Review: Portable amp roundup! 56 portable amps reviewed and compared - FINAL update 12-20-10... - Page 130  

Of the 4 times I've used an SPL meter, I was within 2 db of each other (according to the SPL meter of course), just as mrarroyo is.

So, incidentally, I stopped using it.

Who really cares if the SPL meter is used? If you can audibly tell the difference that the SPL meter is 4dB off, why even use it? Or is it for peace of mind more than anything else?

All my post was saying was "what if" hypothetical stuff. I haven't heard an audible difference when the meter says they are all 80db - so that means they must be within 1 db, otherwise I could hear it. It just I believe that the published specs of my meter look worse than what I am actually getting, and worse than what Skylabs meter can do.

When I do an amp review, I will usually listen to see what volume sounds good with a particular song and headphone, then make sure the other amps drive it similarly by volume matching. Doing headphone reviews is tricker. One headphone may have a sweet spot at one volume, but the sweet spot of headphone #2 may be at a different volume. For example, my RS-1 or Edition 9 sound great at 80db, but I find that I sometimes crank the D2000 up to 85-90 to enjoy them more and have them sound more exciting. So, a review at 90db may have the RS-1 drilling into my head and the D2000 being Godly; and a review at 80db may have the RS-1 roxking, and the D2000 putting me to sleep.

As for peace of mind, I just happened to have an SPL meter around, so I used it a few times for amplifier and headphone reviews. It didn't do such a good job with my other task that I bought it for, since my suppressed 9mm is 126 db and that is the upper limit of my SPL meter (unsuppressed is a published 160 db!)

thank you for this review,it's really a amazing reveiw.useful.

i'd like to thank you again for this review.
everytime when I read it/

Ahhhhh...that makes perfect sense now...it just seemed kinda weird that people were able to differentiate the small increments and they STILL used the meter...

I wanted to thank you for the large review. For someone who has never owned a portable headphone amplifier before, your review played a large part in my decision to get the 2MOVE. I enjoy using it a lot, but I wonder if I need a different mini to mini cable. I assume since you used so many amplifiers, that you have also seen many different cables; would it be a good idea to invest in another one? I'm not an extravagant person, but since I paid so much for a amplifier, (to my thinking) it wouldn't make sense to not get the most out of them. And the cable that came with the 2MOVE seems sort of dinky, compared to the cables they sell separately. I don't know, maybe it's just snake oil. I'm sorry if you covered this before, but I used search for mini, and after 12 pages I couldn't find a mention of this subject, on this thread. Thanks again for the review.

I also wanted to add my thanks to Skylab and all the others who reviewed the various portable amps on this thread. I received my 2Move two days ago and I've been enjoying it immensely.

Thanks, what about players other than iPod? Do you have any take on them? I'll confess, I was looking at the Cardas mini to mini... the cheapest one in TTVJ.

gooky, the Cardas HPI mini-2-mini is a delightful sounding, very flexible and durable portable IC.

I bought one for my best friend and use one on my ultraportable rig. I only go for my higher SQ silver mini-2-minis when I am using my transportable.

You won't go wrong with the Cardas HPI.

Agreed.

I keep coming back to this page to check out the reviews.. just so many!!

thanks for a great review!

Someone pass Skylab a Viper & Boa already!!! (iBasso amps)