Well, I recieved my minibox-d yesterday afternoon, and, i have to say, I'm extremely pleased with it!
Looks/Ergonomics 7/10
Well, it's extremely thin...only about .35 in thick.
Some comparisons...
The polished metal looks good, espically with the "MINIBOX-D" etched into it
Ergonomically, I'm fine with how the box is designed. However, some might balk at the locations of the input/output jacks. Instead of being on the side(like the hornet), they are on the bottom, which could cause some prroblems for people, esp. those with ipods.
Sound
The most important part. First off, what I used for this test was:
Sony D-EJ2000 (PCDP)
Sony NW-HD1 (DAP)
Shure E3c
Music: Skinny Puppy - "Mythmaker"
Atreyu - "Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses"
Random ATRAC Advanced Lossless files (from the HD-1, set it to random
)
ON the Cd player, the sound was AMAZING!!
With Skinny Puppy, I was hearing things clearer, and some things that I didn't know where even present! The bass was velvet smooth, with the highs striking out creepily, and the mids filling out the rest of the sound evenly. Of note, the bass was full and deep, but not overpowering, even on my basshead shure's
With Atreyu, the cymbal crashes were right on, not the least bit hissy at all. BUt the bottom, my god, it was booming(its not a bad thing) just like it was was supposed to. The bass drums were full, and the guitars and vocals were even and there, not "faded" or "muted" like I've sometimes heard. Very impressive.
On the HD-1, things were pretty much the same. Taking into account not all of the music i have on there is lossless(yet), the sound signature was more or less the same. Full, deep bass, clear, upfront highs and forward mids.
Overall 8/10
Total(not cumulative) - 8 or 8.5 / 10
A very impressive amp I must say!
Some more pix:
Front:
Side:
Bottom:
Top:
Looks/Ergonomics 7/10
Well, it's extremely thin...only about .35 in thick.
Some comparisons...
The polished metal looks good, espically with the "MINIBOX-D" etched into it
Ergonomically, I'm fine with how the box is designed. However, some might balk at the locations of the input/output jacks. Instead of being on the side(like the hornet), they are on the bottom, which could cause some prroblems for people, esp. those with ipods.
Sound
The most important part. First off, what I used for this test was:
Sony D-EJ2000 (PCDP)
Sony NW-HD1 (DAP)
Shure E3c
Music: Skinny Puppy - "Mythmaker"
Atreyu - "Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses"
Random ATRAC Advanced Lossless files (from the HD-1, set it to random
)ON the Cd player, the sound was AMAZING!!
With Skinny Puppy, I was hearing things clearer, and some things that I didn't know where even present! The bass was velvet smooth, with the highs striking out creepily, and the mids filling out the rest of the sound evenly. Of note, the bass was full and deep, but not overpowering, even on my basshead shure'sWith Atreyu, the cymbal crashes were right on, not the least bit hissy at all. BUt the bottom, my god, it was booming(its not a bad thing) just like it was was supposed to. The bass drums were full, and the guitars and vocals were even and there, not "faded" or "muted" like I've sometimes heard. Very impressive.
On the HD-1, things were pretty much the same. Taking into account not all of the music i have on there is lossless(yet), the sound signature was more or less the same. Full, deep bass, clear, upfront highs and forward mids.
Overall 8/10
Total(not cumulative) - 8 or 8.5 / 10
A very impressive amp I must say!
Some more pix:
Front:
Side:
Bottom:
Top:
