadRoom stack was created, but if you feel you aren't getting the detail that you get from the m902 (which again is not a detailed system, especially on the transient edges), it's the amp that's making it sound that way.
Either way, congratulations on an excellent purchase. I use my HeadRoom Overture (DAC) daily still, and can see why some would like the sound of the amp.
I am by no means an experienced listener or reviewer but will try to give you guys a little more detailed info as far as the sound of the setup when I get a little more time. My first post was just some very initial impressions and my next one will probably be just some more detailed comments and not really a full review.
Ok well, I've done some more listening (quite a bit more actually) and from what I've heard I definitely like a lot. The DAC is wonderfully clear, I feel as though I may have misrepresented myself a bit before. When I said that this setup sounds warm and musical and not analytical I meant more that its tonal qualities lend itself more to high end personal listening and not analyzing in a studio. I didn't mean in anyway that it sacrifices detail, although I'm sure that it does that just a little. Overall I'd say that it sounds very nice with all ranges of music. Classical sounds very nice with a very wide soundstage. You hear the conductor breathing front and center and kettle drums and double basses way back in the back. Rock music is very punchy and this is where I notice the warmth the most. This setup is practically perfect to my ears, emphasis TO MY EARS. It has lots of detail but just enough warmth that there is no harshness either. I find myself not having to constantly adjust the volume to hear something and then turning it down to keep my ears from hurting on something else. Bass is low and I mean rumbly low(once again SE530s) very effortless almost as if there was unlimited power behind these little units. Mids are very articulate and "well thought out" but still very immediate and dynamic, this is probably the warmest range with the MicroStack. Vocals are very musical and transparent. Treble range is an interesting range and perhaps exaggerated because of my test headphones.(Shure SE530 and Grado SR60) This is where I most notice the balance between warmth and detail. Trebles are just so detailed but drop off before they get too harsh. Violins scritch and scratch but always pleasing. Every color of the tonal palette sounds smooth through these but still very realistic. It's almost as if someone were to record themselves scratching a chalkboard and play it through this setup, you would hear it and even feel it but it wouldn't hurt your ears. Reverb and decays seem to be very natural as well. I have yet to listen to this with some true full sized audiophile phones (HD650s) or some other type of 300+ ohm variety. Because of the punchy yet pleasing sound signature of this DAC Amp combo I'm pretty sure this would be a great K701 setup. I'll be curious to see what other people have to say about the new MicroStack with full sized phones. Senns, Beyers, and AKGs come to mind.
2007 MicroStack
Linear Mode
