Review: The new beyerdynamic A1 - Page 3

Peer, thanks for your review!

JensL, great pic! I love the way the Opera looks, but I like the Beyerdynamic style even more. And I love that orange (yellow? mango??)!

I salivate at the sight of minimalistic gear......................

Peer, thanks for your review!

JensL, great pic! I love the way the Opera looks, but I dislike the Beyerdynamic style, that orange (yellow? mango??), stuff, although it does come in grey... Is that plastic?

Peer, I would like to read your Beyer vs Opera follow up comparisson.

Which Hi-Fi board in Germany are you a moderator on? Head-Fi?

Thanks for your initial review~

JensL, would those volume settings on both amps give about the same loundess? I see the beyer amp is almost at max while it looks like the Meier is at about 1/2 volume.

Very nice picture.

I would love to hear an A1. I think that Orange is ghastly, though.

I must say, I love the look of the charcoal. Very professional and sleek. Might also match those custom 880's I've had my eye on.

I don't see the price as a huge obstacle, results of an Opera test pending.

Also, a link to Jensl's nice litle review...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=222546

With thanks to Uncle Wilson, I got the chance to try out the nice orange A1 at Jaben some time back.

Like what's mentioned earlier, I heard the different instruments clearly at their positions, and the bass was of impact too when I played some percussion tracks. The music played sounded very nice, comfortable and unfatiguing. The source was a TS Lim modded Marantz CD63 and the headphone used was the DT990, canalphones used are the Mylarone X3 and XB.

Some people may think it is ridiculous to try such small phones but I couldn't resist Uncle's kind (and equally toxic) invitations. Though I did not buy the A1 (phew!) it led me to buy the XB (with an X3 too) when I was there actually only to get an X3. My Cute Beyond and my humble setup just don't quite give me the same "feel" that I had at Jaben.

If I do have the budget and don't encounter a better amp at it's price range, I may just buy the A1. It has that simplistic and nice look, and I love the Beyer sound.

Sorry that can't really describe sound as I am no expert. But I do feel it is a very nice and good sounding amp that I hope to own one day.

Thanks and no thanks to headfi that I am learning more and enjoying my music better, at the cost of my ever-depleting wallet.

Hey i like the orange!

orange not my cup of tea

though the descriptions of the sound of this unit may very well be

it sounds like it's the one for down the line honest to truth sound reproduction

at least on beyerdynamic headphones which jan meier's amps are also said to synergise with quite well

wouldn't mind more opera vs A1 comparros

although the prices are way out of my budget for now, it may be something of a worthwhile head to head

one can dream, can't they?

The reason of the volume settings in the picture, is that I'm using the Opera as a DAC for the A1. :-)
So the Operas volume knob affects the A1s volume.
I just tried it to be able to quickly switch between the two amps when they are using the same source. It's possible that this could be negative for the A1s performance.

Which amp got more gain/loudness? I'm not sure, but it feels like the A1 might have the upper hand. I haven't tested this much, yet.

Actually, I've owned many products from Holland of high quality. A.J. Van den Hul's phono cartridges and Vredestein bike tires come to mind. Though I still like Belgian and English beer.

The A1 looks nice and seems well built with quality parts, but I think it is overpriced when you compare it with say...the $400. Heed Audio CanAmp from Hungary.

I think this is the best looking headphone amp I have ever seen, no kidding.
Soundwise I suspect it could be similar to Lehmann Black Cube Linear or PS Audio GCHA. Just a hunch.

Can't wait to see a proper review between similar priced amps.

This is a very good amp indeed.

 

I have it in my office, with some others... and this is the only one I use... the cans connected to are.... Beyer DT 990 600ohms... Denon AH-A100 and Sony MDR-SA5000...

Dac... Perreaux...

 

With all of this cans sounds superb... sometimes with sonys ultra high response you hear an uber extended high response... but... nothing to fear about it.

 

Overall... one of the best ones around..

 

 

 

Agreed. I am testing it at the moment and comparing to Concerto. 
 

 

And this was the result of my review....

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/573616/beyerdynamic-a1