Portaphile V2 Owners Thread - Page 14

Yeah, if I had thought about it even for a minute I would have realized this. Thanks.

By the way, Caesar didn't have any experience with either adaptor but was happy to try to answer my questions. Nice guy.

Also, BTW - I have heard that many people prefer the Etymotic adaptor to home made adaptors - but Xin is known for knowing what he is doing - so the quality of his adaptor should be fine, also. I will get both and see about the possible stress on the knob / headphone jack and convenience issues, then return one.

According to most every Head-Fier that has used both as well.

Just when I join the party - everyone goes home

My portaphile came today - inital impressions are that it is pretty good, noticeable improvement from no amp.

But my ear is partially tin and my amp experience is just starting today.

I'd rave some more but I thought I've done enough cheerleading.

Ah, why not. I think the portaphile and the hd580/600 make a great combination. The portaphile gives you a "fuller" sound that I find very satisfying. Give it about 200 hours of burn-in and post your impressions. I think you'll agree.

I may have missed this in this long thread but has anyone compare the Portaphile to the Porta Corda?

Sure! Clearcut opinion + a little blather -- oh yeah ... & a little cheerleading!

Not even close... my Portaphile stands head, shoulders and mohawk above my PortaCorda MkII (unless my bud -- to whom I've offered it up in the name of scientific exploration -- can mod the PCMkIi into a miracle mystical audio wonder...). PV2 sounds energetic, involving, dimensional ... lively and sometime "Live" ... whereas PCMkII sounds to me more like old-fashioned "Hi-Fi", with a sometimes echo-y presentation. It does have an incredibly wide soundstage with my K501s, and the mids are sometimes sweet -- but that's not enough compared to the PV2.

Of course this is all filtered thru my own personal extremely opinionated ear/brain interface.

But serious, PV2 is a far superior sounding amp, to my ears. I have some friends who like the PCMkII's sound. I gave it overkill hours of burn in, in the hopes of hearing wonders from the LM6171 opamps, but it doesn't do it for me.

Sorry this wasn't a scientific essay -- just a knee-jerk, emotional response.

You know, you also have to consider the whole system you put the amp into, and the intended listening environment. System/amp synergy and user ears/brain/experience/preference are real and complex issues. I'm finding more and more that we just don't hear things the same ... and what we hear is seriously filtered by preferences. You see how apparent that is when you follow various threads of different amp/phone/source owners who know that theirs is the unquestionable best -- and if you've heard a lot of products you sometimes feel "all these comments don't sound anything like the various samples I've heard!". Now you've read a tiny bit of my goofy bagful -- goofier at this hour (Zzzzzzzzzz) ... Ha! ... the "mohawk" part was probably a subconscious blip 'cause that's the part of my head that my hairs are rapidly escaping from.

Cheers! {"Predator" as he presses self-destruct button of his thermonuclear watch!}

Just posted to another thread about how to carry around the Portaphile v.2 but thought I'd post here too in case other Portaphile owners may be interested:







iPod sock (which can be found on eBay or from Apple), Agent18 clear case, and belt clip supplied with the iPod. I can just toss it into a backpack, briefcase, etc.

Hooked my IRiver up to the Portaphile to HD280s last night

WOW! The hd280s amp well with the Ety 4P->4S cable!!

(Of course I don't have much to compare the 280s to - just the Etys.)

a suggestion!
What about portaphile with grados?! How it sounds?!

What are you trying to add to your grados? I have the SR225. It has a very forward sound with very little soundstage. It does well without any amps. With the Portaphile, the bass is more impactful, the sound is slightly fuller and more lively-- but this improvement isn't something that you will notice and appreciate immediately, especially if you don't have any experience with amplifiers.

I think one of the strengths of the portaphile2 is its ability to add dimension to music. The grados are very 2-dimensional headphones, so much of the dimension that the portaphile is supposed to add is not there. Personally, I wouldn't buy the Portaphile2 for use with Grados-- while it improves the sound, it is not an optimal setup, nor is the improvement something that's essential. The analytical nature of the 8610s isn't a good match for bright headphones like grados.

I just tried hooking up my KSC50s to the portaphile, hoping for some drastic improvements, but all it does is made the weaknesses even more pronounced. recessed mids, rolled-off highs. bah.

Still these clipons have great sound in spite of their weaknesses. If Koss spend some more R&D into these KSC50s, they can really spit at the other more expensive headphones.

ATX - did you use a 75 ohm converter? Ety converter cable? I haven't tried the KSC75s yet with the amp, but I read elsewhere on headfi that they do well WITH the converter cable.

But, as you say - you have better than normal ears.

I don't have the ety 4p so I have no need for a 75 ohm adapter. I vaguely remember trying the KSC50 with the supermacro V1 with the 75 ohm impedance switched on. I don't recall anything so it must not have been that good an improvement.

Alright, I'm gonna order a portaphile right now.

You'll love it.

My turn to chime in.

I got my Portaphile around two weeks ago. This is my first amp, which I got to use with my Senn HD555s (also new, and my first set of real headphones). Neither the amp nor the headphones has more than 20-30 hours, so I'm sure the sound of both will change down the road.

My impressions:

Remember, I'm new to this and my headphones are new so take this for what it's worth.

When I first got my 555s they sounded pretty darn good to me. The only other headphone I've used worth mentioning is my Shure E2c's so that was my point of reference. The 555's blew those away. This was listening to my Zen Micro, my Onkyo surround reciever, and a crappy Sony PCDP.

After reading (and reading, and reading....) I decided to get an amp to see what all of the fuss was about. I thought that my Senns sounded pretty fine when using my reciever's headphone jack, but with the portables something was lacking.

Anyway, when I got my amp the first thing that struck me was the size. I knew it was portable, but I was really surprised by how small it is. I also immediately noticed that it is very well made, and just looks good. And even though the amp is fairly lightweight, It feels solid in your hand.

I inserted a 9v alkaline battery, connected the amp to the headphone out on my PCDP (no line out) using some homemade interconnects, and prepared for musical bliss.

Well, I must be honest: I didn't really hear any difference, at least initially. I listened on..., and on. I tried the amp with my Micro and didn't lke the results (probable due to crappily encoded mps files) so I stuck with my PCDP using purchased CDs from my collection or CDs burned from music downloaded at 320kbps. I have also replaced my crappy homemade interconnects with some quality homemade interconnects (starquad with switchcraft connectors).

Well, I'm here to tell you, I LOVE this amp. After listening with the amp over several days, I tried the PCDP without the amp and discovered that it is obviously lacking. I can now see (hear) what I have been missing: The fuller bass, more pronounced mids and highs. The amp just seems to enhance every aspect of the music for me.

I won't sit here and try to describe "soundstage" or "grainyness" (or lack of) or any other terms of which I have no idea about. Suffice to say that I am very impressed with this little wonder, which is well worth the price.

On top of that, Cesar was great to work with and answered all of my questions promptly. Truly a pleasure to do business with.

As a newb, I couldn't be more happy with my purchase.

Seconded.