Veda-Audio Dynahi-SA Review
Disclaimer: I am in no way shape or form, related to, financially or otherwise involved with Veda Audio. Oh and all this is in my opinion only.
I was going to do a comparative review between the Dynahi, Melos SHA-1 and PPA but I won’t be getting my Melos back from repairs for another 10 days so I’m doing the Dynahi review now and the comparison later.
Background:
When the Dynahi project was announced/published a year or so ago I knew that I would end up with one eventually. After meeting Guru (gsferrari) at the Pittsburgh meet in December and discussing the Dynahi with him briefly I figured it was probably a good time to get one. Over the next few days after the meet I went back and forth with guru on pricing and upgrades. I was actually surprised at the price I figured it would be quite a bit higher. I decided to place an order for the Dynahi-SA model that includes 4 selectable inputs and a stepped attenuator. They ended up putting in a gain switch and upgrading the rca inputs for free. The faceplate was originally supposed to be black but I ended up going with a silver one that Veda custom designed to match the width of my Music Hall Maverick. I was kept up-to-date throughout the entire process including pics of the faceplate, chassis and internals. The entire process from order date till I received the amp was about a month. The amp did arrive with two dings on the top and bottom left corners of the faceplate but they are getting another one made and shipped to me as I type this.
Appearance/Build Quality:
The Dynahi-SA is a solid piece of equipment weighing in at roughly 20 lbs and it looks very professional. It definitely doesn’t have the look of a DIY amp at all. The custom faceplate and steel chassis are very classic looking. The front faceplate includes a little Veda Audio label at the top left, beneath that is a blue led (power indicator) and the power button. Below and to the right of that is the “Dynahi-SA” label done in nice black lettering. Above and to the right of that is the source selector, each source is labeled clearly and the aluminum knob feels very solid. Next to that is the ¼” headphone jack. The final two items on the faceplate are the stepped attenuator and the gain switch. The knob attached to the SA is identical to the one used for the source selection so it also looks quite nice and is equally as solid feeling. The gain switch is your basic two-position switch with up being high gain and down being low gain simple enough. Again the unit is built very well and is quite heavy, it looks as good if not better than anything you’d find in your local hi-fi shop or from the likes of Headroom. I personally really like the look, I’ve always liked silver faceplates and the fact that it matches up perfectly with my cdp is a nice touch.
I've put a few pics below you can find more here: http://www.stainlesseternity.com/dynahi/reviewpics/
The following is the equipment and music used for the sound portion of this review.
Equipment Used:
Headphones: Screened Woody CD3K’s with HP1000 drivers
Sources: Music Hall Maverick with Level 1 Mods
ICs: Headphile Black Silver
Power Cords: Bolder Cable Nitro on the Maverick
Moon Audio Blue Dragon on the Dynahi
Power Conditioner: Panamax 5510
Music Used:
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
The Who – Tommy (SACD)
Pink Floyd – DSOTM (SACD)
Beck – Sea Change (SACD)
Pinback – Summer in Abandon
Snow Patrol – Final Straw
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Diana Krall – The Girl in the Other Room (SACD)
1812 Overture – Telarc SACD
Sound:
It’s been about a week now that I’ve had the amp it’s been on six days straight so I’m sure it’s sufficiently burnt in. I was truly astounded the first time I listened to it and that feeling hasn’t faded a bit. I’ll get this out of the way before getting into details for those that are already sick of reading this. The Dynahi-SA is the best headphone amp I’ve heard EVER.
The Dynahi-SA has this clarity and absolute resolution that is second to none. The speed, transparency and dynamics of the Dynahi are astonishing. Music just comes alive with the Dynahi, during the process of writing this review I found myself lost in the music for hours on end. The Dynahi produces a soundstage that is wide and deep in which instrument separation and positioning is done with pinpoint accuracy.
Treble:
The treble is really a strong point with the Dynahi it is extremely detailed and transparent without any harshness at all. The Dynahi-SA produces treble with a fullness and accuracy that I truly enjoy. Never again will I put up with accurate and thin treble or smooth and rolled-off treble you can have both. Attack and decay of high piano notes and cymbals is very good. The timing of the leading edge and decay of a note is superb and I think that really leads to the Dynahi excelling in PRaT. The Dynahi’s fast, accurate and effortless presentation allows it to be the best amp for PRaT I’ve heard.
Mid-Range
The mid-range was one area that I was a little concerned about prior to hearing the Dynahi, I have owned a Gilmore V2 before and always felt the mid-range was a little thin and not very engaging. After listening to the Dynahi those concerns evaporated into the thin air. The mid-range on the Dynahi-SA is rich and vibrant, vocals (especially female) sound as lively and engaging as they can get. The Dynahi has the most natural sounding mid-range I’ve heard. The word effortless comes to mind again, the Dynahi really makes the listener appreciate and listen to the music instead of to the equipment.
Bass:
The bass is great on the Dynahi-SA it goes very deep and has a real kick to it. The bass is punch and lively, it’s really quite fun to be honest. I have enjoyed the bass of an amp since I had my MPX3, but the Dynahi’s bass is livelier and much more accurate than the MPX3’s was. When describing the Dynahi’s bass the one word that keeps popping up in my mind is powerful. Bass has solid definition and some real “oomph” behind it with the Dynahi.
Conclusions:
In case you couldn’t tell I absolutely love the Veda Audio Dynahi-SA. Besides being a well rounded amp that excels in every area the Dynahi-SA most impressive capability is how well it handles complex musical passages. Complex music that is heavily “layered” is presented in such a clear and distinctive manner by the Dynahi that it feels like I’m really hearing some of my music for the first time. I can say without any doubt it is the best headphone amp I’ve heard to date.
Comments and Questions are Welcome
Disclaimer: I am in no way shape or form, related to, financially or otherwise involved with Veda Audio. Oh and all this is in my opinion only.
I was going to do a comparative review between the Dynahi, Melos SHA-1 and PPA but I won’t be getting my Melos back from repairs for another 10 days so I’m doing the Dynahi review now and the comparison later.
Background:
When the Dynahi project was announced/published a year or so ago I knew that I would end up with one eventually. After meeting Guru (gsferrari) at the Pittsburgh meet in December and discussing the Dynahi with him briefly I figured it was probably a good time to get one. Over the next few days after the meet I went back and forth with guru on pricing and upgrades. I was actually surprised at the price I figured it would be quite a bit higher. I decided to place an order for the Dynahi-SA model that includes 4 selectable inputs and a stepped attenuator. They ended up putting in a gain switch and upgrading the rca inputs for free. The faceplate was originally supposed to be black but I ended up going with a silver one that Veda custom designed to match the width of my Music Hall Maverick. I was kept up-to-date throughout the entire process including pics of the faceplate, chassis and internals. The entire process from order date till I received the amp was about a month. The amp did arrive with two dings on the top and bottom left corners of the faceplate but they are getting another one made and shipped to me as I type this.
Appearance/Build Quality:
The Dynahi-SA is a solid piece of equipment weighing in at roughly 20 lbs and it looks very professional. It definitely doesn’t have the look of a DIY amp at all. The custom faceplate and steel chassis are very classic looking. The front faceplate includes a little Veda Audio label at the top left, beneath that is a blue led (power indicator) and the power button. Below and to the right of that is the “Dynahi-SA” label done in nice black lettering. Above and to the right of that is the source selector, each source is labeled clearly and the aluminum knob feels very solid. Next to that is the ¼” headphone jack. The final two items on the faceplate are the stepped attenuator and the gain switch. The knob attached to the SA is identical to the one used for the source selection so it also looks quite nice and is equally as solid feeling. The gain switch is your basic two-position switch with up being high gain and down being low gain simple enough. Again the unit is built very well and is quite heavy, it looks as good if not better than anything you’d find in your local hi-fi shop or from the likes of Headroom. I personally really like the look, I’ve always liked silver faceplates and the fact that it matches up perfectly with my cdp is a nice touch.
I've put a few pics below you can find more here: http://www.stainlesseternity.com/dynahi/reviewpics/
The following is the equipment and music used for the sound portion of this review.
Equipment Used:
Headphones: Screened Woody CD3K’s with HP1000 drivers
Sources: Music Hall Maverick with Level 1 Mods
ICs: Headphile Black Silver
Power Cords: Bolder Cable Nitro on the Maverick
Moon Audio Blue Dragon on the Dynahi
Power Conditioner: Panamax 5510
Music Used:
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
The Who – Tommy (SACD)
Pink Floyd – DSOTM (SACD)
Beck – Sea Change (SACD)
Pinback – Summer in Abandon
Snow Patrol – Final Straw
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Diana Krall – The Girl in the Other Room (SACD)
1812 Overture – Telarc SACD
Sound:
It’s been about a week now that I’ve had the amp it’s been on six days straight so I’m sure it’s sufficiently burnt in. I was truly astounded the first time I listened to it and that feeling hasn’t faded a bit. I’ll get this out of the way before getting into details for those that are already sick of reading this. The Dynahi-SA is the best headphone amp I’ve heard EVER.
The Dynahi-SA has this clarity and absolute resolution that is second to none. The speed, transparency and dynamics of the Dynahi are astonishing. Music just comes alive with the Dynahi, during the process of writing this review I found myself lost in the music for hours on end. The Dynahi produces a soundstage that is wide and deep in which instrument separation and positioning is done with pinpoint accuracy.
Treble:
The treble is really a strong point with the Dynahi it is extremely detailed and transparent without any harshness at all. The Dynahi-SA produces treble with a fullness and accuracy that I truly enjoy. Never again will I put up with accurate and thin treble or smooth and rolled-off treble you can have both. Attack and decay of high piano notes and cymbals is very good. The timing of the leading edge and decay of a note is superb and I think that really leads to the Dynahi excelling in PRaT. The Dynahi’s fast, accurate and effortless presentation allows it to be the best amp for PRaT I’ve heard.
Mid-Range
The mid-range was one area that I was a little concerned about prior to hearing the Dynahi, I have owned a Gilmore V2 before and always felt the mid-range was a little thin and not very engaging. After listening to the Dynahi those concerns evaporated into the thin air. The mid-range on the Dynahi-SA is rich and vibrant, vocals (especially female) sound as lively and engaging as they can get. The Dynahi has the most natural sounding mid-range I’ve heard. The word effortless comes to mind again, the Dynahi really makes the listener appreciate and listen to the music instead of to the equipment.
Bass:
The bass is great on the Dynahi-SA it goes very deep and has a real kick to it. The bass is punch and lively, it’s really quite fun to be honest. I have enjoyed the bass of an amp since I had my MPX3, but the Dynahi’s bass is livelier and much more accurate than the MPX3’s was. When describing the Dynahi’s bass the one word that keeps popping up in my mind is powerful. Bass has solid definition and some real “oomph” behind it with the Dynahi.
Conclusions:
In case you couldn’t tell I absolutely love the Veda Audio Dynahi-SA. Besides being a well rounded amp that excels in every area the Dynahi-SA most impressive capability is how well it handles complex musical passages. Complex music that is heavily “layered” is presented in such a clear and distinctive manner by the Dynahi that it feels like I’m really hearing some of my music for the first time. I can say without any doubt it is the best headphone amp I’ve heard to date.
Comments and Questions are Welcome
