Upgrade from Fubar III amp to HeadRoom MicroAmp

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Today, I got my HeadRoom MicroAmp ($399) with Astrodyne PowerSupply Unit ($119). The MicroAmp is smaller than I expected and cute.

Via a 1.5' Musicable RCA to miniplug cable ($38) bought from HeadRoom, I connected the MicroAmp to the Fubar III so that I could use the Fubar III as a DAC.

The Fubar III is powered by Firestone's separate PowerSupply Unit.

My cans are the Sennheiser HD 650's with standard cabling.

After listening for a while and to both amps, I must say that the Fubar III is VERY good value.

At times the MicroAmp is better, i.e., on the occasion when there's a lot of base in a recording, it will give a tighter and more defined output. At times too, the sound stage and reproduction of vocals would be more defined with more character. The Fubar III gives a more laid back sort of sound with the MicroAmp tending to be, at times and depending on the recording, more punchy. However, generally, they're surprisingly really close in performance.

In the Fubar III's favour, the external workmanship is really good and generally better than the MicroAmp's. Additionally, IMO, the Fubar III's volume knob is much better than the MicroAmp's both ergonomitrically and in smoothness.

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the crossfeed feature too. I hear a difference, but <shrug>, I'm not sure how to respond than... OK... One thing I've noticed is that the midrange response of the MicroAmp can, at times, be harsh and uncomfortable to listen to at even low levels. I noted this with the deep growl of rhythmn guitaring in Paradise Lost's music. The crossfeed sort of smoothed it out.

So all in all, The Fubar III makes for a terrific bang for the buck with the integrated headphone amp being a more than worthy performer with the added influence (small but significant) of the PowerSupply Unit. I genuinely expected the MicroAmp to be big jump from using the Fubar III's integrated amp. Of course, I'm saying this with the assumption that the HeadRoom MicroAmp with Astrodyne Power Supply is taking me into serious listener territory.

I have the Firestone SpitFire DAC in a box beside me. However, I'm in need of a tosslink optical to miniplug adaptor to connect my iMac to the DAC. Once I have that, I should be sending a superior analog output to the MicroAmp. So if there's one big plus, and it now happens to be the main reason why I'm glad I got the MicroAmp, it's that I can change to a dedicated DAC.

I'm now so impressed with the Fubar III that I may well be trying FireStone's "Little Country III", rather than go fully HeadRoom. I suspect that this $500 unit will be just as close as the Fubar III is to its more expensive contemporaries.

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An Update:

After the full upgrade, the Fubar III is now gone. I'm now using the FireStone SpitFire DAC, and after some listening, finally switched to the Cardas Cable.

For what listening I did after switching to the SpitFire, the difference in sound was marginal. However, the Cardas Cable did make a difference, subtle, but positive indeed. More clarity to the sound and more dynamic range in recordings with it to deliver.

So all in all, the overall sound is definitely improved, with the better recordings offering the most improvement in sound, i.e.,
- a more defined bass where it was originally more boomy without detail
- some interesting effects with vocals as well as sound separation.

Overall, I'm well pleased with the new setup, with the MicroAmp offering the largest individual step-up in improvement.

Kudo's to HeadRoom, whose packaging and delivery were stellar. I'd not hesitate to order stuff from them again. I'll be watching out for their new offerings said to be coming for 2009. I'll be going for a desktop amp next since I'm confident with the HeadRoom sound and wish for more options with the connections.